datamusicata

I did a column about writing lyrics and rhyming the words as they couple with the melody. I was talking about how the melody implies where something should rhyme and to ignore that means you have something either more brilliant up your sleeve ...or you’re an amateur songwriter and your audience can tell.

But there are no hard fast rules when it comes to creativity and sometimes a melody will make it seem like things rhyme, if the rhythm of the words is also perfectly in place. Not to belabor the point, but look at the Paul Simon (www.paulsimon.com) song, “America”.

The melody is so well constructed and the words so rhythmic and solidly conversational, that you don’t even notice that nothing rhymes. Here’s the first verse:

“Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together

I’ve got some real estate here in my bag.

So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner’s Pies

And walked off to look for America.”

The genius in this is how ordinary it sounds; how conversational; as if we overheard strangers talking or someone was telling us what happened. Natural. And admittedly, this doesn’t look like great writing when you just look at the printed word, but once Simon applies that melody to it, it is magical. It works completely.

It’s because melodies frequently imply rhymes, if they are well constructed and repetitive.

And time signatures also have an impact on the perceived rhyme scheme, provided the rhythm of the lyrics is consistent. All to frequently, we find lazy writers just settling for something even tho it is different rhythmically from its counterpart in the previous verse.

Joni Mitchell (www.jonimitchell.com) used this to her advantage for several reasons. One, she was remarkably musical and two, you she had something to say and it was so compelling you listened even tho the song didn’t conform to an exact rhythm.

Which brings up something else of which you should be aware. Do not put a strong melodic accent on a syllable that get’s no emphasis when spoken.

By way of example say the word, musical. The prounounciation would be broken down like this MU’ si Cal with the emphasis on the first syllable and the next strongest emphasis is placed on the third syllable. The second syllable is the least emphasized.

If you changed the emphasis to the seond syllable so that it sounded like this, mu SI’ cal. It would sound odd and not right. When you do that in a song, you are making an amateur choice; a bad choice and a lazy choice. Find a word that fits the rhythm. You will be glad that you did. And so will your listeners.