Learn the importance of opening in lyrics writing.A very important concept in song lyrics writing is how you open your lyric. Here you´ll find some techniques and exercises to improve this part of your lyrics writing. A Good First Impression.Just like when you first meet somebody, it is crucial to make a good first impression with your lyrics. You may have a great melody and a driving chord progression, but if your lyrics don’t match and enhance the other elements of your song, from start to finish, then the song as a whole may fall flat.We’ve already talked about finding a strong image to use in your song, so let’s see how we can take an image and theme and turn it into a strong opening line. Song lyrics writing, the opening What’s The Song AboutThe Simon and Garfunkle song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” uses the image of that bridge as a symbolizing someone who will help you through tough times. The opening line says, “When you’re weary, feeling small.”The focus of the song is about somebody who will help you when times are bad, so the first line starts off describing bad times. These five words immediately set the tone of the song and set up the problems that the main image will help overcome or defeat. Song lyrics writing, the opening The GrabberAnother technique for the first line of a song is the “grabber” first line. This line will convey some information to the audience and make them want to hear more. The “grabber” is designed to make people think one important thing, “What happens next?”A great example of this is the first line of Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane.” “Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night.” Well, who fired those shots? Was anybody hurt? Why a barroom? What happens next? This song doesn’t have a definite image system because it is mainly a man telling a story set to music, but if you can imagine a situation that is somehow related to your image, then you can probably come up a grabber line related to your image. Song lyrics writing, the opening No SecretsSome songs start out with lines that say exactly what the song is about and tell you exactly what to expect from the song. For example, Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” starts off with “Get your motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure, in whatever comes our way.”This is an all out rock song, and when they say “Get you motor running,” they mean it. This song is about being wild, so the image of starting your motor and getting ready to go is perfect. Song lyrics writing, the opening Which One Is Best For Your Song?Now we need to figure out which type of opening will work best with your song. For the most part, the tone and style of the song will determine this. Are you writing a song about a deep relationship of true love, you don’t want to start off with a “No Secrets” approach and say, “This love is deep and true...”The line may be true to the intent of your song, but audiences are a lot smarter than that. You need to be a little bit more sophisticated. Maybe express the depth of the relationship in a story that uses a great “grabber” line to start out with. Or you can use a similar approach as Simon and Garfunkle and use the opposite, starting out with being lonely and afraid before entering a relationship that makes you feel welcomed and secure. Here’s the real test: write an opening line for your song in each style and see which one makes you want to know more. That’s the style you want to go for. Song lyrics writing, the opening Exercise:Remember all of the brainstorming we went through when determining the image that we wanted to use? Well, pull out that list, because that is how we’re going to come up with some great opening lines.Take some of the ideas you came up with and work try to build lines around them. In the Image article we talked about a caged bird being a possible image for a song about feeling imprisoned or held back. So what are words and ideas that go along with a caged bird or a pet bird? Have you ever had a pet bird eat seeds out of your hand? That would make an engaging first line and would definitely grab the audience’s attention: “I eat my morning meal from out of your hand...” Usually, eating out of somebody’s hand means that that person has you under control, but the addition of a “morning meal,” a routine action, adds to the despair of being controlled. Try out some of these for yourself. No matter how crazy some word combinations may sound, give them all a shot and see what you come up with.
More Songwriting Tips?For more tips and juicy articles about songwriting, subscribe to my monthly songwriting-guide.com newsletter. This unique inbox offering is packed with information and 100% free. just sign up! Return from lyrics writing to How to write song lyrics.
|
