Introduction
In most genres where lyrics are found, they take centre-stage. Yes, you may find some rappers and rockers who use their voice in a more melodic fashion, almost blending in with the instrumentation, but in most cases lyrics are used to express the songwriter’s views, feelings, or stories. The words used deliver emotion and detail and are often the key to the songwriter’s heart. I am not an experienced songwriter so I’m more than aware that I won’t be reaching the levels of my favourite writers but I still believe I can write some lyrics that are from the heart and stay true to myself with what I’ll be saying.
When starting the process of songwriting, I found a melody which I liked and began thinking of what four-syllable word would sound cool and also inspire me to write further. I was listening to Deb Never’s latest record “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?“, more specifically the final track “Red Eye” where she sings the word “recalibrate”[14] in a moment of clarity during an otherwise fairly crowded mix. This really made the word stand out to me and it just felt right, I also realised that it could lead to interesting themes when elaborating on it and figuring out what visual ideas I could incorporate into the performance.
In regards to the sound I was aiming for, at this time I was listening to Leeds-based Yard Act very, very often, and I have no shame in saying that the lyrical side of the composition has been inspired massively by them. Most lyrics in their songs aren’t actually sung, they are performed in a manner that is somewhat akin to spoken word, however it’s done here in a bit more of a melodic fashion accompanied by the instrumental of course. As somebody who isn’t a singer in any sense of the word, this is perfect for me; it gives me the chance to perform lyrics myself whilst avoiding the profound embarrassment of showing off my completely flat singing ability. One additional bonus is that this type of delivery will have me using an exaggerated version of my natural voice – again like Yard Act.
The Process
To start off, I had that original “recalibrate” motif and attempted to expand on the second half of the melody I had in mind, unfortunately the only themes that came to mind were good for live performances, words that are directed towards an audience to build that level of excitement. This was a flow of ideas which felt great at the time but I fail to see them making it to the final cut.
Recalibrate, I need all your participation, Recalibrate, for this musical sensation, Recalibrate, I have been Oliver Wright, Recalibrate, I hope you all had fun tonight, Recalibrate, and now it’s time for me to go, Recalibrate, I hope you all enjoy the show,
I don’t believe I’m being too self-critical when I say that I don’t have the charisma to give such a fantastical feel to the audience, therefore I will be attempting to move on from this and come up with more suitable lyrics for a performer of my standard.
After putting down my first bassline I was hit with a very simple melody that could accompany it, not stretch my vocals very far, and give me plenty of breathing room between lines. What I had was a two-bar melody that I intended on following up with a two-bar break – two bars on and two bars off. This is what gives me the breathing room to make sure I’m not out of breath or struggling to remember my own lyrics.
My thought process was to think of what “recalibrate” means to me; coming up with the themes and ideas that it evoked within me. You have the technological aspect of the word, in its more literal sense, taking a certain bit of equipment or code and bringing it back to the start to fix it after it has gone a bit pear-shaped. This idea is something that I took and ran with but related it to thoughts I have had previous: society is a bit pear-shaped, to say the least. I believe this would be something we could all benefit from, and in an ideal world we would all take a step back and re-evaluate what is actually important in the world in order for us to come together. Yes, this can come across as rather stuffy and preachy, and I think there’s every opportunity for this to sound as though I am holier-than-thou and see myself as above others, but this is very much not what I want so I have aimed for things that are more relatable to the listener to engage them further.
On social media, it's all just spiteful rage, Wall to wall with vitriol, page after page, I tie my hair up high so I can't ever hide, year after year, I've slowly built my pride,
Whilst not a rapper myself, taking cues from rappers can help any lyricist to come up with more fluid lyrics that can be dissected. You will see plenty of internal rhymes and alliteration and this is something that was very deliberate when writing. To show internal rhymes you can look towards the second line with phrases such as, “Wall to wall with vitriol,” whereas the alliteration can be found most clearly in the third line where three words begin with the letter “H”.
I am content with these lyrics, however I believe that they will be improved when combined with the rest of the song. They are good themselves but they will become a small part of a greater whole. I am also pleased with how I put some of my own experiences into the song without divulging too much, I feel that some songs can lose their overall message if they become too personal and I don’t wish for this to happen.
When talking over my lyrics with Lewis he made a very valid point which is to make good use of my syllables. On my very first line I don’t do this; the cadence that I speak with finds me almost slurring the first half of the line. The beat is fairly quick at 120BPM but the tempo of my lyric is much slower, I find this to be an interesting dichotomy but there is a time and place for that and a correct way to go about it. My way of tackling this was to quite simply tack on a couple words at the start, those words being, “You know”. This ensures that the message remains the same and arguably makes it stronger by actually engaging the audience, directing this message straight at them.
