Recycled Song Lyrics to avoid

[Bounce]

Okay, a bit in the grey topic area but we have to listen to all these songs we record day in and day out and some of us produce other artists and hopefully help guide them to be the best they can be (I'm very thankful for all the fine people that have tald it to me straight over the years) :-)

That said, there are some lyrics that just scratch the chalkboard for me because I've heard them SOOO many freakin' times that I can't take it. I'm gonna start my list here. Anyone else want to add some verbal pet peeves/ pitfalls?

looking in anyone's eyes and then realizing anything
songs about this or that being a dream (unless they are just super expressive and the dream is very intersting and eloquently elaborated upon)
lighting someone's fire
doing anyone
flying at all
seeing anyone walking or standing anywhere (especially down the street)
2 hearts something or other


But who's to say what's cliché? Dunno. I just have this chalkboard in the studio ;-)

[C Heat]

...walk out the door / can't take it anymore

...can't you see / we we're meant to be

...don't you know / I can't let you go

Yeuchhhh

[amishsixstringe]

hahha, I wrote a song awhile back called "So CLiche" that was composed ONLY of lines like those and told a story. I never used it, though. I wish I had. It's forever forgotten now, or I'd share.

Neil

[DeathMonkey]

We used to play a game in Nashville while waiting through interminable open mics. You see how many lines you can finish in songs you've never heard before, and if you nail it, you get to make someone drink.

I know of three songs that use
"put my tender
heart in a blender"


That kinda sucks.

[Bounce]

Originally Posted by amishsixstringe

hahha, I wrote a song awhile back called "So CLiche" that was composed ONLY of lines like those and told a story. I never used it, though. I wish I had. It's forever forgotten now, or I'd share.

Neil

Hee hee. I did, too about 10 years ago called, aptly, "Recycle"


Here's another:

You're so fine, you blow my mind

[Cosmic Closet]

Well...

I am a home recordist, but here are a few from commercial CDs:


If I hear anything about "making love all night long" again, I will vomit.

Same goes for anybody "gittin' witcha baby."

Same goes for anybody "wanting to be someone's baby".

"Together Forever"........along with the "not giving up" hook

"Special" love/lady/dream.... (my dislike for Lionel Richie is showing)

"There's still time"...nope, not anymore. There are good songs using the "time" metaphor, but it certainly is also an easy crutch.

...and finally, on a singing level, the excessive use of MELISMA, whipping phrases to the point of destruction, courtesy of that foghorn Whitney Houston.

Nice thread

[GearBit]

Originally Posted by Bounce

Okay, a bit in the grey topic area but we have to listen to all these songs we record day in and day out and some of us produce other artists and hopefully help guide them to be the best they can be (I'm very thankful for all the fine people that have tald it to me straight over the years) :-)

That said, there are some lyrics that just scratch the chalkboard for me because I've heard them SOOO many freakin' times that I can't take it. I'm gonna start my list here. Anyone else want to add some verbal pet peeves/ pitfalls?

looking in anyone's eyes and then realizing anything
songs about this or that being a dream (unless they are just super expressive and the dream is very intersting and eloquently elaborated upon)
lighting someone's fire
doing anyone
flying at all
seeing anyone walking or standing anywhere (especially down the street)
2 hearts something or other


But who's to say what's cliché? Dunno. I just have this chalkboard in the studio ;-)

Just as I was beginning to think that no one here cared about lyrics........
There is so much cliche that becomes hugely popular that it can be pretty frustrating trying to seperate cliche from "tools of the trade".

flying at all

Well I guess it's a good thing that you weren't producing Lenny Kravitz when he wrote "I Want To Fly Away". See what I mean? Did he get away with it because he was so hip and cool?

lighting someone's fire

Well Fire and Desire are pretty cliche rhymes but I'll be damned if that fact does not escape me when I hear Bruce sing "Im on Fire"

My current gripe is the nu-metal/emo line of "taking this away from me"
One big example is Hootie And The Blowfish. When I first heard them I thought "cliche as hell....no way is anyone going for this"......17 million albums later....
BIG lesson for me.

[Sounds Great]

Lyrical ideas. Chord progressions. They've all been done by now. Might as well give up.

[nadumr]

I'm casting my votes for anything regarding:

1. Falling from Grace

2. "Save me"

Not that these haven't been used awesomely in the past. I just don't wanna hear them used anymore.

[Veej007]

blahblahblah walk blahdeeblahblah talk

honorable mention to anything paired with a Dsus4 chord on acoustic guitar. you know, the one with the pinky...

[CoteRotie]

Anything that starts out with "Oh, Mandy...."




Great thread, I'll try to think of some serious ones when I'm awake.

John

[Bounce]

Originally Posted by GearBit

Just as I was beginning to think that no one here cared about lyrics........
There is so much cliche that becomes hugely popular that it can be pretty frustrating trying to seperate cliche from "tools of the trade".

Well I guess it's a good thing that you weren't producing Lenny Kravitz when he wrote "I Want To Fly Away". See what I mean? Did he get away with it because he was so hip and cool?

Well Fire and Desire are pretty cliche rhymes but I'll be damned if that fact does not escape me when I hear Bruce sing "Im on Fire"

My current gripe is the nu-metal/emo line of "taking this away from me"
One big example is Hootie And The Blowfish. When I first heard them I thought "cliche as hell....no way is anyone going for this"......17 million albums later....
BIG lesson for me.

LOL. Well, there are always exceptions. I like Lenny Kravitz. Not because he's an necessarily an innovator at all, but because of the indredients and delivery of all those recycled lyrics with a big helping of rock star persona and classic recycled tones. Nostalgic all around, I'd say. Like a REALLY good tribute band LOL! Heck there are a LOT of bands/artists I listen to and love that have just awfully cliché lyrics but something else like the bass line or hi hat part just does it for me (bass lines from Jam and Lewis on the old SOS Band stuff was KILLER). Sometimes the track is just too cool and innovative to even bother objecting to the lack of thought in the lyrics.

