Michael Joseph Woody|Career Archives

Songwriting as a Lyric-Delivery System

A Methodology for Aspiring Songwriters

From the book, $30 Music School,
Publisher: Thompson Course Technology
ISBN 1-59200-171-8

In Practice

So you want to be a songwriter?

Are you nuts? Are you sure you don't want to be the center of attention for a rapt crowd just because you're...you? Admit it if it's true. Treatment is available in the lobby.

Every song is a story. Every story has a lesson. What's yours?
Do you really have something to say or do you just want to be heard?

Cut the crap. Get to the point. Make it and get out of the way. Anything else is conceit.

But enough about you and me. I'll probably never know who you are and since I'm not trying to sell anything I don't have to make you like me. I'd rather tell you about this song and let its simple beauty win your heart.

Hey, I figure that if I explain something about the song, like how simple it is to write one like it, you might like it more and that means a lot more to me than being your next Disposable Entertainal Aural Fixation (D.E.A.F.) or Digital Urban Mind Bomb (D.U.M.B.)

No offense intended. We're all just naturally better off swallowing the truth, even if its so bitter it sometimes requires a spoonful of sugar to make it palatable. Write beautiful songs... just keep the loathsome metaphors to a minimum, please.

Repetitive music can be given interest by utilizing some or all of these suggestions:

Use variations in instrumental density.
Unless you're a Flipper clone, don't play everything at the same volume at the same time all the time. Even Flipper didn't do it all the time. Musical statements come in phrases so make sure they have sufficient time and space for a complete breath. Lyrics have to sink in. In "S.P.Q.A.", the music drops out at the end of verse four for an A Capella break into the Bridge giving such a breath before it launches into a full band sound that recedes for the fifth verse.

Use variations of instrumental dynamics.
The patented Soft/Loud/Soft = Verse/Chorus/Verse system popularized by Kurt Cobain is but one elegant illustration. As long as it serves the lyrics than anything goes, right?

Add periodic rhythmic embellishments and fills.
Or, have nothing but embellishments and fills. At least make the decision to use them or not. In "S.P.Q.A.", the snare, the toms, most of the guitars and the bass all add simple fills over their basic rhythms in various combinations at various times to compensate for the repetitive vocal meter.

Try variations in rhythmic density
but not in the basic rhythm itself. More than new chords, a different rhythm signals a significant change in a song. The A Capella break in "S.P.Q.A." also demonstrates this idea when the band drops out.

Resist repeating lyrics over repeating beats
unless you're make a point. The "to the White House" Bridge and the "There's more important things than peace, you know" Chorus in "S.P.Q.A." are examples of this idea.

Provide potent lyrics in the first place
so it matters less how polished their performance is. If Punk Rock proved one thing it proved that, no matter how raw, the right words over a great hook with sustained energy could change the world, even with mistakes.

Include sonic novelties:
Harmonies, clever rhymes, affected vocal styles, odd mouth sounds, recorded sound effects. Use sparingly and pointedly or risk becoming a one-joke novelty act like Spike Jones or Bobby McFerrin.

Act as a temporal sculptor.
Create the densest possible sound that works and then, take away various parts at various times to provide dynamic/dramatic ebb and flow.

This is just snack food for thought; to whet your appetite. I'm not offering advice on which musical seeds you should sow as much as I'm offering scraps for your compositional heap.

This presentation is called Songwriting As A Lyric Delivery System. Throughout it there are references to the song "S.P.Q.A." which are cited to illustrate various points. Though it may not be to your personal liking, for whatever reason, the song was chosen for three reasons:

It's mine to use
It illustrates the points I make
Not enough people have heard it

If you'll allow me #3 as my compensation for #1 providing #2 for your benefit, we can both come out ahead.

You may not particularly like the music or appreciate the intent of the lyrics and for that I offer a lament but be assured that, by acquainting yourself with the ideas behind the structure of this song, you'll be better able to express your displeasure in a song of your own. Isn't that the important thing? Isn't that why we're here?

With all that in mind, I wrote the song "S.P.Q.A." which translates, roughly, as "(to the) Senate and Public Of America."

To ancient history and/or film buffs (there aren't really any Latin buffs anymore, are there?), S.P.Q.A. will be recognized as a play on S.P.Q.R. or "SENATUS POPULUS QUE ROMANUS" signifying a council of elder leaders and a nation of people called Rome. As an acronym, it was a common design element in ancient Roman imperial decoration to remind the POPULUS and its SENATUS that the POPULUS (the tax paying business class) had a stake and a voice in ROMANUS and, so, involvement in the course of their lives. It almost certainly was intended to remind all others that they did not, could not, should not and, if it took a centurion to drive the point home, would not so don't ask.

In keeping with the spirit of the title, "S.P.Q.A." was conceived as an on-going public diatribe over a few simple chords with no significant changes in the hope that anyone who knew how to hold an instrument could master the song in 5 minutes and then sing or rant their own diatribes over it. I just happened to do it first. You're welcome to give it a go.

S.P.Q.A. is a forum for airing concerns about our republic. While the chords are, more or less, fixed, their arrangement & the lyrics are wide open, depending on the state of the union. I would prefer if they all maintained some rhyme and reason but it was only ever my intention to get the ball rolling so others could add to its momentum, in the right spirit, if they cared to.
I'm collecting variations so if you care to make one, send links to your downloadable MP3s to spqa2k@yahoo.com
"S.P.Q.A." utilizes eight chords over eight beats subdivided into two related four beat patterns; one ascending and one descending, in semi-tones, that is chromatically, from A Major to C and F# Majors, respectively.
Conveniently, all of those chords together use all twelve tones, which means just about any melody can be worked into the song if you hit it with a big enough hammer.
This also gives considerably more latitude when it comes time to play with how to drop in lyrics with different meters.

Anything else and the pattern changes beyond tolerance into a different pattern and, so, becomes a different song. Maybe even a more interesting song.

As I mentioned, I had to start somewhere and simple seemed best but now I can easily begin to incorporate more severe deviations from the Primary pattern in future recordings. Deviations like...

That would be a musical vanity here since this song exists as a lyric delivery system. Besides, I had to start somewhere, you know? There's only enough musical variation to maintain interest in the words, not to redirect it to the music behind the words. That can come later. First things first.
There are good reasons why this distinction is of concern, not least of which is to maintain listener focus on the point of the song. Maybe, if your song isn't about anything, than you can indulge in gimmickry, just like the pros do. Good luck.

Introduction | In Theory | In Practice | In Conclusion