You know on social media, it's all just spiteful rage, Wall to wall with vitriol, page after page,
After those four bars I have opted for a small break before heading into the next four, and the next four expand further on the ideas presented earlier in a similar delivery to before. However this verse is much more direct in the hopes that the audience will pay more attention to what I’m saying, by this point they will have had a good few bars free of lyrics and so they are accustomed to the music – the perfect time to come back in and let the lyrics take over.
Recalibrate is my message, I just hope that you hear it, What happened to community? What happened to our spirit? Don’t wanna live in a world where no one is themselves, Whole life just working for the man like Santa’s little elves,
In the first verse I look mostly to the present but in this verse I look mostly to the past. What I also do in this verse is ask rhetorical questions which hopefully get the listener thinking, perhaps about that community spirit that some people long for (not that I want to fall into the trap of saying everything was better back in the day). Last direct method used here is humour. If you begin to think too much about the implications of what I’m getting at – like I did a few times – then the outlook can be a little gloomy; to combat this I added what I like to think is a comical line at the end just to offer some relief to the audience. It still makes a valid point about the state of “hustle culture” or “grind culture” where everybody is encouraged to overwork themselves in order to make money, as opposed to fighting for living wages, which is how I would much rather we move forward as a society. It is important for me to keep politics at the forefront of my writing process, even if that message is delivered with a laugh.
Going back to the first verse I had written, I did some thinking and decided I should just get some ideas down and stick with them until something better comes to mind – if nothing comes to mind, it’ll have to be good enough with no time at all before hitting the stage.
Recalibrate, that's all I'm asking you to do, Recalibrate, I swear that I'm gonna try it too, Recalibrate, it's hard but I just hope you try, Recalibrate, together we can learn to fly, Recalibrate, blue skies are just around the bend, Recalibrate, get out and see them with your friend, Recalibrate, be there for those who need a hand, Recalibrate, together we will all be just, grand,
On one hand I am not over the moon with the quality of these lyrics and how I have let myself get to a point where I am hurrying the process. On the other hand, I don’t think these are underwhelming lyrics! Sure, they’re not as good as my previous lyrics but they maintain the themes I was putting across beforehand and they aren’t too clunky to fit in the line. This excludes the final line where I intend to use enjambment and say my final word after most of the tracks have been cut and it is a much emptier mix. Anyway, to put it simply: they get the job done.
Recalibrate, blue skies are just around the bend, Recalibrate, get out and see them with your friend, Recalibrate, I know I'm preaching to the choir, Recalibrate, make your heart a frequent flyer, Recalibrate, just take these thoughts home with you, Recalibrate, that's all I'm asking you to do, Recalibrate, be there for those who need a hand, Recalibrate, together we will all be just, Grand,
Since I last talked about lyrics, I have changed a few things. Firstly, I have reorganised the lines so that they flow better, for example I moved the “That’s all I’m asking you to do,” line to the penultimate position so that it reinforces everything said before it. I have also done away with the “hope you try” couplet in favour of a couplet which is much more engaging and visual, telling the audience that I know they’re onboard with me (even if they’re not) but it still helps to hear these things. Then, keeping in theme with the blue skies mentioned at the start of the verse, I tell them to make their hearts frequent flyers. Truthfully, I can’t comment on what exactly this means, but to me it feels poetic, it evokes emotion. You may not understand what exactly I’m saying, but you understand the emotion I’m trying to make you feel, that’s the most important thing. These changes have made for a more interesting and memorable verse, which should help me produce a better performance to give to the audience.
Final Thoughts
At points during the songwriting process I felt like I hit a brick wall. I would go weeks without writing anything new or even altering lyrics I already had. I’m not sure how to combat this in the future, or if there is even a way to do so, but I should be spending time looking for potential methods to help me out and improve the efficiency. I also feel that my lyrics didn’t quite hit the standard I was aiming for, even diluting my message at points. So if I am able to improve my efficiency, I could give myself more time to refine my lyrics and improve them before the deadline.
Positively, I believe I did quite well given the context. I have written lyrics in the past but nothing this political, and I have never written with the intent of performing. These two factors made my process here rather new and even scary at times, but I believe I handled them well. Overall my lyrics portrayed the message I wanted to convey, and I have already had a couple people say they get where I’m coming from in the lyrics and how some of it relates to me. That, I would say, makes my songwriting a pretty successful endeavour.
Looking at it all together, I am really pleased with this. I wrote interesting lyrics, I used interesting techniques such as alliteration, internal rhymes, and enjambment, and I imbued enough politics into the piece to keep it interesting, but not so much that the audience gets bogged down in the seriousness of it all. I would confidently say this was a success and whatever mistakes I made this time round will only help me whenever I next try something similar.