I haven't got into the video, but now I know which song it's about! I started fitting your words to "Yesterday", but it got harder with each word. "Takin' it slow" was the dead giveaway! Well done!
James Paul McCartney, writing these words in the sixties when he was alone... He was so young Look at him working, talking to Shotton and Martin to finish the song... Where have they gone? All the music lovers, just listen and sing along All the music lovers, nostalgic before the dawn
Not all JPM. There are specific acknowledged contributions from John. Whether true or not we may never know, but John also claimed that Paul only had the first verse when he presented the demo.
This is, hands-down, the best analysis of Beatles songwriting that I've ever heard. This is why Lennon-McCartney [together, because they somehow lost it without each other] are a cut above everybody else as songwriters- Dylan, Jagger/Richards, Brian Wilson's many lyricists, Townshend, etc. It was right in front of my face, but I never saw it. Kudos to you on this superlative work of analysis.
@@PeterOlschnerMusic But nothing as iconic. Looking through their individual catalogs, a few are great, a fair number are good, a lot are filler. There's hardly any filler in the Beatles catalog.
@@cardona89 that's not true, they were best friends and part of being in a band is writing songs together! You're right that they would usually bring a preliminary version of the song to the table when they worked on it a bit individually at first
I love your alternative line! I've just suggested an alternative ending: "Somebody told me, searching for answers to questions of fortune and fame turns us insane." I tried to stick to the exact number of notes:)
Yes that works. This is very informative and fun to do. I have written quite a few songs ( still waiting to be discovered), and going back over them have found lve tended to do this intuitively which l suppose is a good sign. I’m in the process of writing the verses to something lm quite excited about and will put this to use.
You should read the book, Beatlesongs. Filled with who-wrote-what and stories of their recording sessions. For instance, the line "darning his socks in the night" was contributed by Ringo. Isn't it fascinating that the two "lonely people" in the song, Eleanor and the priest, eventually cross paths in the song, but too late to ease their loneliness.
As a lover of poetry at school many, many years ago, this has always been something that came naturally to me when writing songs. I have always felt that little attention has been given to this important technique when exploring "Song Writing" Books and more recently videos. Conversely, in poetry and song lyrics, It is "easy" to take a lazy way out and change the order of words in a phrase (as with rhyming) and cause the subsequent lines to be akward and sound false. This is sometimes seen in poetry but sounds even worse in a song, which I always feel should be more natural. It's great to see this explained in a simple and understandable way. Good job and well done.
well pointed out at 9:00 Same thing: It alwas annoyed me, when Simon & Garfunkel sang (Sound Of Silence) e.g. "hear my words that I MI_ITE teach you" with the WRONG emphasis of "might" and not "TEACH" Meanwhile Paul Simon gets it way way better in his solo performances the last 20 or 30 years "hear my words that I mght TEACH you...there are other examples in that song
‘Sister of mercy, walking amidst all the beds in the places she’s been.’ That came to mind immediately. If I was putting it in a song I’d use a nurse as a theme.
Really great! On a bit of a technical level, it's interesting that if you sing the word 'amidst' to the melody, you can hear that there's a little bit too much melodic time on the syllable 'midst', right? In the Beatles lyric, the 'i' in 'rice' is a long vowel sound, which is why it maps onto the melody. If you swapped 'amidst' for 'among', it sounds a little more natural ;)
McCartney didn't write the chorus (George Harrison did). Ringo added, "darning her socks in the night"...John added "half a line" according to Paul. Pete Shotton (John's best friend) wrote the story line of Father MacKenzie conducting the graveside service of Eleanor Rigby that really makes the song so classic and poignant. It's an example of synergy where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: collaboration working better than competition.
@myguitardetective5961 John would've added something, because that's how they worked, still, before they became even more independent. I've never heard about all the other bits being added? I thought it was very Paul. I know Paul said the ideas came from real life experiences, an older lady he use to visit out of kindness and seeing the name on a grave stone....
One of the two, I think John, helped George compose Something in a similar way. Not with the lyrics specifically, but how to get to the intention of the lyrics by adding in similar words when he got stuck. So the original lyric was something like " Something in the way she moves, attracts me like a watermelon...." That's probably not exactly it but explains the jist I think. George later went back and incorporated the classic line we have today. Always thought that was rather neat !
@@jayrussell3796 George mentioned as well that John gave him songwriting advice but that Paul couldn’t be bothered to help. There was a reason that Ringo and George worked on John’s projects post-Beatles but not Paul’s. I’m glad they managed to mend fences in 1990s…at least to some extent…
Great lesson!! A fellow music educator, I am more knowledgeable of instrumental music, but I’m also an instrumental composer/arranger, so this lesson helps me understand more about the verbal/textual considerations. Much appreciated!!
Thank you for putting this to light! Back in school I used to intentionally have an earworm from a song and thought about changing the lyrics for fun; it seems that highlighting & replacing those words that has a strong and weak rhythm makes sense and flows well to the ear. It reminds me that it relates to poetry in a sense where they focus on words that rolls off the tongue smoothly and playing around the stressed and unstressed syllables.
I don't consider myself a songwriter but I used to write parody lyrics just for fun. I really like the way you break down everything involved in finding those lyrical combinations that work. Makes me wish I had a better understanding of chording and other music theory.
