The Process of Songwriting

I thought this might be a good first real entry for the blog...how I write songs.  Some of this applies to how I write poetry as well, but I'll do another post on how I write poetry that gets more in-depth, because for me each system is similar but they have some major differences as well.

Generally my ideas for songs come two ways--I either get a line in my head that I really like, or I have an overarching concept I want to capture.  Usually if I write a love song, I have the idea I want to capture, and I just find words for it, whereas most of my songs about darker things come from a line or two that I get stuck in my head.  This is not a set-in-stone process, but that's just generally how it happens.

But let's say I have a line I really like--just using a random one for an example, let's say I wanted to use the line "Despair is the basis of power."  The very first thing I would do after that is figure out how I'm going to structure the song--how many verses do I want?  2?  3?  more?  How many times do I want to repeat the chorus?  Is this line for the chorus or for a verse?  And what kind of rhyme scheme do I want to employ?  (I don't generally write songs that don't rhyme).  Once I figure these things out, I write the word "power," and any other main-ending words, on a Post-It attached to my songwriting page.  I write down every rhyme and near-rhyme I can think of...such as "hour," "dour," maybe even something like "raw."  Once I've done that, I can choose words that will fit the general tone of what I'm trying to get across.

When I use an overarching idea, the process is the same but I have to work more to come up with lines.  I have a song I wrote recently that will explain this process better.

Here is the situation that led to this song being written:  I found out that my ex-husband, Shadow (not his real name), has cancer, and the situation is not optimal.  The thought of him dying, whatever else may lie between us, upset me deeply, and I thought perhaps some of that emotion could make a good song.  So I sat down to write, and came up with a chorus I liked.

So many things I should be saying
But I don't know how to begin it
I just can't imagine a world
Without you
Without you in it.

Pretty straightforward, I think.  Then I decided that each time the chorus would change a little bit, because I like it when songwriters do that.  So I came up with a second chorus:

So much lip service I should be paying
But I don't know how to spin it
I just can't imagine a world
Without you
Without you in it.

After I wrote that, I wanted to write some verses.  I decided that the first verse would be 8 lines long, and have a rhyme scheme of ABCB DEFE, like so: (and I decided every verse following would be 4 lines long)

Even if I could save you
I don't know that I would
I'm building a bridge over the gulf between us
But I don't know that I should.

You've been on a distant planet
On your own lonely plain
Contact's been sporadic at best
And tinged with disdain.

So far fairly straightforward again.  This is obviously (to me) a song from one person who has been hurt deeply, but still feels some sympathy and wistfulness towards the person who hurt them.  Which is entirely the situation as it is.

I don't know how much all of you know about sonnets, but in general, at the end of a sonnet, they have a "turn."  That "turn" depends on the writer, but sometimes it's just another way of looking at what the rest of the sonnet said...and sometimes it completely turns the rest of the sonnet on its head.  And while I set out to write a heartbreaking song that also communicated somewhat of a sympathy, or a fellow-feeling...well, here's the entire song.  Check out the last iteration of the chorus.

Even if I could save you
I don't know that I would
I'm building a bridge over the gulf between us
But I don't know if I should.

You've been on a distant planet
On your own lonely plain
Contact's been sporadic at best
And tinged with disdain.

So many things I should be saying
But I don't know how to begin it
I just can't imagine a world
Without you
Without you in it.

What could I have done to heal?
Some wounds run too deep
As you've learned to your sorrow
The price is too steep.

So much lip service I should be paying
But I don't know how to spin it
I just can't imagine a world
Without you
Without you in it.

You're so insubstantial, standing there
You just seem to fade
And maybe I should've ignored the encore
Left after the last song played.

I know I shouldn't be staying
And I'll leave in a minute
I just can't imagine a world
Without you
Without you in it

I've played this game with you for years
And I'll never win it
My world should've never
Should've never
Had you in it.

You see?  That got a bit more bitter than I ever intended.  But I liked the result, and kept it.

One final note: this song is particular among the recent ones I've written in that it has a lot of internal rhymes and repetitions.  I find this makes a song (or a poem) more melodic.  For example, "insubstantial...standing" has a small echo in it.  Of course there are other examples, but I'll leave them for you to find.

I'm open to questions...but I of course plan to write more on this subject, so if you have a specific question, I may wait and address it in an upcoming post.