Songwriting Rules of the Road (at least in, and ONLY in my opinion)...

[citizenk74]

Always glad to read your thoughts, Joel! I get one occasionally, but usually lose it while fumbling with this blessed machine....

[joelf]

Another thing I do when penning lyrics -- or writing prose, which I do as a hobby -- is paying close attention to meter, internal rhyme/echo, alliteration...

Great to have stumbled onto this thread after some time. My own views have changed, and Mark had a lot to say that makes very good sense.

Re inner and near rhyme, and other inventive wordplay it doesn't get much better than this opening Jones-Schmidt song from The Fantasticks---here sung by the original El Gallo, Jerry Orbach:

Highlights for me: 'When you were a tender and callow fellow' (near rhymes with the end word rhyming with 'Grain was yellow'---always tied to 'And if you remember then follow'). Also 'When no one wept except the willow'.

If they were showing off they had every reason to!

[joelf]

Mercer is one of my favorite lyricists. His mix of sophistication (-he wrote the lyric for "Satin Doll"--wish he had written more for Ellington!) and folksiness ("Folks around these parts get the time of day / From the Atchison, Topeka & the Santa Fe") have had a profound influence on me because some of his lines strike me as being as good as it gets.

Agreed. One of mine, too. The homilies and Southern images transport me there.

Do you know the story of how Barry Manilow got wind of the deceased Mercer's lyric to When October Goes and wrote a beautiful melody to it?

Mercer's lyric was lying in his dresser draw, (Manilow and Mercer were already friends, largely b/c Mandy, Mercer's daughter, was also the name of Manilow's first smash hit). Manilow found out about the lyric, requested to Mercer's widow to look at it, and wrote a melody that made me realize what a pro he is, pomp and pageantry aside. The lesson for me: never sell anyone short til you know the whole story. He did a bang-up job.

And gave the premier recording to Nancy Wilson---a wise insurance policy:

[A. Kingstone]

Pretty song. Reading Alec Wilder's book I realise how many great songs I've missed.

[joelf]

I deleted some of my more incendiary posts here. I'm ashamed and embarrassed by what a critical a-hole I was when I wrote them a few years back. WTF! I'm a musician, a work in progress at that, not a critic. Who was I to be so damn judgemental towards lyricists (and even a few jazz composers) who've been at songwriting and successfully for many, many years? I only started writing lyrics in 2003, and the early ones stunk up the joint. Some of the later ones are better, some even good. But those people whose work I had the gall to trash have been way better way longer. And made good money at it and have been recognized, unlike myself (though there's still time for that). I'm ashamed that I came off like a typical jealous wannabe critic and not a musician.

I'm not that guy anymore, at least. That'll help my writing and my view of my betters, b/c everything starts with thought---good or bad, per the Buddhists and others having wisdom. Better to seek the good and think good thoughts. We all are entitled to our opinions and taste, especially those that can actually do the thing. But there are lines not to be crossed.

And we know what they say about opinions...