Here is below the song Jimi plays and sings, with some backwards reverse direction pre recorded electronic dubbing cuts in the tracks for effects. Mitch is embellishing on drums and Noel is keeping steady on bass. He did a lot of this at Electric Lady Studios that he built in NYC in Greenwich Village.
The most important factor in this song was George Martin's orchestral work on writing for the double string quartet. The 2nd most important factor was Harrison's contribution of the "Ahhhhh Look At All The Lonely People" at the start of the tune. Without those two factors, it simply wouldn't be a memorable song at all.
Such a nice video! Great explanation that counting syllables is just half of the ingredients. The great thing about songwriting is that it's a craft where you kind of construct your own rules per section of the song, and then you have to puzzle how to make everything fit. Not only the syllables and rhymes of each line, but also which words notes are accented. With words there's no room to change the accents of the syllables, but notes are more neutral. So I guess starting with writing the lines is way easier than starting with a melody. And I think that in the natural flow of language the melody is already there, in hiding. You just have to exaggerate and expand it.
hey! Just wanted to say that this is a great video. I'm new to the channel but started learning guitar recently and getting into songwriting a bit. Looking forward to exploring more of your content.
This channel is great! Keep playing it's frustrating at first but worth it! Also would you check out my album Separate Checks by A Keithing ? I swear you'll love it!
I strongly recommend to listen to (if you've not yet) the cult British progressive rock band Gentle Giant. Their main composer and also the only keyboardist & cellist, occasional percussionist and singer Kerry Minnear was PhD in composition from London Music Academy. You will notice it immediately in their music. Their works are an open and free source for anyone to comprehend how to write music in an intricate yet professional way. They made very simple songs like "Think of me with kindness" (where you can hear Kerry singing, btw), also complex multi-layered songs made of simple pieces like an incredibly-arranged "As old as you're young", also complex multi-layered extravaganza like "Cogs in cogs", also totally experimental songs like "So sincere" almost fully performed in triplets. They also created vocal canons and fugas like those in "Knots" and "On reflection". Violin-driven ballads ("Funny ways"), Beatlesque McCarney'esque ballads ("Isn't it quiet and cold?"), acoustic guitar-driven ballads ("Memories of old days"). Concept albums, sort of rock operas - the album "Three friends". Finally, straightforward rockers - "The power and the glory", "Why not?", "Wreck". Kerry Minnear, a very humble, kind man definitely deserves the world-wide fame for his creativity and virtuosity on keyboards. And the band's songs offer a fruitful material for learning how to make compositions. Kerry rarely played solos, he mostly composed like a machine and played like a robot. He has a natural feel for music, sense of melody. An incredible phenomenon!
One of the most interesting and helpful videos I've watched from this channel so far. Thanks Keppie! Here's come my lyrics btw: "Sitting in my armchair, texting my friend from the States, all the good times we shared"
"Living in limbo, waiting for something or someone to show me the way, maybe today." "Show me a symbol, give me a sign or a message, don't lead me astray, make it okay."
It's a lot less complicated when you start writing a song by coming up a phrase to a melody in your head (like the Beatles did), and then writing the music second, than retrospectively analysing a song and then trying to re-write alternative lyrics over the top. Take the phrase "Eleanor Rigby" - there's a natural cadence in the way it's said that lends itself to the initial two chords and - in part - the initial melody. Once you have that, the rest of the song follows naturally. It also helps if you can sing.
I think this is the third video i a week that mentions this concept, that I have seen. I am not a native English speaker and this seems quit difficult to me. (Even though my native langrage have the same concept and that we both make fun with it and it is an easy tell that someone it not a native speaker.) I liked this video for being really focused and having good examples. But I clearly needs to practice this a lot, to master this. But I will try to notise this more in songs that I really like. Thanks for a good video. I think it is one of your best over the last frem months. But it might just be because I needed it more than some of the other tips or maybe I just value the rhythm of the lyrics more than other part of song writhing. How know. Right video at the right time.
Thank you for the video! I already submitted my manuscript to archway. It’s sort of a faux, found, memoir. This weekend I will incorporate your suggestions into my final changes! Cheers!
I haven't seen all of this yet but I will but my initial thought following the intro is that it's horses for courses the parameters can be thought of as inspiring rather than an obstacle. Every songwriter is different. I don't struggle with lyrics and that doesn't make me any better or worse than a songwriter who does... Cohen claimed he wrote hallelujah but it took him years and Lennon wrote fast.. some people think in rhythm and repetition form when they're inspired to do so at times and other times they write a less structured less catchy song if that fits the inspiration better.. the reason why people say writing a catchy pop song is harder is because to literally sit down and say I'm gonna write a catchy wonderful poppy hit is not necessarily easy.. but its easy to write one if you suddenly have a tiny bit of inspiration before or during the process of writing. Cohen claimed he took 5 years to write hallelujah and Lennon wrote very quicky.. everyone is different.. sometimes following a strict structure and rhythm can be as inspirational as it is limiting to others. It works differently for different people at different times I'd suggest... But don't slag off my stupidity too much I'm rambling cos I haven't slept yet and was watching the vid with sleepy eyes
If you think about it, there is something about the accent Paul giving a rhythm and melody only by reading the lyrics aloud. His talent is in the ease of giving a little push to the melody into conjunction with a harmony and rhythm.
