How to Write Lyrics: Better Words for Your Songs

by Rikky Rooksby

Overview

Lyrics sheds light on all aspects of writing lyrics for music and will make lyricists and songwriters feel more confident and creative when they tackle lyrics. It's perfect for all songwriters: those who don’t like their own lyrics and find lyrics difficult to write, experienced writers looking for a creative edge, and those offering lyrics to set to music in a partnership.

The book discusses channeling personal experiences into lyrics, overcoming writer's block, the right lyrics for a bridge, the separation between lyrics and poetry, exploring imagery and metaphor, avoiding clichés, and more. It also offers tips on the various styles of lyrics, from protests, spirituals, and confessionals to narratives and comic songs.

New to this edition are artist and song references throughout to reflect musical history to date. Also, a new section provides examples of taking lyric ideas right through the drafting process, illustrating development and re-drafting and using a handful of contrasting approaches.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493056156
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/15/2021
Edition description:	Second Edition, Revised and Updated
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	544,464
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Rikky Rooksby is a guitar teacher, songwriter/composer, and writer on popular music. He is the author of How to Write Songs on Guitar (2000, revised edition 2009), Inside Classic Rock Tracks (2001), Riffs (2002, revised edition 2010), The Songwriting Sourcebook (2003, revised edition 2011), Chord Master (2004, revised edition 2016), Melody (2004), Songwriting Secrets: Bruce Springsteen (2005), How to Write Songs on Keyboards (2005), Lyrics (2006), Arranging Songs (2007), How to Write Songs in Altered Guitar Tunings (2010), and Songs and Solos (2014). He has also written fourteen Fast Forward guitar books and arranged over three dozen chord songbooks, including The Complete Beatles. He has written entries on rock musicians for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and published interviews, reviews, and transcriptions in many UK music magazines. He is a member of the Society of Authors, Sibelius One, and the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society.

Table of Contents

Preface to the second edition 7

How to use this book 9

Part 1 Finding inspiration, learning the craft

Section 1 Making a start 12

Section 2 30 ways to find inspiration 19

Section 3 From sketch to final draft 30

Section 4 The magic of titles 50

Section 5 Techniques and craft 65

Section 6 Painting pictures with words 84

Section 7 Telling a story 110

Section 8 Writing lyrics today 125

Section 9 A gallery of lyrics 141

Part 2 Further exploration, words of wisdom

Section 10 A sourcebook of themes 172

Section 11 Songwriter interviews 266

Acknowledgments 303

About the author 304