Like all forms of art, there has to be a driving force behind every artist. It’s that certain intangible that makes us go the extra effort. A reason, a want, a desire. Whatever that unexplainable power is, I can only call it like I see it – insecurity.
Is that to say that all artists are insecure? We can have a discussion going back and forth about how everyone has a sense of insecurity, but are musicians more prone to insecurity? Are musicians the most insecure individuals out there?
What more can I say about Elliott Smith? I consider him to be the best songwriter of our time. It’s an absolute tragedy that we lost such a natural talent. He left behind a remarkable but sadly incomplete body of work that receives constant play in my listening rotation.
So you put the finishing touches on a new tune but it’s missing one key component- the title.
The most popular method of giving your song a name is to use the lyric of the chorus. This is the standard in pop music, which makes for good marketing. Radio listeners who know the hook of a song can find it in iTunes quite easily. But this is not just for the mainstream and there’s nothing wrong with this route.
Sometimes the chorus of the song is an extended phrase of many words. In this case it’s common to use the one or two words that grab the listener the most, or the ones that complete a metaphor.
Many times you might choose not to use any of the song’s lyrics in it’s title. Maybe the song is so mysterious that you want to the title to hint at what it’s about. Or the opposite- use the title to add a curious twist to the story of the song.
Read on to take a closer look at these ideas with lyric samples.
Sometimes a great song can surround and swallow you up in all of its sounds and colors. Using creative instrumentation and serving your song with melodies that fit right into place with one another are a great way to achieve this effect on your listeners. We often hear a complete melody or phrase without realizing the sound is composed with more than one instrument or voice. The instruments are similar in tone, and their parts blend nicely into one another.