Thank you so much for this video! Although I do aspire to become a songwriter, I am still working on simply becoming a better musician first. But every now and then a lyric will really pull at my ear in a bad way. Now, I not only know what was probably wrong with that lyric, but why it was so difficult to re-write it when I would try to figure out in my own mind what a better lyric might be.
“A vessel of great might / Was hewn of solid gold / Masts billowed in the air / On seas beyond compare There Venus came in sight / Bare-skinned with tousled hair / Spread upon the prow for sunlight to behold But then came fateful night / A great reef sealed her doom / In the deceiving ocean / Wherein sirens sing Her hull was tilted forth / The wreck slipped tapering / Down to the chasm's depths / Toward a silent tomb A vessel hewn of gold / Diaphanous as air / Revealed its treasure hold / To vulgar sailors, there Disgust and Hate and Fear / Amongst themselves did rage / The vessel's gone amiss / In sudden storm it seems / What's happened to my heart, lost on the thankless waves? / Alas! It sank into the dark abyss... of dreams”
Very interesting breakdown of how music is constructed particularly by the those genius performers..... The Beatles and I must say you really know your stuff and you have a beautiful signing voice......I wish I was more intelligent or informed to follow your description of this content.!!!!!!
Great lesson, I'm not speaking english very well, but I undestan many thins about to constructions for songwrite and the power strong for the Notes and Rythm with the syllables. Thank you.
Yes, I made a point earlier about Elton John making Taupin's Lyrics fit into his melodies. You don't have to limit the song searching for the perfect rhyme
Keppie, this is helpful, and it's great for me to verify that my songwriting is getting quite good, with increasing frequency. However I'm struggling more with other things that lend themselves more organically to other people, like starting a band, getting the word out, and making the songs heard out there. Are you thinking of discussing those other topics? (In case you haven't done so already!). Cheers.
This is awesome.. ive been on these ideas myself very heavy recently. so cool. If I could make a suggestion, the reverb on her regular speaking voice is really really distracting to me, I can't actual hear what she's saying because I just keep listening to that lol. I think dry is better for talking personally. but great video!
sample of Jimi Hendrix song. Castles made of Sand:[Verse 1] Down the street you can hear her scream "You're a disgrace" As she slams the door in his drunken face And now he stands outside And all the neighbors start to gossip and drool He cries "Oh girl, you must be mad What happened to the sweet love you and me had?" Against the door he leans and starts a scene And his tears fall and burn the garden green [Chorus] And so castles made of sand Fall in the sea eventually [Verse 2] A little Indian brave who before he was ten Played war games in the woods with his Indian friends And he built a dream that when he grew up He would be a fearless warrior, Indian Chief Many moons passed, and more the dream grew strong Until tomorrow he would sing his first war song And fight his first battle But something went wrong Surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night [Chorus] And so castles made of sand Melts into the sea eventually See rock shows near Asbury Park Get tickets as low as $38 You might also like So Long, London Taylor Swift So High School Taylor Swift I Can Do It With a Broken Heart Taylor Swift [Verse 3] There was a young girl whose heart was a frown 'Cause she was crippled for life and she couldn't speak a sound And she wished and prayed she could stop living So she decided to die She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore And to her legs she smiled, "You won't hurt me no more" But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say "Look, a golden winged ship is passing my way" And it really didn't have to stop It just kept on going [Outro] And so castles made of sand Slips into the sea eventually
I partially agree, but lyrics are only a part of a good song - a strong characterful melody is also important, and imho more so. In Eleanor Rigby the melody is repeated ( and if it is weak it's weak several times) while there are several verses with the same rhythm but different words, for instance if the 3rd verse is slightly less convincing it won't harm the song very much ... but a weak 1st verse WILL ...
This is called "metrics" and are studied in poems. Eleanor Rigby is written in dactyls. "Eleanor Rigby, sits by the, bed in the, night she can't, sleep any, more. Not like be, fore"... Songwriters really should study metrics. It's immensely helpful.
I heard from George Harrison that he contributed a few lines from Eleanor Rigby in response to John Lennon's statement that he helped out a few lyrics for the song Taxman and asking why John was not mentioned from the book of I Me Mine to acknowledge him or something. Maybe that's the answer of George for not being acknowledged also for contributing some lyrics for the Beatles and even the titles like George suggested the title, She Said, She Said, and Sexy Sadie instead of "Maharishi" what have you done.... These are the revelations that I remember. One more I think George also contributed lyrics for Yellow Submarine but not so sure about that.
Oh My Bejeesus! You were Spot on all the time! The absolute BEST approach, my English teacher - teaching me meter in prose! I hate you! Soooo, love you!!!
First, poetries have rhythm such as Iambic for instance, lyrics must have within its phrase that poetic rhythm on which its syllabication must be arranged such that its accent must fall on the exact accent of the music; rhythm accent of the music is either the snare drum accent or bass drum, or its syncopated variation. So first master the rhythm of poetry (not prose or essay without measure). Then lay down the measured lyrics within the bars of the melody with each accent (snare or drum) matches the accent of the poetic phrase. Of course the rhymes must also be apparent at each end of the lines. I've written an original melody song including its lyrics within 25 minutes, all because I literally heard it all "silently" in my mind's third ear. That's exactly what songwriters experience as frequencies from the farthest realm can be accessed in the mind once you are overwhelmed with mystical inspiration. John Lennon have said and experienced that; George Harrison on composing "Here Comes The Sun" heard the melodies in his mind before writing it down Also Eddie Van Halen said on one of his interviews, he hears the melodies in his mind and just executes it on his guitar. Real songwriters must develop this technoque to be effective.
