Fantastic book for songwriters

Community Hub Song Writing Help & Advice
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I picked up a copy of Jimmy Webb’s Tunesmith. Very detailed, and a ton of examples from his own work as well as many others.

I always wrote the music for the band, but my lyrics usually fell flat and my bandmates would take that job. Reading this book isn’t going to get me a Wichita Lineman but I can see the many errors of my ways. It’ll take several rereads for all of it to sink in, there’s that much content.

Still getting a chuckle from Harry Nilsson’s advice “don’t try to rhyme silver with anything, that goes for orange as well”

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Looks like an interesting read, nice share!

I like to use “near rhymes” to unblock my songwriting:
Silver near rhymes
There’s a bunch for orange as well at https://www.rhymezone.com.
Sometimes words that are close are the best to use.

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yes, near rhymes or “half rhymes” make it a lot more interesting, more organic AND it will sound less forced!

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Agreed, a different way to approach it.

I’m not an expert songwriter, but have been working on it (for better or worse) since the 80’s.

Other unblockers can be internal rhymes:

  • “I went to town to buy a gown.”

Also note that we don’t always have to rhyme the last word, but can rhyme (or apply the other concepts) within the sentence.

Rhymezone also has a filter called: Find similar sounding words. Some examples for silver could be:
Sailor
Seller
Singer

Basically a two syllable word matching the “S” tone and “er” tone can often times work, and add a lot of interest.

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Thank you Richard, for the recommendation!
Some time ago, I had researched recommended books on sowngwriting and this was one of the often recommended, though it had quite a few less nice reviews. Always a matter of personal taste… I’ll read it after finishing the one I read now …

I bought Frank Turner: “Try this at home” quite some time ago, but in the beginning couldn’t like the story and the person and the swearing so much, so laid it down for some time.
Recently, I decided to take it with me on holiday and now, a bit further into the story, I could much more sympathize with the stories and the guy now. Also I didn’t like so much the first songs (he tells the story behind more than 30 of his songs and I think it’s really chronological) but the next batch was pleasing me more.
Not strictly about songwriting, but also life stories, from his band experiences and he toured SO much (more than 2000 shows at some point of the book)

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Great topic, thanks for sharing

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I’ve added that to my “to read” list.

Another one some folks might enjoy that’s sort of along similar lines is Jeff Tweedy’s (of Wilco fame) How to Write One Song. It’s more about generally living a more creative life than a primer on doing any specific activity but still a good read.

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Thank you. Added that one to my “to read” list.

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I can’t access my copy at the moment to give specifics, but Sheila Davis’ The Craft of Lyric Writing has an exhaustingly exhaustive section on varieties of rhyme in song lyrics. IIRC I never finished that section because, for me, it reached the stage of tiresome. But if you want a very thorough reference, that might well be it. A quick search reveals that she’s got several other books on songwriting that might also be of interest.

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I did find a good condition used hardback of Davis’ book and it does seem quite thorough. I think it’s a good companion to the Webb book, and maybe a better first book.