Beginning With An Idea
1. Lyrical
When you’re brainstorming on the idea or concept of your song, or when you actually start writing lyrics, a certain line may become clear to be the title. If it doesn’t, look over the lines that you’ve written. Is there one that seems to capture the essence of all the other lines? Perhaps there’s just one or two words?
If you already have form to your song i.e. a structure with verse, chorus etc., what line appears frequently in the in the chorus, or at the start or the end of the chorus? The title might be found there.
2. Musical
If you begin the writing process with a musical idea, be it a riff or a melody, or a chord progression, you may get inspiration for the title simply from the feelings conjured by the sound you are creating. Play the music you’ve written over several times in a row and close your eyes – what images or concepts come to mind? What words pop up in your head? Listen to the intervals in the melody if you have one, often these suggest a very definite mood (for example the minor 6th), or just listen to the groove, and describe what you see or feel.
If you begin with a lyrical or musical idea before your title, it is much less likely that you’ll find a catchy and memorable title. But that’s okay: while it’s great to have such a title, it’s not necessary. As was mentioned in the previous lesson, many hit songs have simple and non-descript titles, e.g. Lionel Richie’s ‘Lady’.
The real magic of a title is something that comes in hindsight, once the listener knows the association between it and the message the song is delivering. This often makes mundane titles seem profound.
However you write your title, here are some general tips that may help you write a good one:
Using literary devices in your titles such as rhyme, consonance, assonance etc., e.g.:
- We Can Work It Out – Beatles
- Achy Breaky Heart – Billy Ray Cyrus
- What’s The Story Morning Glory – Oasis
- Mrs. Robinson – Simon and Garfunkle
- Roxanne – Police
- Daniel – Elton John
- Willy The Pimp – Frank Zappa
- Penny Lane - Beatles
- Hotel California - Eagles
- Adelaide – Ben Folds
- Sweet Home Chicago – Robert Johnson
- I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
- As Good As New - Abba
- Life In The Fast Lane - Eagles
- Hurt So Good - John Mellencamp
- You've Had The Time of Someone Else's Life - Ben Charters
- Falling In Love On Second Sight - Ben Charters
This Week’s Challenge
- In the first lesson's challenge of Songwriting Success, you made a note of two or three situations relating to a given list of emotions. Get those out now, or if you haven't done it, go back and do it now (the first lesson is posted here).
- For each of the situations you wrote down, try think of a word, a combination of words, or a phrase that nicely captures the situation, and may make a good title.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
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Here's the link to the 'Rocket Piano' website.
