Writing Better Lyrics

336 Pages·2010·1.88 MB·English

by  Pat Pattison

WRITING
BETTER
LYRICS
SECOND EDITION
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO * * * * * *
POWERFUL SONGWRITING
PAT PATTISON
FOREWORD BY GILLIAN WELCH
Writing Better Lyrics. © 2009 by Pat Pattison. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights
reserved. No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical
means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the
publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writer's Digest
Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. [phone].
Second edition.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pattison, Pat.
Writing better lyrics / by Pat Pattison. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58297-577-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)
eISBN 13: 978-1-5996-3365-7
1. Lyric writing (Popular music) I. Title.
MT67.P383 2009
782.42164′0268 — dc22
2009019233
Edited by Scott Francis
Designed by Claudean Wheeler
Production coordinated by Mark Griffin
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pat Pattison is a professor at Berklee College of Music, where he teaches lyric
writing and poetry. His books include The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and
Structure, and The Essential Guide to Rhyming. In addition, Pat has developed
three online lyric writing courses for Berklee's online school, and has written
articles for a variety of industry publications. His internationally successful
students include multiple Grammy winners John Mayer and Gillian Welch. Pat's
website is: http://patpattison.com.
THANKS
To my students, especially those who have allowed me to include their work in
this book. Their creativity and questions always challenge me, requiring me to
look further to make sure I get it right.
To my fellow faculty at Berklee College of Music for trying out these ideas
and making them work; for their support, suggestions, and insights.
To the writers and publishers who allowed me to include such excellent
material, especially Gillian Welch, Beth Nielsen Chapman, and Janis Ian for
their interest and encouragement.
To Mike Reid for his enthusiasm, and for diving into Object Writing with
such passion.
To John Mayer, Gillian Welch, Melissa Ferrick, Greg Becker, Kami Lyle,
Dave Rawlings, Andrea Stolpe, Scarlet Keys, Ben Romans, Jonelle Vette, Rob
Giles, Emily Shackleton, Clare McLeod, and a host of other Berklee transplants
to Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and internationally for showing how well
all this stuff can work.
To all the folks that keep showing up for my seminars, allowing me not only
to travel the world, but to enlarge my vision in new and interesting ways.
To my son Jason and my daughter Holly Ann. To Mia and Olivia.
I especially want to thank Susan Benjamin for her encouragement, for editing
the original articles, and for her comments, focus, and inspiration; in short, for
making this book possible.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Gillian Welch
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: Object Writing: The Art of the Diver
CHAPTER 2: Rusty's Collar: A Lesson in Showing and Telling
CHAPTER 3: Making Metaphors
CHAPTER 4: Learning to Say No: Building Worksheets
CHAPTER 5: Clichés: The Sleeping Puppy (A Case Study)
CHAPTER 6: Productive Repetition
CHAPTER 7: Verse Development and Power Positions
CHAPTER 8: Travelogues: Verse Continuity
CHAPTER 9: Stripping Your Repetition for Repainting
CHAPTER 10: Perspectives
CHAPTER 11: Point of View: Second Person and the Hangman
CHAPTER 12: Point of View: Second Person as Narrative
CHAPTER 13: Dialogue and Point of View
CHAPTER 14: Meter: Something in Common
CHAPTER 15: Spotlighting With Common Meter
CHAPTER 16: Meter: Two by Two
CHAPTER 17: Managing Couplets
CHAPTER 18: Prosody: Structure as Film Score
CHAPTER 19: Understanding Motion
CHAPTER 20: Form Follows Function: Building the Perfect Beast
CHAPTER 21: The Great Balancing Act: Courting Danger on the High Wire
CHAPTER 22: Song Forms: (Im) Potent Packages
CHAPTER 23: Song Forms: (Im) Potent Packages II
CHAPTER 24: Process
Appendix: Co-Writing: The “No”-Free Zone
Permissions
FOREWORD
I will be brief and not delay with a long introduction, for there is too much good
instruction ahead, and there are too many good songs to be written. I know of no
other book like this one. One need only follow these tenets and discipline oneself
to the task and the songs will come. It is a priceless map through the minefields
of cliché, boredom, and laziness that often destroy even the best efforts.
Sometimes, I think that Writing Better Lyrics is an unfair advantage, a secret
weapon of sorts, and yet it is here for any and all who aspire to write and write
better. I count myself lucky and proud to have studied with Mr. Pattison. I would
not be the writer I am today without his teaching and his unique and
comprehensive understanding of language, rhyme, rhythm, and structure. To this
day, when I struggle with a lyric and find myself falling short, I am usually
ignoring some very sound advice contained in these pages. And I read it again.
Gillian Welch Nashville, Tennessee April 2009
INTRODUCTION
I'm very happy that songwriters have found Writing Better Lyrics helpful, and
I'm grateful to be writing an introduction to a second edition. It's been a while
since the first publication in 1995, and I've learned a lot since then, thanks to my
students at Berklee College of Music and the many songwriters I've met and
worked with both in my traveling seminars and my online courses. Each time I
teach, I learn something new from them — a real blessing in my life to be on
such a journey.
This edition has added almost one hundred new pages and has
INTRODUCTION expanded and revised some of the existing chapters.
I've enlarged the opening chapter on object writing with new (and, I think,
more helpful) examples. Over the years, this exercise has proved to be a
mainstay for many successful songwriters, including Grammy winners John
Mayer and Gillian Welch. The additional material in this chapter incorporates
some new and interesting ways to approach object writing, making it an even
more useful way to brainstorm, open your senses, and discover unique ideas for
your songs.
The chapters on verse development add examples and new material,
introducing the concept of “boxes,” which students over the years have found
helpful. I think you will, too.
I've found an interesting and, I hope, helpful way of thinking about rhymes,
treating them the way you treat chords in a song. It provides a clearer view of
rhyme's function and will help you choose rhyme types for a reason.
The chapters on point of view also have a new look and suggest some
interesting ways to approach the process of finding the right perspective for your
song.
I've added several new chapters that reflect work I've been doing since the
first publication of Writing Better Lyrics. There's a chapter on the productive use
of repetition, a chapter on showing and telling, and several “in the trenches”
chapters on structure to help you make more informed decisions while in the
heat of writing.
There are two new chapters on handling couplets and common meter. Each