Nashville Ear

The Lyricist's Toolkit

by Robert Childs

How to hew, hammer and hone your lyrics. Some tools you can use.

The lyricist is a word craftsperson who smoothes and hones words so that they are appropriate to the mood of a song and convey to the listener what was intended by the writer. In fact, a very interesting book written by Sheila Davis in the mid 1980s was entitled The Craft of Lyricwriting. That book is still worth reading although you might not agree with everything that Davis says as she writes from her particularly American (and New York) background.

Any craftworker usually has a range of tools at hand. The craftworker might not always use those tools and there might be some that are never used but there is usually one tool, at least, that gets continuous use and which helps establish the craftperson's style. And any one of the other tools might be used only occasionally to provide that added touch that transforms a block of wood or a lump of clay or a heap of scrap metal into a masterpiece.

So what tools can a lyricist use? The answer seems transparently obvious. The tool for most is a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. Added to this are the inner workings of the lyricist's mind, usually, but not always, in solitude and often in the wee hours after midnight. For the more technology conscious, the pen and paper might be replaced by a computer or word processor and some lyricists write only with a musical instrument at hand and let the melody dictate the lyric they are writing.

This does seem obvious but there are many less obvious tools that the lyricist can employ and many of the most successful do use them as they see fit.

Dictionary

A good dictionary is essential for anybody working with words , not only for spelling but for meanings and nuances previously unknown to the lyricwriter. English is a very dynamic language and the stock of words is continually being added to, so the dictionary you had at High School might no longer contain the latest words or meanings. Even so, how many of the hundreds of thousands of words available to us do we use in normal speech. let alone our lyricwriting?

Clearly the lyricist must not be too abstruse for his or her audience but neither is there the need for continued monosyllabic platitudes in lyricwriting when the full richness of the language is as close as that dictionary with 20 years accumulated dust on it.

Some writers use more than one dictionary since the meanings can differ slightly and these can be used to colour the lyrics. Look in any well stocked bookshop's reference section and you will find an immense variety of dictionaries.

Thesaurus

Many writers supplement a good dictionary with a thesaurus (originally derived from the concept and the classification system of Peter Roget. Some thesauruses are simply referred to as a Roget's). The thesaurus comes in handy when you want to pursue a theme in a lyric but want to avoid using the same word all the time. The thesaurus can also stimulate other ideas and lead your thoughts into new paths.

Just as the dynamic nature of our language affects the currency of dictionaries, so it is wise to update thesauruses from time to time to encompass new words and meanings. Penguin have published an affordable Thesaurus which is based on Roget's original classification whilst Macquarie have a Thesaurus with a different structure which is tuned to the Australian idiom.

Rhyming Dictionaries

These are a particular subsection of dictionaries specifically designed for poets and lyricists. Generally they do not define words as dictionaries do but they merely list words that rhyme. As such they perhaps could better be called "Rhyming Lists "

Usually the rhymes are grouped according to the main vowel sounds, then according to the associated consonant alphabetically. Within that subsystem, sounds can be grouped as single syllable, double syllable and sometimes even triple and quadruple syllable rhymes.

Some lyricists scorn rhyming dictionaries and, certainly, it can become too easy to reach for the list of rhymes rather than put a little thought into the rhyming structure of a lyric. Nevertheless, how many lyricists have wasted a considerable amount of time physically listing all the rhyming words they can think of, only to lose the thread of what they were writing and the impetus of the creative process? Used sensibly, a rhyming dictionary can be a very useful tool in the lyricist's toolkit.

Candles and Sweatbands

Lyricwriting certainly tends to be 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. What's worse is that the flame of inspiration often flickers out and physical circumstances often conspire to thwart the lyric craftworker from working on and completing a masterpiece. These circumstances are common to almost all lyricwriters and probably all creative people. Some lyricists have developed definite techniques for coping with the moments when inspiration dries up or the physical environment is not conducive to creativity. These might include activities such as reading, listening to music, walking the dog, sleeping or removing oneself to more conducive surroundings. Only you can decide what's best for you. Even so it might be helpful to understand the nature of the creative process and to learn some of the techniques for overcoming "writer's (i.e. lyricwriter's) block".

Two books which can help you understand how to use your most useful and most complex tool - your own mind - are Writing on Both Sides of the Brain by Henriette Anne Klauser and the highly recommended Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande published by Macmillan. The latter was written in 1934 but it anticipates much of the later research about the creative right-sidedness and logical left-sidedness of the brain.

Both books suggest very useful techniques that can help you separate your creative moments and your desire to edit what you've just written (the logical left hemisphere of the brain taking over from the creative right hemisphere). Creativity, for example is often easier when you are just slipping into or just coming out of sleep. Perhaps this is why so many lyricists (and writers in general) burn the midnight oil. Not only are there fewer distractions (the TV is off, the family is all in bed asleep) but their logical processes are not as acute because they're physically so tired. This can work against you if you fall asleep!

Another suggestion is to make a binding contract with yourself to write at a certain time of day without fail, no matter what the circumstances and no matter what you write.

So there can be a lot more in the lyricist's toolkit than just a pad and pencil. If you are happy and, on top of that, successful with your lyricwriting and you don't have any of these items in your toolbox, don't worry, indeed, congratulations! But if the words won't come or when they do you're still dissatisfied, consider the craft worker who hews, hammers and hones and put ,yourself in that person's place.