Meaning and Metaphor

 © I.Woloshen

Recently, someone in rec.music.makers.songwriting posted a question as to why many of the songwriters in the group didn’t seem to make much use of metaphors in their lyrics. Actually, I’ve seen them used quite a bit…but I do think that some writers are intimidated (even by the word!) and don’t know how beautifully it can paint a picture if used well. I’ll try to give some examples as I go, but first I’ll give you the definition if you’re not quite sure what a metaphor is:

In the Webster’s Dictionary, “metaphor” is defined as: “Transference of a term to something it does not literally apply to…”. Probably the most familiar setting of a metaphor would be with the words “like a” as in “I ran like a bat out of hell”. Someone recently pointed out to me that this is more accurately called a “simile” which is defined as “comparison, especially in poetry”. To insert “like a” does technically make a difference in how you define the term, however, the idea is the same. Here’s a line from a Shawn Colvin song called “Steady On” on her album of the same name…

‘I am weaving
Like a drunkard
Like a balloon up in the air
I am needing a puncture
And someone to point me somewhere’

What’s nice about these similes is that she carries the image through to the rest of this verse…you can really let your head go off in some interesting directions lyrically when you get a vision of something you’re trying to describe. The fact that she’s weaving like a drunkard could imply that she’s admitting to irresponsibility or being out of control…the “puncture” line seems to imply that she really needs a dose of reality. The interesting thing about similes and metaphors is that although they may be trying to evoke something specific, they can, in fact, take the listener on a very personal trip. I’ve found many times that people have interpreted my songs in their own way. I like the idea of someone being able to put their own stamp on something I’m expressing. You can’t really be too inspired with lines like “You broke my heart” after you’ve experienced some truly fascinating lyric-writing. Here’s an example in an early Joni Mitchell song called “You Turn Me On (I’m A Radio)”(definitely a metaphor!!):

‘Oh honey you turn me on, I’m a radio
I’m a country station, I’m a little bit corny
I’m a wildwood flower waving for you
I’m a broadcasting tower waving for you’

Here she personifies what she is describing…I can only imagine her getting into the visuals of some small Saskatchewan town (in the Canadian prairies where she grew up) pulling out and playing with all of these images. This is only one of many, many examples of Joni’s craftiness and creative use of imagery. She has the uncanny knack of stuffing a novel full of images all in one line. Every time I go back and listen to a song of hers I’ve heard many times, I find some new dimension to it, a new meaning.

Which brings me to the “meaning” part of songwriting. Cliché’s are one thing, but over-used phrases as the “You broke my heart” line above, really don’t have any life of their own. They don’t evoke emotion, which is a very powerful tool for a songwriter. How can you bring your song to life, and give it deeper meaning? One way is to listen to examples of others who have a knack in this area. Another is to try free-association when you’re writing. Don’t worry about the meter or anything else, take the line and sit down and come up with as many images you can around it. For example, Joni’s trick of being a “wildflower waving for you”…the wildflower waving is a great visual, and the fact that it’s waving “for you” and not “at you”, gives it a supportive, positive feel. All that in one little phrase!

In a song I wrote (uh-oh, she’s getting desperate now!) called “Fusion & Fire”, I had alot of fun playing with metaphors using the universe (literally) and planets as a theme for long-lasting love. I also used Joni’s trick of personification in that one. Mary-Chapin Carpenter wrote a brilliant song called “This Shirt”…in it she basically used the shirt as a time-reference for a love affair, where it travelled, how it was used as a pillow, the sleeve rolled up with a pack of cigarettes, how she wears it now when she’s doing the housework…from a stinky old shirt, you get so much! Here’s a bridge from a Shawn Colvin song called “Set The Prairie On Fire” from her “Fat City” album. This bridge gets to me every time I hear it…it just screams passion:

‘In the cool dusk of horses
Through the rusted wires of sleep
With our arms around midnight
We’re headed for release
We go riding in the wind
We go riding in the dark
Riding, riding…oooh’

Now, don’t you wish you could fire up those kinds of images? Don’t ever compare yourself with others, that’s a waste of time because you are unique. But DO admire others clever crafting, reading or listening to it could put you in exactly the space you need to be more creative with your own writing. And try a metaphor today!

IJ

The Trouble With Lyrics

 

© I.Woloshen

This article was published in the Spring ’98 edition of “Tickled By Thunder” – a periodical for new and budding writers of all types…

When I begin writing a song, the music always comes first for me and the lyrics often end up being a great struggle. For some reason I can make swift musical adjustments, but lyrically I can be left wringing my writing hand in despair. For instance I have a song that’s completely finished and has been for at least two months, but no lyrics. I’ve made a few attempts, but for the most part, if it doesn’t come quickly for me then I know I’m in for a very long battle and I usually end up procrastinating. I’ve written other complete songs since! Does that make sense?