Hate to be a wet blanket but I really doubt Lennon and McCartney put a lot of conscious thought into the creative process, it seemed to flow out of them naturally. While instructors are usually the ones coming from the opposite direction, dissecting and analyzing after the fact. My advice is to learn as much as you're able to but more importantly to enjoy the process on your own terms and beware of formulas.
I don't understand what the title of this video has to do with the content of the video. Did I miss something? Where does she talk about why this Beatles song is almost impossible to write?
I totally agree and there's too much clickbait on youtube where something maybe controversial in the title is never even mentioned in the film itself. It seems to be happening more often recently.
Agree on all points, though all these years later I find the song "Imagine" as quite trite. The lyrics are something I'd expect from a freshmen in college after a few weeks of "Communism 101." It's an example of a talented person having free rein and the result isn't as good as when he's working within restrictions and having it critiqued by others. (And that was the best song on the album).
this was massively import to McCartney, but not as much to Lennon, who would alter the rhythm to match the words at times, adding extra measures and beats, or changing time signatures
Now that I've practiced And analyzed what we call a two-syllable word, Free as a bird, Look at me flying Higher and higher above all that's dull and mundane, Singing again; Paul and George and Ringo And John, where are you now? All the gifts you gave us - How did you do that? How?
Without love, without feelings, without going through the difficulties of life, without the will to win, without love for music, life will not have a melodic construction in any aspect.
Hello from Belgium. So many songs of the sixties have been translated from english to french and most of the time they seem a bit odd. Do languages have their own rythm patterns so that it might be hard if not impossible to find lyrics matching a melody ? Do that rythm of language influence the music that comes out ?
Dexy's "Oh Geno", a great tune but the lyrics feel shoe-horned in: "You were Mi-CHAEL the lover"... "THAT man TOOK the STAGE his towel WAS swingin' HIGH"
On a side note (no pun intended), it has been said that the cello is the instrument that sounds most like the human voice. With the verse “Father McKenzie, picks up the rice …”, Paul’s voice sounds most like the cello as they play and sing together!
After about half the video I ended up scrubbing through the rest, in hopes that she was actually going to talk about the harmonic changes outlined in the thumbnail for this video, but it never seemed to happen.☹️ Misleading thumbnails in RUclips are very annoying.
Went to McDonalds, ordered a shake and some fries and a burger to go. Takin’ it slow.
Avoided McDonalds today for the 1571 day. Soooo happy!😃
Lmao nice
I haven't got into the video, but now I know which song it's about!
I started fitting your words to "Yesterday", but it got harder with each word. "Takin' it slow" was the dead giveaway!
Well done!
I see what you did there. I'm a beliver.
That was awesome!!! 🙂
James Paul McCartney, writing these words in the sixties when he was alone... He was so young
Look at him working, talking to Shotton and Martin to finish the song... Where have they gone?
All the music lovers, just listen and sing along
All the music lovers, nostalgic before the dawn
Bravo!
Beautiful, and in keeping with the mood of the song!
All the music lovers just listen, sing along (repeat)
Not all JPM. There are specific acknowledged contributions from John. Whether true or not we may never know, but John also claimed that Paul only had the first verse when he presented the demo.
@@Notalloldpeople John also claimed that he was just a jealous guy, didn't he?.
“Breaking a window, climbing inside just to find all the memories have gone. Did she do wrong?”
This is, hands-down, the best analysis of Beatles songwriting that I've ever heard. This is why Lennon-McCartney [together, because they somehow lost it without each other] are a cut above everybody else as songwriters- Dylan, Jagger/Richards, Brian Wilson's many lyricists, Townshend, etc. It was right in front of my face, but I never saw it. Kudos to you on this superlative work of analysis.
They wrote some pretty good songs individually as well :)
@@PeterOlschnerMusic But nothing as iconic. Looking through their individual catalogs, a few are great, a fair number are good, a lot are filler. There's hardly any filler in the Beatles catalog.
They never wrote songs together. They agreed the "Lennon/McCartney", but they wrote the songs individually.
@@cardona89 that's not true, they were best friends and part of being in a band is writing songs together! You're right that they would usually bring a preliminary version of the song to the table when they worked on it a bit individually at first
@@cardona89Schwachsinn!
Thanks for the info, I'll take it and use it as I start to write even more. You've opened a door.
You're such a w****..😮
“Somebody told me, searching for answers to questions of fortune and fame, is often in vain”.
I love your alternative line! I've just suggested an alternative ending: "Somebody told me, searching for answers to questions of fortune and fame turns us insane." I tried to stick to the exact number of notes:)
Yes that works. This is very informative and fun to do. I have written quite a few songs ( still waiting to be discovered), and going back over them have found lve tended to do this intuitively which l suppose is a good sign. I’m in the process of writing the verses to something lm quite excited about and will put this to use.
@@petersanders2815 I hope it works out for you! I write too.
@@petersanders2815 good luck with your project 👍
I would leave off "is."
"...and fame, often in vain..."
You should read the book, Beatlesongs. Filled with who-wrote-what and stories of their recording sessions. For instance, the line "darning his socks in the night" was contributed by Ringo. Isn't it fascinating that the two "lonely people" in the song, Eleanor and the priest, eventually cross paths in the song, but too late to ease their loneliness.
