Why should that matter? Well, it means we “forgive” the differences in song when they deviate from pure speech rules. Speech tends to be left-brain dominant, while it’s largely the right brain that processes song. And here we’re helped by the way we process speech as opposed to songs in our brains. Luckily, there are other tools in the songwriting kit to bring into play. Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)” “I ain’t gonna do you wrong while you’re goneĪin’t gonna do you wrong cause I don’t wanna It seems that using either one strategy or the other makes a song really successful.
When selling the conversational angle, tread lightly with other lyrical styles, since they’ll distract from the authenticity of that tone and the impact of your message.
By using everyday conversation in lyrics, to some extent, songwriters have to let go of some of the other lyrical tools available to them - because most lyrical writing does not reflect how we tend to speak. There’s also another fishhook to be aware of here, cast a bit deeper down there in the murk of technique. It has to be a story told via language that sounds like conversation, but is also artistically done (perhaps making use of allusion, fragmentation, abstraction, etc.). It still has to contain a universally identifiable message, one that listeners can be moved by - personal, but not too specific to the songwriter’s life alone. Is the tone right for the character? Have we provided enough “real life” detail to be deeply involved in the experience of the song, as if we were really there?Īnd second, simultaneously, the lyric needs to be something more than just a transcribed conversation. The lyrics create an intimate moment, inviting us to eavesdrop - and boy, do we lean in! But like many aspects of songwriting, while writing in conversational lyric may sound simple, that doesn’t mean it’s a piece of cake to execute.Ĭonversational lyrics raise two almost contradictory issues for a songwriter.įirst, we need to believe in the authenticity of the lyric. Right from the get go, “Hello” basically snatches entire snippets of everyday conversation, delivering a crystal clear meaning. I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet
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