There are some basics I will go through once I sit down seriously with that piece of music. First I’ll bring out any recent snippets of ideas, either written down or still in my head, that may make an appropriate topic. It’s good practice to keep a journal or notebook with ideas, lines or words you like for future reference. I may not even decide the topic, but instead just make up some lyrical nonsense and draw something out of that. When you’re adding lyrics to music, the music dictates to some degree the mood of the song. However, I once heard Joni Mitchell in an interview talk about the “pathos” she often likes to create in her songs. “Happy” music and dark words, or vice-versa, can create a beautiful piece.

More often than not, a phrase will come to me and the song will sort of reveal itself as I go. When an idea begins to form, I’ll move in that direction. However, if I choose a topic first, I will very often begin writing in the first person with my own feelings about it. It may be in the form of lyrical lines, or I might just write down words or phrases that I associate with it. This won’t necessarily end up in the finished product, but what it does is put an emotional energy into the idea, and other ideas will branch off from there. A thesaurus comes in very handy at this point. How many other words are there for “love” or “hate”? I’ll even flip the pages of the thesaurus with my eyes closed and point to a random word! Try it sometime. Use the word in a way you may never have used it before. Try a few of them, and see what you come up with.

A song, when the lyrics are well-crafted, will have a flow to it that consists of either a series of thoughts, ideas, or a period of time, in some sort of sequence. If there is a chorus, it should in some way sum up the entire song, really bring the whole idea home. A bridge? Some songwriters argue about the necessity of it, but if I feel the whole thing needs a little change of pace, a bridge can do that. It can be completely instrumental, or the lyrics should reflect some fresh viewpoint that takes the listener out of context for just a moment.

The purpose of my lyric writing has always been to say something common in an uncommon way. Before I “fine tune” the song, I try to get a general sense of whether or not I’ve made a statement, or created a mood or emotion. Sometimes if I feel that I’m not saying anything new, I may trash the whole thing and start fresh. There’s nothing wrong with starting over! If you just don’t feel enthused about what you’re writing, it’s not worth flogging a dead chorus. Man! Did I say that? Some sculptors say that they look at the material they’re about to work with and visualize the finished piece already there. Their task is simply to remove the unwanted material. This is similar to the song crafting process.

At the point of crafting it, I will look for the rough spots. I may have written some disposable lines just to fill in somewhere and I’m now going to refine those parts. I’ll sing it out and find the parts that I trip over. The following are five common problems with lyrics, not in any particular order. Go through yours the next time and see if any of these apply to your songs:

1. Forgettable title – if your intention is for people to remember the name of your song, then be sure to title it with a word or phrase from the song that you use more than once. That’s why most people will use something from the chorus, if there is one, because the chorus is repeated. If you’re really stuck on a title, but it isn’t repeated, is there a way at the end of the song you can use it in a repetitive fashion? I ran into this problem with a song called “Motor Scooter”. In it, I had what is called a progressive chorus, meaning that the chorus changed lyrics every time I sang it. I didn’t use the words “motor scooter” again until the last line of the last chorus. How did I solve it? In the production, I had the background vocals repeating it between the lines of the chorus…and when I sing it in public, I very often get the audience to sing those background vocals! Then they NEVER forget!

2. Repetitive ideas – don’t say the same thing over and over. Don’t repeat an idea. Don’t tell us something you’ve already said. Don’t…

3.Improper use of a word or words – Look that word up, even if you think you know, but you’re not completely sure. Coming across as intelligent and insightful is one thing, but using big words to impress people is entirely another!

4.Emphasizing the wrong syllable of a word – EM-pha-size, not em-PHA-size.

5. Suddenly introducing new characters or topics – the song’s ideas are flowing along nicely and all of a sudden there’s a new person in the picture with no introduction…it’s confusing to listen to. Don’t change direction too much with a song unless it’s crucial.

The struggle is almost over…well, not quite. Now you have to memorize the song! Is this a part of writing it? You bet it is! If I have trouble memorizing a certain part of the song, it’s usually because it isn’t working. The words before don’t lead nicely into the forgotten part, or the line is so uninteresting or difficult, that it isn’t worth remembering! After you memorize it, is the thrill still there? If I generally enjoy singing a song often, it’s a keeper. The true test, however, is taking it in front of an audience. Even if you’re not a performer, bringing your tape to a demo critique, or just playing it for people will be a real eye-opener. Was it just you, or is this a GREAT song? Having a critique of the song by either other songwriters or even industry-types” is worth the sweat too. If two or more people point out the same thing, good or bad, it’s a point to consider.