As a lover of poetry at school many, many years ago, this has always been something that came naturally to me when writing songs. I have always felt that little attention has been given to this important technique when exploring "Song Writing" Books and more recently videos. Conversely, in poetry and song lyrics, It is "easy" to take a lazy way out and change the order of words in a phrase (as with rhyming) and cause the subsequent lines to be akward and sound false. This is sometimes seen in poetry but sounds even worse in a song, which I always feel should be more natural. It's great to see this explained in a simple and understandable way. Good job and well done.
well pointed out at 9:00 Same thing:
It alwas annoyed me, when Simon & Garfunkel sang (Sound Of Silence) e.g. "hear my words that I MI_ITE teach you" with the WRONG emphasis of "might" and not "TEACH"
Meanwhile Paul Simon gets it way way better in his solo performances the last 20 or 30 years "hear my words that I mght TEACH you...there are other examples in that song
‘Sister of mercy, walking amidst all the beds in the places she’s been.’
That came to mind immediately. If I was putting it in a song I’d use a nurse as a theme.
Dark!
Really great! On a bit of a technical level, it's interesting that if you sing the word 'amidst' to the melody, you can hear that there's a little bit too much melodic time on the syllable 'midst', right? In the Beatles lyric, the 'i' in 'rice' is a long vowel sound, which is why it maps onto the melody. If you swapped 'amidst' for 'among', it sounds a little more natural ;)
@@htws or 'between' . walking between all the beds in the places she's been.
Really loved this one! I'm a drummer and songwriter. Rhythms and accents are exactly how I think about melody and lyrics.
Walking in sunshine,
Loving the feel of the warmth on my face!
Seafaring Josie, waits on the dock for a boat that the tide never brings. Fishing for rings
Perfect 😢
Maybe it's almost impossible to write, because McCartney didn't read or write music, he worked by ear and intuition.
McCartney didn't write the chorus (George Harrison did). Ringo added, "darning her socks in the night"...John added "half a line" according to Paul. Pete Shotton (John's best friend) wrote the story line of Father MacKenzie conducting the graveside service of Eleanor Rigby that really makes the song so classic and poignant. It's an example of synergy where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: collaboration working better than competition.
@myguitardetective5961 John would've added something, because that's how they worked, still, before they became even more independent. I've never heard about all the other bits being added? I thought it was very Paul. I know Paul said the ideas came from real life experiences, an older lady he use to visit out of kindness and seeing the name on a grave stone....
@@sandrafrancis3631 I agree with you…we just don’t know specifically what John added…I suspect it was more than half a line too!
One of the two, I think John, helped George compose Something in a similar way. Not with the lyrics specifically, but how to get to the intention of the lyrics by adding in similar words when he got stuck. So the original lyric was something like " Something in the way she moves, attracts me like a watermelon...." That's probably not exactly it but explains the jist I think. George later went back and incorporated the classic line we have today. Always thought that was rather neat !
@@jayrussell3796 George mentioned as well that John gave him songwriting advice but that Paul couldn’t be bothered to help. There was a reason that Ringo and George worked on John’s projects post-Beatles but not Paul’s. I’m glad they managed to mend fences in 1990s…at least to some extent…
Terrible journey, feeling the storm as it breaths and it shakes on the door. Chilled to the core.
Very nice ! Wow
Great lesson!! A fellow music educator, I am more knowledgeable of instrumental music, but I’m also an instrumental composer/arranger, so this lesson helps me understand more about the verbal/textual considerations. Much appreciated!!
“Mordecai Rigby, live in a house in a park with a gum-ball machine, he’s pretty mean”
✍️🔥🔥🔥🔥🗣️🗣️🗣️
Thank you for putting this to light! Back in school I used to intentionally have an earworm from a song and thought about changing the lyrics for fun; it seems that highlighting & replacing those words that has a strong and weak rhythm makes sense and flows well to the ear. It reminds me that it relates to poetry in a sense where they focus on words that rolls off the tongue smoothly and playing around the stressed and unstressed syllables.
"Take a vacation. Wander the streets of a city so far from your home, walking alone."
Throw me a bone....😮
Wow, this is just amazing and so insightful!
It feels so right now
Holding me tight, telling me I'm the one, and we might
Never be done.
Been searching for channels like this one, glad I found this
I don't consider myself a songwriter but I used to write parody lyrics just for fun. I really like the way you break down everything involved in finding those lyrical combinations that work. Makes me wish I had a better understanding of chording and other music theory.
Here is below the song Jimi plays and sings, with some backwards reverse direction pre recorded electronic dubbing cuts in the tracks for effects. Mitch is embellishing on drums and Noel is keeping steady on bass. He did a lot of this at Electric Lady Studios that he built in NYC in Greenwich Village.
Help I have fallen, please someone help, I have fallen and I can’t get up…. Seems I am stuck!
The most important factor in this song was George Martin's orchestral work on writing for the double string quartet. The 2nd most important factor was Harrison's contribution of the "Ahhhhh Look At All The Lonely People" at the start of the tune. Without those two factors, it simply wouldn't be a memorable song at all.
Yes, Harrison and Martin should have got a writing credit on that one.
"Challenge accepted!
Gather the words for a phrase
in a selfwritten song;
shouldn’t take long."