A cliché line can be saved by a truly poetic supporting line or situation that offsets the predictability of it all, I think. Simple songs are great. James Taylor, Billy Joel, simple songs, not really polysyllabic but just twisty enough somewhere to stray from the absolute predictability of it all (melodic for sure). The Beatles wrote many simple songs (lyrically) but the point here is that most of these artists have been quoted over and over lyrically for the last 20 years. :-)
Just because boy bands sold millions doesn't make it crafty in the word department :-)

[Kiwiburger]

Make it, Fake it, Take it .... dfegad

[sears]

The key with a cliche is to make it yours. Literally. Prince owned the "girl/world" rhyme in the 80s and later passed it to Gwen Stefani.

[AlphaDingo]

MY all time most hated cliched lyric....crying in the rain. I want to go on a killing spree every time I hear something like that. Also, how I thought it would be different this time type shit, with the glassy keyboard sound. ****. It just makes me want to puke.

[Phil Aiken]

TOTALLY OVERUSED:
Rhyming "yourself" with "someone else".....
tutt

In general - accenting the wrong syllable of a word due to it's rythmic placement in the phrase.

[burst]

Originally Posted by GearBit

Well Fire and Desire are pretty cliche rhymes but I'll be damned if that fact does not escape me when I hear Bruce sing "Im on Fire"

+1

"... fire."

"... desire."

blech

Although I have given U2 a pass in the past, if I hear it again ANYWHERE I'll be absolutely apoplectic.

[Flymax]

"like the wind"..
sheesh!

[sneezebomb]

I'd die for you
lie for you
cry for you

+1 for make it, take it, fake it.

i can't believe people still think it's ok to use those lyrics.

[Recycled_Brains]

counting and/or spelling out words in songs is lame.

[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by CoteRotie

Anything that starts out with "Oh, Mandy...."

I actually had a friend whose parents named her "Omandi" just because of the song. Poor girl.

In other news, stop ending lyrical phrases with "and on and on..." for no reason. If you're not the Beastie Boys or Dave Grohl, just STOP.

[mrface2112]

Originally Posted by Recycled_Brains

counting and/or spelling out words in songs is lame.

Agreed.....but sometimes that's the only way the Country crowd gets any educating at all!


cheers,
wade

[7 Hz]

"Regarding (Most) Songs, whatever is too stupid to say, can be sung."

-- Joseph Addison, (1672-1719).


Complaining about lyrics is a cliche too

[warmer]

I don't know about cliche lines but a lot of these EMO/PUNK bands jar with me every other line is about an immense pain which seem to require no further embellishment or descriptive creativity than to literally sing 'this pain' or 'my pain' in an anguished voice.

Having said that I will be watching this thread and censoring any of my tracks that tread a bit close to the cliche mark!

[WTMNMF]

Any lyrics describing the music business or standing in said endevour. Get a life!

[DCtoDaylight]

Originally Posted by WTMNMF

Any lyrics describing the music business or standing in said endevour. Get a life!

Agreed! And there should be especially strict penalties for anything having to do with the difficulties, headaches, and heartaches associated with being a Big Rock Star Out On The Road All The Time Humm-Baby.


[by the way - my 100th post!]

[kyle barton]

and then there is all the obligatory hip-hop intros
... yo, yo
... a-yo
... "grand master rap" in-the-house

just see the blizzard man skits on SNL. know whut um sayin?

[SeanG]

"...writing on the wall."

[PRobb]

Two more from the Cliched Rhymes That Need To Be Retired hall of fame.

Change/Rearrange

Waiting/Anticipating

And a +1 to whoever brought up the "it sucks to be a rock star" songs. If you hate it so much, go wait frikkin tables!

[Brent Casey]

My heart beats for you baby girl (sung just slightly out of range in a reedy voice)

you fill my up heart

straight to my heart

my heart is calling to you

I'm calling to your heart

and my heart is like a candle burning with a flame

and so I give my heart to you

my heart's been hurt before

my heart can't take the pain of ever losing you again

can you feel the beating of my heart?

our hearts beat so fast

I can feel your heart beating

my heart is pounding

you can feel the rhythm in your heart

...and the beating of your heart as I hold you close to me

My heart is in your hands

You hold my heart

I'll always keep you close to my heart

My heart beats so strongly for you

in the stillness of the night only the beating of our hearts

The music is in your heart

Mi corazon es frio

Your heart has grown cold

My heart grows weary

I speak from my heart

I'm sayin this from my heart

Don't give up on your heart

Follow your heart

Listen to your heart

My heart says go but my head says no

Our hearts beat as one

My heart beats like a drum

My heart's just not ready

Let your heart guide you

two hearts become one

I listen to the beating of your heart

your precious heart

heart to heart

I believe in your heart

I believe in my heart

I believe my heart is ready

my heart can't take it no more no no no.

the pain deep in my heart

I can heal the pain in your heart

You can heal the pain in my heart

hearts beating in the night

looking out at the sea my heart beats so fast

standing by the ocean our hearts beat so fast

standing on top of a mountain our hearts beat so fast

standing here beside you our hearts beat so fast

standing near a river our hearts beat so fast

standing in the rain our hearts beat so fast

standing in the forest our hearts beat so fast

standing here together our hearts beat so fast

standing in a garden our hearts beat so fast

standing in the mist our hearts beat so fast

standing on a street in SOHO in the rain our hearts beat so fast



Personally, I switched to the spleen a long time ago. Way more rhyming possibilities.