Mary Chapin-Carpenter said once in an interview that she has trouble “letting go” of a song. She’s tempted to keep tweaking here and there, refining and changing it endlessly. Sometimes I get lazy and don’t do enough refining, and sometimes I have the same temptation to keep picking at it. When is a song finished? Only you can answer that. For me, it’s when the struggle feels like it’s finally over!

IJ

Performance Anxiety

 © I.Woloshen

This will not apply to all songwriters…not everyone who writes also performs, although some writers play their material live to publishers, etc. Performance anxiety is a difficult thing to deal with in that it involves fear, which is completely irrational. I have been struggling with stage fright for many years. People never know I’m nervous, because I’ve become very good at hiding it! For those who don’t perform and don’t understand the feeling, I try and relate it to having to make a speech in front of a whole roomful of people. Then I see the gleam of terror in their eyes!

The only way to deal with fear is to go through it. For a long time, I tried to talk myself out of the feeling, which is futile. The more you resist, the more ominous it becomes and harder to ignore. Alot of what you are experiencing is a physical reaction to a thought. You picture yourself getting up in front of those people and what happens? You get a rush of adrenaline…I feel it especially in the pit of my stomach…then it shoots out all over the rest of my body. Adrenaline does funny things to your body and is associated with the “fight or flight” syndrome which is an ancient part of our physical system. The blood gets thicker, in order to prevent heavy bleeding in the event of an injury. The body becomes numb to pain, going into a kind of shock. The adrenaline does this, as well as making the muscles very energy efficient and extraordinarily strong. You’ve heard of people suddenly being able to pick up cars off of their loved ones? They become superhuman as a result of this syndrome. These days, we also develop the same symptoms in reaction to extreme stress, including stage fright.

The result of all of that adrenaline is usually the shakes. Suddenly fingers can’t find the notes and chords so easily…the voice takes on a strange quiver…the knees seem about to buckle. Another thing that happens to me just before I’m about to perform, is that I start to yawn! People think I’m bored, when what’s really happening is that my body’s attempting to get more oxygen and other gases because I’m not breathing properly.

I’ve gotten some interesting tips over the years that I’ll share with you. They may or may not work, but perhaps the process of thinking through what you’re experiencing will give you some ideas as to how to deal with it.

I try to pack up everything I’m going to need either very early in the day or the night before when I’m thinking straight and will remember everything! The day of my performance I try not to be too active or demand too much of myself. Some may find it better to keep busy and that keeps the mind off of it. However, I find that if I try to avoid the thoughts too much, they get more out of control. I try to nap in the afternoon, even 20 minutes is just enough to give me that extra bit of energy I’ll need later. I also take a long hot bath to relax and soothe myself. I never eat before a performance…the nervous stomach and food just don’t go together. But drinking water or juice is good. Sometimes I’ll have coffee or tea, but not too much. Caffeine and adrenaline is a deadly mix! I never indulge in alcohol before I perform. There’s the false notion that it relaxes you, but I find that ultimately I don’t perform as well. It’s almost as if I do better when I’m in touch with the nervousness!

I get to the place early. This gives me a chance to sit and get used to the room, chat with people and get my things set up. For me, talking to people beforehand also helps me to relax. Sometimes I’ll do this exercise if I’m feeling some tension in my chest: I push the palms of my hands together in front of my chest, hold for about ten seconds, release, and repeat a few times. If I’m more nervous than usual, I’ll walk around abit to release some of it.

There was one time a couple of years ago when I was just getting into performing again after several years away from it. I was so nervous about this first performance that I figured I was going to have to write every word and every chord down because I didn’t think I was going to be able to remember ANYthing! I spoke to an acquaintance who had some interesting advice to give. She told me that some performers when we’re nervous are reacting to old negative thoughts about ourselves…you know, the things our parents or teachers told us when we were young…”don’t be such a showoff”…”behave yourself”…”children should be seen and not heard”. As we get older we start to suppress the natural performer part of ourselves in reaction to how we are “supposed” to behave in public.

My friend told me that when I feel at the peak of nervousness, to find some quiet place where no one can see me, and GROWL! She told me to EMBRACE that showy, hammy part of myself and say YES! to it. It sounded pretty darn weird to me, but I tried it! Just before the performance, I was literally pacing around the room…I couldn’t sit still or think straight. So I found a back door and peeked outside, and finding no one there, I went out and closed the door behind me and ROARED! Then I had to laugh at what I was doing…and you know, I did one of my best performances that night! What I learned was that I have to forgive myself ahead of time for any mistakes I might make, for any fumbles, and enjoy what I’m doing when I’m doing it. My enjoying it, my laughing at myself or my situation, helps the audience to feel the same way! We click together and I relax enough to do a better job. I read a great line in a book once that said that “fear” and “excitement” are literally the same feeling! It’s our interpretation of it that changes. Now I tell myself that I’m excited instead of terrified…

IJ