😅😜
Such a nice video! Great explanation that counting syllables is just half of the ingredients. The great thing about songwriting is that it's a craft where you kind of construct your own rules per section of the song, and then you have to puzzle how to make everything fit. Not only the syllables and rhymes of each line, but also which words notes are accented. With words there's no room to change the accents of the syllables, but notes are more neutral. So I guess starting with writing the lines is way easier than starting with a melody. And I think that in the natural flow of language the melody is already there, in hiding. You just have to exaggerate and expand it.
hey! Just wanted to say that this is a great video. I'm new to the channel but started learning guitar recently and getting into songwriting a bit. Looking forward to exploring more of your content.
This channel is great! Keep playing it's frustrating at first but worth it! Also would you check out my album Separate Checks by A Keithing ? I swear you'll love it!
Listen to the way Elton John makes Bernie Taupin's lyrics fit his melodies....Yellow Brick Road for instance, pure genius
This is a hard one. I don’t think I’ll ever find a way to get this done. But it’s still fun.
Thank you for this PDF... I'm sure it's going to help. I listened to this whole video.. and it's GREAT!!! I wish I had heard this 40 years ago!!
I strongly recommend to listen to (if you've not yet) the cult British progressive rock band Gentle Giant. Their main composer and also the only keyboardist & cellist, occasional percussionist and singer Kerry Minnear was PhD in composition from London Music Academy. You will notice it immediately in their music. Their works are an open and free source for anyone to comprehend how to write music in an intricate yet professional way. They made very simple songs like "Think of me with kindness" (where you can hear Kerry singing, btw), also complex multi-layered songs made of simple pieces like an incredibly-arranged "As old as you're young", also complex multi-layered extravaganza like "Cogs in cogs", also totally experimental songs like "So sincere" almost fully performed in triplets. They also created vocal canons and fugas like those in "Knots" and "On reflection". Violin-driven ballads ("Funny ways"), Beatlesque McCarney'esque ballads ("Isn't it quiet and cold?"), acoustic guitar-driven ballads ("Memories of old days"). Concept albums, sort of rock operas - the album "Three friends". Finally, straightforward rockers - "The power and the glory", "Why not?", "Wreck". Kerry Minnear, a very humble, kind man definitely deserves the world-wide fame for his creativity and virtuosity on keyboards. And the band's songs offer a fruitful material for learning how to make compositions. Kerry rarely played solos, he mostly composed like a machine and played like a robot. He has a natural feel for music, sense of melody. An incredible phenomenon!
One of the most interesting and helpful videos I've watched from this channel so far. Thanks Keppie!
Here's come my lyrics btw: "Sitting in my armchair, texting my friend from the States, all the good times we shared"
I think you just reminded me of one of the main tools, that's been holding me back with my own songwriting.
I love this walk through, so much!
"Living in limbo, waiting for something or someone to show me the way, maybe today."
"Show me a symbol, give me a sign or a message, don't lead me astray, make it okay."
Frampton always show the way😊
It's a lot less complicated when you start writing a song by coming up a phrase to a melody in your head (like the Beatles did), and then writing the music second, than retrospectively analysing a song and then trying to re-write alternative lyrics over the top. Take the phrase "Eleanor Rigby" - there's a natural cadence in the way it's said that lends itself to the initial two chords and - in part - the initial melody. Once you have that, the rest of the song follows naturally. It also helps if you can sing.
Great stuff, as usual. Thanks, HTWS!
Thanks for always having interesting videos and being generous with your wisdom
I think this is the third video i a week that mentions this concept, that I have seen.
I am not a native English speaker and this seems quit difficult to me.
(Even though my native langrage have the same concept and that we both make fun with it and it is an easy tell that someone it not a native speaker.)
I liked this video for being really focused and having good examples. But I clearly needs to practice this a lot, to master this. But I will try to notise this more in songs that I really like.
Thanks for a good video. I think it is one of your best over the last frem months. But it might just be because I needed it more than some of the other tips or maybe I just value the rhythm of the lyrics more than other part of song writhing. How know. Right video at the right time.
"Down by the river, there lived Matt Foley alone, just a man in his van, his pal I am"
Thank you for the video! I already submitted my manuscript to archway. It’s sort of a faux, found, memoir. This weekend I will incorporate your suggestions into my final changes!
Cheers!
Interesting that 12 tone just released an almost identical video. An excellent companion piece. Both are great
Even though I'm mainly a musician, and have only actually written one or two lyric songs that I think are "good", I enjoyed this, Keppie.
“I cannot see you, I cannot see what you’ve seen, where you’ve been, where you are, but you’re a star!”
Really good video!!! I was just finishing writing lyrics for a new song of mine. This video helps me a lot. Thank you Keppie.
I haven't seen all of this yet but I will but my initial thought following the intro is that it's horses for courses the parameters can be thought of as inspiring rather than an obstacle. Every songwriter is different. I don't struggle with lyrics and that doesn't make me any better or worse than a songwriter who does... Cohen claimed he wrote hallelujah but it took him years and Lennon wrote fast.. some people think in rhythm and repetition form when they're inspired to do so at times and other times they write a less structured less catchy song if that fits the inspiration better.. the reason why people say writing a catchy pop song is harder is because to literally sit down and say I'm gonna write a catchy wonderful poppy hit is not necessarily easy.. but its easy to write one if you suddenly have a tiny bit of inspiration before or during the process of writing.
