A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Many famous musicians are both composers and lyricists of their songs.

I cannot wrap my head around this: how come so many are good at both at the same time?

Explain, or expand.

Note: I am aware that, often, lyrics OR riffs would sit dormant in a drawer, or in a creator's mind , and then, boom, it clicks in a matter of minutes. Or a set of ill-fitting lyrics get a new life when paired with a new music bit.

IMHO, practice, repetition & keep expectations initially low (trial, error - learning?). Both separately and together.

Honing observation & finding inspiration for both. Learning to recognize not only that you like a riff or musical passage, but how it makes you feel. Don't get hung up on writing lyrics first, music first or both at the same time. Go only with the direction that inspiration takes you, because in my experience - it is fleeting.

Learn to be uncomfortable with trying the song at different speeds and feel, also with stealing lyrics / subjects / ideas you wrote for another song. If you have music first, learn to 'scat' - sing along a melody of nonsense words.

Go with the flow on happy accidents and insist others critique your song. Like many people I hate my voice, think my playing is mediocre, etc. Diverse opinions help me decide if I am too critical or on the right track.

I've been writing since 1978, have a briefcase filled with lyrics, have dozens recorded music ideas, have around 60 recorded original songs. To which I think a handful are worthy and there are some of the other ones that people told me they really like. But the majority were just learning and IMHO, pablum.

^^ great, thanks.

Addendum: the post was a general question.

As in, how come a, say, Clapton, can wrap lyrics, composition, and then add playing with success?
Do we have examples of great lyricists stuck with with their lesser quality tune compositions?
An analogy would be great racer driver, but no sense of machinery.
And actually, in this field, most successful ones are great with tests and car setups!

Yesterday I encountered a tune that caused me to ask similar questions.
Mostly because I graduated from Copper Basin High School, Ducktown, Tennessee 37326




I do remember when they brought my uncle to his father's funeral in a state patrol car.
He was in chains, had armed guards & doing 25 to life for murder 2.
Hummmmmmm......

I agree with earlier replies - practice. We suck at something until we don't. For most of us, it is easy to keep people from hearing bad work that predates good work. So you don't hear how bad someone was when they started out, only how good they got after working at it.

Edit: Except Yoko - she clung onto her bad.

Not everyone can do it all (I would cite Kim Mitchell, but so few on this board would know him). Ozzy Osbourne comes up with melodies, but not lyrics. Angus Young should probably leave lyrics to Brian Johnson, etc....

I think a lot of artists learn, in part, how to write lyrics by learning a lot of songs, and understanding how they are put together. So, study the words and how thay bounce off each other. And write. Creativity is like a mascle that needs to be exercised.