Suggestions for lyrics

[adrianallan]

Has anyone got any suggestions for copyright free lyrics so that I, and anybody else who wants to, could practise their songwriting skills?

[adrianallan]

Ie. probably old poems

[Joseph]

Jan 20, 2013 11:30:12 GMT adrianallan said:

Has anyone got any suggestions for copyright free lyrics so that I, and anybody else who wants to, could practise their songwriting skills?

Hmm, not to nitpick but I think your goals need to be better defined. Do you want to practice the art of songwriting or do you want to explore writing art songs, et. al.. I think this is an important defining factor before suggesting where one might find suitable "lyrics". As soon as I see lyrics in the request I think popular songs. If that is the case I can probably offer nothing. But if it is art song creation you want to explore then the quickest copyright-free text resource is the bible. The next best source is most likely your local library. As someone who has used these sources for many years I can guarantee you will find what you need. Joseph

[Ed Sharpe]

FYI: Not all translations of the Bible are copyright free.

[Joseph]

Jan 20, 2013 17:26:59 GMT Ed Sharpe said:

FYI: Not all translations of the Bible are copyright free.

King James is out of copyright . . .

[Kevin]

Is that why they made the film "The book of Eli" ?

[Joseph]

let me re-position my advice, if you are just seeking to practice, and not make public your work, use any words you'd like. As close to Big Brother as we may be, your home is still probably safe from invasion by a large publishing house's police scouring neighborhoods to see who may be setting their copyright protected words to music. It only becomes an issue when you go public. And by then you'll have decided which instrument works best to replace the text uttered vocalisms of your oeuvre.

[adrianallan]

I'm not sure if you know the recent history of this forum, but Kevin or somebody else has suggested a poem, and we all have a go at song setting

The recent example is when the sidewalk ends by Shel Silverstein. The problem was that these words were copyright, so I couldn't publish the setting anywhere public.

[Deleted]

Actually I may have some lyrics that I would perhaps be willing to donate. Let me think about this overnight.

[Deleted]

Adrian, could I have some clarification about what you, along with the rest of this forum, wishes to do if I donate lyrics? So, for example, will this be merely for educational, non-competitive purposes or is there possibly a desire for another formal competition? Is the end goal simply for personal satisfaction at composing a satisfactory piece of music or is it also to try and make a profit from the sheet music and/or producing the music that results? I think some of this needs to be made clear before I post anything. By the way, the prose I have in mind consists of 5 verses (with the last one being extra-long) in addition to what would be the 'chorus'. Also, depending on your answers, I will need to know how much control I will have over the process of the activity that we end out doing. Thanks for any help you can give me about this.

[adrianallan]

What I had in mind, Anne, was a set of words or lyrics that I could make into a song. The most commercial it would get would be a score exchange posting. If you want to contribute some words, please do. I can't guarantee I will even finish the project as sometimes I get into a creative rut. It's all a bit of fun, really. I don't really like to work from an already started melody, I like to create the tune from scratch.

[Deleted]

Based on your response Adrian, I will open a new thread in this section and attempt to lay out some parameters for a vocal composition challenge, with the focus on educational objectives.