Cohen claimed he took 5 years to write hallelujah and Lennon wrote very quicky.. everyone is different.. sometimes following a strict structure and rhythm can be as inspirational as it is limiting to others. It works differently for different people at different times I'd suggest... But don't slag off my stupidity too much I'm rambling cos I haven't slept yet and was watching the vid with sleepy eyes
If you think about it, there is something about the accent Paul giving a rhythm and melody only by reading the lyrics aloud. His talent is in the ease of giving a little push to the melody into conjunction with a harmony and rhythm.
I LOVE your shirt! Specially the middle part!!
Thank you so much for this video! Although I do aspire to become a songwriter, I am still working on simply becoming a better musician first. But every now and then a lyric will really pull at my ear in a bad way. Now, I not only know what was probably wrong with that lyric, but why it was so difficult to re-write it when I would try to figure out in my own mind what a better lyric might be.
“A vessel of great might / Was hewn of solid gold / Masts billowed in the air / On seas beyond compare
There Venus came in sight / Bare-skinned with tousled hair / Spread upon the prow for sunlight to behold
But then came fateful night / A great reef sealed her doom / In the deceiving ocean / Wherein sirens sing
Her hull was tilted forth / The wreck slipped tapering / Down to the chasm's depths / Toward a silent tomb
A vessel hewn of gold / Diaphanous as air / Revealed its treasure hold / To vulgar sailors, there
Disgust and Hate and Fear / Amongst themselves did rage /
The vessel's gone amiss / In sudden storm it seems / What's happened to my heart, lost on the thankless waves? /
Alas! It sank into the dark abyss... of dreams”
All of a sudden, everything fits and it makes me feel good -and I´m glad about that
this is gold, bookmarked it. thank you!
wow great video. didn't realize how difficult it is to write songs that seem so natural
Very interesting breakdown of how music is constructed particularly by the those genius performers..... The Beatles and I must say you really know your stuff and you have a beautiful signing voice......I wish I was more intelligent or informed to follow your description of this content.!!!!!!
This is THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect to song writing!
Great lesson, I'm not speaking english very well, but I undestan many thins about to constructions for songwrite and the power strong for the Notes and Rythm with the syllables. Thank you.
Mellancamp just crammed the lyrics into the rhythm. Didn't follow any rule but made it work with style. Exception perfection.
Yes, I made a point earlier about Elton John making Taupin's Lyrics fit into his melodies. You don't have to limit the song searching for the perfect rhyme
Fantastic video. I've learnt something new and incredibly useful. Thank you.
Keppie, this is helpful, and it's great for me to verify that my songwriting is getting quite good, with increasing frequency. However I'm struggling more with other things that lend themselves more organically to other people, like starting a band, getting the word out, and making the songs heard out there. Are you thinking of discussing those other topics? (In case you haven't done so already!). Cheers.
This is awesome.. ive been on these ideas myself very heavy recently. so cool. If I could make a suggestion, the reverb on her regular speaking voice is really really distracting to me, I can't actual hear what she's saying because I just keep listening to that lol. I think dry is better for talking personally. but great video!
Wow! You are really good on this! Very interesting!❤
"Feeling amazing. Writing a song about writing a song. I'm so proud. Shout it out loud."
sample of Jimi Hendrix song. Castles made of Sand:[Verse 1]
Down the street you can hear her scream "You're a disgrace"
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbors start to gossip and drool
He cries "Oh girl, you must be mad
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?"
Against the door he leans and starts a scene
And his tears fall and burn the garden green
[Chorus]
And so castles made of sand
Fall in the sea eventually
[Verse 2]
A little Indian brave who before he was ten
Played war games in the woods with his Indian friends
And he built a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior, Indian Chief
Many moons passed, and more the dream grew strong
Until tomorrow he would sing his first war song
And fight his first battle
But something went wrong
Surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night
[Chorus]
And so castles made of sand
Melts into the sea eventually
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[Verse 3]
There was a young girl whose heart was a frown
'Cause she was crippled for life and she couldn't speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living
So she decided to die
She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore
And to her legs she smiled, "You won't hurt me no more"
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say
"Look, a golden winged ship is passing my way"
And it really didn't have to stop
It just kept on going
[Outro]
And so castles made of sand
Slips into the sea eventually
I partially agree, but lyrics are only a part of a good song - a strong characterful melody is also important, and imho more so. In Eleanor Rigby the melody is repeated ( and if it is weak it's weak several times) while there are several verses with the same rhythm but different words, for instance if the 3rd verse is slightly less convincing it won't harm the song very much ... but a weak 1st verse WILL ...
I learned this stuff from max martin . I dont rememeber how he called it. 20 years ive been using it. It works. Great video.
Love is the key
In everything we feel
Love is the need
We all need to feel
Love is like a Rythm that makes our heart giggle
😊
InFORmation is actuallly an instant hit in my head.
This is a very good song writing lesson. Probably the most impactful I've had in a long time
"I am a douchebag, kicking my brain at a mole who is wearing a fez...or so he says."
This is called "metrics" and are studied in poems. Eleanor Rigby is written in dactyls.
"Eleanor Rigby, sits by the, bed in the, night she can't, sleep any, more. Not like be, fore"...
Songwriters really should study metrics. It's immensely helpful.
