Amanda+Parks

My Indie-Folk Song Lyrics

Unfamiliar Genre Project Proposal What: Song Lyrics

Why: I love music. Aside from overall sound, the biggest attraction to a certain song or artist, for me, is the lyrics. They have to be sufficiently complex and poetic, but fit with the music as well. A good majority of my friends are talented musicians, and I greatly admire them for that, especially the ones who are able to write and perform their own music and lyrics. I do not know how to play a musical instrument, and I do not know anything about writing a song, so I feel like this will be a valuable learning experience.

What I Know: As I stated before, I know almost nothing about writing lyrics. I know that they can be about anything and have varying degrees of length and complexity. Lyrics should generally fit the tune or rhythm of music. The lyrics should generally rhyme, but there is really no rule stating that they have to.

//Dear Amanda: This could be challenging without any music to write to. It would probably be o.k. to use an already-published tune to write your lyrics to. Otherwise this is really a poetry project, i.e. writing poetry that could be singable. I think some lyricists may do this, but I'm not sure. //

//Bill //

//Dear Amanda: Looks like good secondary sources, but I am concerned that you are not narrowing down to a particular kind of song. The genre could be country, blues, rock, ballad-- numerous choices. You need to be more focused, so you have more useful guidelines to follow.//

//Bill//


 * Annotated Bibliography **

Bon Iver. For Emma, Forever Ago. Jagjaguwar, 2008. MP3.

The songs on this folk album are written to and about one person in particular, and thus the lyrics and melodies of each song are very heartfelt and emotionally packed. Rather than each song telling one story, it is really the entire album that is the story, and each song is a different piece. I admired the songwriter’s lyrics because they are simple, yet emotionally complex – a quality that I am looking to achieve in my own lyrics.

Edwards, Sean. [] accessed February 5, 2011

This article contains helpful suggestions for the beginner songwriter, such as emphasizing the importance of emotions in a song, being inspired by the music, and understanding where one's creativity comes from. These hints and tips also warn the potential songwriter of some of the pitfalls of song writing, such as too much rhyming and writer's block. In addition, it offers additional resources that the reader can look into for additional help.

Fleet Foxes. Fleet Foxes. Bella Union, 2008. MP3.

What I admire most about this album is the complex music that the lyrics are set to, because it is definitely folk music at its best. The lyrics are also beautiful and match perfectly with the music. This album serves to me as the pinnacle of music writing achievement (particularly in folk music).

Frederick, Robin. [] accessed February 5, 2011.

This is an article that acts as a step-by-step guide to the songwriting procress for the more popular type of music genres. Frederick has developed several useful exercises for developing the lyrics and melodies of a song and provides the reader with additional resources to help them in the song writing process. This is a good resource for individuals who have never written lyrics or a melody before.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Jaymay. “Gray or Blue”. Autumn Fallin’. Heavenly Records, 2007. MP3.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Whenever I thought about writing lyrics, this song would instantly start playing in my head. My boyfriend plays the ukulele, so it is an instrument that I have become accustomed to hearing, and I think that Jaymay uses it well in this song. I based many of my lyrics to the tune of this song.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Moxey, John. [] accessedFebruary 6, 2011

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This article emphasizes the fact that lyrics are not only born out of emotion, but conventional learning and formal writing instruction as well. A lyricist needs to be familiar with typical song structure as well as different rhyming mechanisms that can be used in a song. This helps in both writing a song and to understand what isn't working in a song.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Schulman, Arnold. [] accessed February 6, 2011

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This article gives the reader a detailed outline of a song to work with to assist with writing lyrics, which includes the number of melodies, the number of verses, the number of stanzas in each verse, and the rhyming scheme for the song. Schulman gives a list of rules to follow, which he insists are important for lyricists to become familiar with before they can begin experimenting (i.e. break the rules).


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">User’s Guide to Song Lyrics **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Humans have been writing songs for thousands of years. Why? Because songwriting is one of the best creative expressions of emotions that humans know. Songwriters develop songs that are deep-seated in emotions, ones that not only they have felt, but that their audience has felt as well. We listen to songs for the same reason that most artists write them – to express what uttered words cannot.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Song lyrics differ from poetry in that they are written to or accompanied by music. The lyrics go hand-in-hand with the melody to create the song in its entirety. Song lyrics can come in a variety of structures, but the most common in modern society in the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus format. The verses of the song are where the story, detail, images, etc. are told. A verse is typically sung only once, as opposed to the chorus which is repeated several times throughout the song. The chorus is where the main message of the song is told, where the most feeling is typically conveyed. The chorus typically retains the same words each time it is sung, although occasionally it is changed the last time that it is sung. The bridge is normally the part of the song that prepares the listener for the end of the song, and is only sung once during the song. It is also the part of the song that differs melodically from the rest of the song as well.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Songs can come in a variety of genres – such as rock, pop, metal, indie, folk, etc. - and a number of styles as well. Songs can be very short, such as Relient K’s 12 second “Crayons Can Melt on Us for All I Care” or The Decemberist’s 12 minute “The Island”. It all depends on how long you need to convey your story or message. Songwriters also typically incorporate rhyme schemes in songs, although where and how often the rhyming is done differs between genres and musical artists. Songs also differ stylistically in their musical accompanyment, which can range from one instrument to many, slow to fast, and soft to loud. It all depends on the writer's preference, or what they believe best fits the words.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The audience for songwriters is essentially people who have ever felt or are feeling the same way they do. Musical artists write songs for humanity in general in mind – whether it be their fans across the world, people who like only one of their songs, or people who are just listening to them for the first time. And, of course, Songwriters write songs for themselves, to do something creative with what they’re feeling and share it with others.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Indie Folk music tends to be characterized by complex instrumentation and lyricism, drawing influences from both traditional folk music and the more recent indie rock genre. Like the lyrics of traditional folk music and indie rock, the lyrics of indie folk are intended to tell a story. The only difference is that they do it with a wide variety of instruments – mainly whatever is available to them, or whatever best fits the lyrics. Examples of famous indie folk bands include The Fleet Foxes, The Decemberists, Bon Iver, and Jaymay.