Do you ever have those moments where you feel so awful you don't think you can describe it in words? And when you try it comes out even worse? I have had so many moments in which I have felt that I immediately had to try to write some lyrices to capture the raw emotions and pain I was feeling. And most of those moments caused me to look back over those lyrics later and lauch at how bad they were. It wasn't just that they were corny. They were so whiny that it really didn't capture what I had been feeling at the time. So how do you create good lyrics from the bad moments?
The best thing to do is give it time because that will give you perspective. If you truly felt those emotions you wanted to capture so strongly you won't forget what it felt like overnight, but you will have have a different perspective on the situation.
Think about the last time you got into an argument with someone over something that didn't really matter. In that moment it seemed so important because you were annoyed or proud. You probably realized the next day just how stupid it was to get so bent out of shape over nothing.
Some of your other bad moments will be like that as well. You might not wake up feeling like you were wrong or that you overreacted to something, especially if you're upset about something far more serious than a silly argument that never should have happened, but time gives you a chance to reevaluate and justify what you were feeling and how you acted. And if you end up being unable to justify those things you have a fresh perspective which can give you a new angle for writing lyrics about what happened. Strong emotions and powerful moments will not be forgotten so quickly as everything else. A few more moments won't erase those memories. It will give you a second chance to write about.
~Eliza
Showing posts with label perspective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perspective. Show all posts
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Exploring Life's Questions
Passion Level: 8
Motivation Level: 9
All forms of writing can be used to explore life's questions, but lyric writing is unique in this respect. The most challenging questions, moments, emotions, and speculation is addressed in such a short amount of words. And addressed in a manner that makes sense for a song.
Lyrics take us through a persons aggravations over a lost love, the speculation of why the present is different than they had imagined in the past, and the absurdity of the situations they have been faced with. These are all topics people can and have written books about, but a lyricist must make these powerful emotions and moments fit into a song. And accomplishing that is a quite a feat, let alone accomplishing it well.
Lyricists don't have as much wiggle room to explore life's questions as novelists or essay writers. Therein lies the challenge. Life provides us with many choices to make and this causes us to ask ourselves complicated questions. What is love? When do I hold on or let go? Do I have a purpose? How do I face difficult things when I feel like I just don't have the strength? How do I deal with my financial hardships? Why am I in this situation? How do I find happiness through my misery? How do I support a friend going through something difficult that I can't relate to? How do I address all these questions in a song? It's hard enough to try to figure this stuff out without adding writing to the mix!
From my perspective, journaling seems to be the best tool to help with this challenge. Journaling helps you explore these questions that life throws at you. By getting those thoughts out about the different situations you're dealing with you have something to reference when you want to address those issues in a song. You might not have a problem remembering the emotions you were feeling in those moments, but journaling will help you keep track of the thoughts you were having at the time and what you thought the answers were then. Perspectives can change and sometimes they change without us realizing it. Sometimes we change who we are, and even what we believe in, not because we have made a decision to do so, but because the world around us is forcing our perspectives to change. Journaling will prevent those changes from going unnoticed, which can offer you lyrical inspiration.
Life is a challenge and it just wouldn't be right if lyrics weren't a challenge as well. Not all of life's questions can be answered or have an answer that makes sense to us, but lyrics help us explore and at least try to understand. And sometimes the beauty is in trying.
~Eliza
Motivation Level: 9
All forms of writing can be used to explore life's questions, but lyric writing is unique in this respect. The most challenging questions, moments, emotions, and speculation is addressed in such a short amount of words. And addressed in a manner that makes sense for a song.
Lyrics take us through a persons aggravations over a lost love, the speculation of why the present is different than they had imagined in the past, and the absurdity of the situations they have been faced with. These are all topics people can and have written books about, but a lyricist must make these powerful emotions and moments fit into a song. And accomplishing that is a quite a feat, let alone accomplishing it well.
Lyricists don't have as much wiggle room to explore life's questions as novelists or essay writers. Therein lies the challenge. Life provides us with many choices to make and this causes us to ask ourselves complicated questions. What is love? When do I hold on or let go? Do I have a purpose? How do I face difficult things when I feel like I just don't have the strength? How do I deal with my financial hardships? Why am I in this situation? How do I find happiness through my misery? How do I support a friend going through something difficult that I can't relate to? How do I address all these questions in a song? It's hard enough to try to figure this stuff out without adding writing to the mix!
From my perspective, journaling seems to be the best tool to help with this challenge. Journaling helps you explore these questions that life throws at you. By getting those thoughts out about the different situations you're dealing with you have something to reference when you want to address those issues in a song. You might not have a problem remembering the emotions you were feeling in those moments, but journaling will help you keep track of the thoughts you were having at the time and what you thought the answers were then. Perspectives can change and sometimes they change without us realizing it. Sometimes we change who we are, and even what we believe in, not because we have made a decision to do so, but because the world around us is forcing our perspectives to change. Journaling will prevent those changes from going unnoticed, which can offer you lyrical inspiration.
Life is a challenge and it just wouldn't be right if lyrics weren't a challenge as well. Not all of life's questions can be answered or have an answer that makes sense to us, but lyrics help us explore and at least try to understand. And sometimes the beauty is in trying.
~Eliza
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