I heard from George Harrison that he contributed a few lines from Eleanor Rigby in response to John Lennon's statement that he helped out a few lyrics for the song Taxman and asking why John was not mentioned from the book of I Me Mine to acknowledge him or something. Maybe that's the answer of George for not being acknowledged also for contributing some lyrics for the Beatles and even the titles like George suggested the title, She Said, She Said, and Sexy Sadie instead of "Maharishi" what have you done.... These are the revelations that I remember. One more I think George also contributed lyrics for Yellow Submarine but not so sure about that.
Oh My Bejeesus! You were Spot on all the time!
The absolute BEST approach, my English teacher - teaching me meter in prose! I hate you! Soooo, love you!!!
Really great video - tx for it
I tried to do it. No matter what I did everything seemed to go wrong. Difficult song.
Keppie and Benny teaching the songwriting skills that we all need to glean, out from a screen.
10:06 "The Beatles did not tolerate mismatches like that."
How about "And so it's true pride comes BEfore a fall" in "I'm a Loser"?
You are a genius
Interresting book, thank you bouth!
First, poetries have rhythm such as Iambic for instance, lyrics must have within its phrase that poetic rhythm on which its syllabication must be arranged such that its accent must fall on the exact accent of the music; rhythm accent of the music is either the snare drum accent or bass drum, or its syncopated variation. So first master the rhythm of poetry (not prose or essay without measure). Then lay down the measured lyrics within the bars of the melody with each accent (snare or drum) matches the accent of the poetic phrase. Of course the rhymes must also be apparent at each end of the lines. I've written an original melody song including its lyrics within 25 minutes, all because I literally heard it all "silently" in my mind's third ear. That's exactly what songwriters experience as frequencies from the farthest realm can be accessed in the mind once you are overwhelmed with mystical inspiration. John Lennon have said and experienced that; George Harrison on composing "Here Comes The Sun" heard the melodies in his mind before writing it down Also Eddie Van Halen said on one of his interviews, he hears the melodies in his mind and just executes it on his guitar. Real songwriters must develop this technoque to be effective.
Hate to be a wet blanket but I really doubt Lennon and McCartney put a lot of conscious thought into the creative process, it seemed to flow out of them naturally. While instructors are usually the ones coming from the opposite direction, dissecting and analyzing after the fact. My advice is to learn as much as you're able to but more importantly to enjoy the process on your own terms and beware of formulas.
Thanks for this cool video.
To the melody of ER.
Why am I sleeping? I should awake 'cause my dog needs to go out to pee. He's nudging me.
Lol
Nudging accent is mismatched.
Stylization can effect syllable weight. Eg Thunder by Imagine Dragons.
I don't understand what the title of this video has to do with the content of the video. Did I miss something? Where does she talk about why this Beatles song is almost impossible to write?
I totally agree and there's too much clickbait on youtube where something maybe controversial in the title is never even mentioned in the film itself. It seems to be happening more often recently.
Here i lay waiting, watching the car lights reflect off the walls and the floor, i wasn't sure.
"Times never changing, dead men who walk choose to talk about fortunes of gold. Will they grow old?"
Agree on all points, though all these years later I find the song "Imagine" as quite trite. The lyrics are something I'd expect from a freshmen in college after a few weeks of "Communism 101." It's an example of a talented person having free rein and the result isn't as good as when he's working within restrictions and having it critiqued by others. (And that was the best song on the album).
this was massively import to McCartney, but not as much to Lennon, who would alter the rhythm to match the words at times, adding extra measures and beats, or changing time signatures
a new world, can't thank you enough. I have never written a song, but want to try now!
Now that I've practiced
And analyzed what we call a two-syllable word,
Free as a bird,
Look at me flying
Higher and higher above all that's dull and mundane,
Singing again;
Paul and George and Ringo
And John, where are you now?
All the gifts you gave us -
How did you do that?
How?
You are very good at explaining the song writing skills of the beatles, and song writing in general. So how many hits songs have you written?
Flowers at Dachau, growing wild in the gardens of death after all of these years. Saved by the tears.
Ok. Would it be easier to use the Elton John / Bernie Taupin technique? Bernie's poems are set to music by Elton.
Without love, without feelings, without going through the difficulties of life, without the will to win, without love for music, life will not have a melodic construction in any aspect.
Hello from Belgium. So many songs of the sixties have been translated from english to french and most of the time they seem a bit odd. Do languages have their own rythm patterns so that it might be hard if not impossible to find lyrics matching a melody ? Do that rythm of language influence the music that comes out ?
Dexy's "Oh Geno", a great tune but the lyrics feel shoe-horned in: "You were Mi-CHAEL the lover"... "THAT man TOOK the STAGE his towel WAS swingin' HIGH"
Liked this tutorial, I think you gave very helpful advice in it too.
What did I do?
Nice!
But I'd say "How did I do?" And maybe "think that" runs more smoothly than "I think".
@@michavandam very true ty
On a side note (no pun intended), it has been said that the cello is the instrument that sounds most like the human voice. With the verse “Father McKenzie, picks up the rice …”, Paul’s voice sounds most like the cello as they play and sing together!
After about half the video I ended up scrubbing through the rest, in hopes that she was actually going to talk about the harmonic changes outlined in the thumbnail for this video, but it never seemed to happen.☹️ Misleading thumbnails in RUclips are very annoying.
i dont know if i, able to do what Paul already has done