Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go...

Lyrics in Songwriting Example:
Book Excerpts: Songwriting by Jason Blume; The Craft and Business of Songwriting by John Braheny; Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting by Jimmy Webb; The Craft of Lyric Writing by Sheila Davis

To continue with the theme of songwriting as hard work, I thought I'd share some interesting quotes about songwriting:

"There are no magic formulas that guarantee hits - but there are tools, techniques and principles that can help us to express ourselves through our songs so that we can communicate what we feel in such a way that our listeners feel it too. With lots of practice, these tools, techniques and principles can be assimilated to such a degree that you won't even have to think about them." -- 6 Steps to Successful Songwriting by Jason Blume

"Learn the techniques and structures so well that when the great idea or inspiration comes, your technical ability doesn't hinder your creativity. Learn and practice the basics so they become second nature. Then when you are ready to create something new or the inspiration hits you, the building blocks will already be in place. We all like to think that there are shortcuts to life and sometimes they do work for a while, but I feel it is better to learn the trade so that you can understand the tricks of the trade." -- Mike Sistad (Nashville Director of Media Relations, ASCAP)

"Songwriting is a game of organizing ideas, a kind of word-engineering and problem-solving experience, like a jigsaw puzzle in which the pieces come from rhyming dictionaries, thesauruses and real life and in which there are several right ways to put the pieces together. Knowledge of the most effective construction principles provides goals and methods for assembling a clear picture." -- The Craft and Business of Songwriting by John Braheny

"Songwriters who can sit down and write a hit song in ten minutes usually have the craft down so well that they don't think about it. It's automatic. On the other hand, most professional songwriters typically write many pages to get one great line or will write several mediocre-to-good songs for every song they consider great." -- The Craft and Business of Songwriting by John Braheny

"We must accomplish our aim and tell our entire story in a time frame of about three minutes (plus or minus). Every word, ever note must count. -- Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting by Jimmy Webb

"A lyricist must tell a complete story in usually less than one hundred words (not counting repeated choruses). There is no room in such a tight structure for words that don't pull their own weight." -- The Craft of Lyric Writing by Sheila Davis


I own all of these books, and they are all good reads...and good references for songwriters who enjoy building their understanding and tool sets.

This is the revised edition:
Six Steps to Songwriting Success, Revised Edition: The Comprehensive Guide to Writing and Marketing Hit Songs


Craft and Business of Songwriting 3rd Edition (Craft & Business of Songwriting)


Yes, I know, this book is all over my Blog, but it's a darn good one!
TuneSmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting


The Craft of Lyric Writing