Word Choice in Lyrics

Wow, I really need to get back into the swing of article writing. Just a small preview of what's coming up:
Villains, Pt 2
Writing a Plot Outline
Musical Review: Avenue Q (But you'll have to wait after I see it in December)

If there is anything that you guys want to see, you should inform me, because then I can give relevant information, as opposed to topics that come up off the top of my head.

Now, word choice is a very important thing when dealing with writing music and lyrics for your musical. If I've noticed anything in real life, it's that most people lack any semblance of rhythm and flow. Just look anytime someone makes parody lyrics to something off the top of their head. And some people are just downright terrible at TRYING to rhyme as well. As a writer, there are a few things you need to avoid when writing lyrics.

1. The rhymes that people see from a mile away. Be and me and see, etc. They aren't always bad, but when they are the basis behind your melody, that's a no-no. Not completely bad by itself, but if the rest of your lyrics are mediocre at best, this does nothing to stem the tide.

2. Extremely cliche topics and things. People will say love is cliche and it might be, but it's a different kind of cliche. It's such an acceptable concept for a song, that people will just look the other way. But talking about your dreams as reaching HIGH into the SKY and things of that nature is terrible writing. This holds especially true for lines thrown into songs that don't totally have to do with the song. Yes, there is filler in lyrics too.

"Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood"

Shame on you if you recognized those lyrics. They aren't bad, because filler isn't bad. But it's also unique lyrics and imagery. I mean, I don't even think about comets on a daily basis. But if your filler, where you can talk about whatever and use whatever words you want is bad, then how can your song be any good.

3. Choosing words that don't really sound the way you think they do. I have this problem since I pronounce a bunch of words wrong, like projectile (Pruh-jek-tic-el). It sort of rhymes with bicycle the way I say it, and it isn't regional, so it sounds dumb. If I ever rhymed bicycle with projectile as a lyric, no one would understand it. Or rhyming out with rout in TSMGO.

There are some ways to fix your lyrics to make them thousands of times better.

1. Pick rhymes made up of multiple words or multisyllabic words. Since I'm fairly conceited, I'll post examples from my plays.
"He taught me dictation. He taught me many languages
To be the perfect secretary has its share of anguishes." (Ballad of Theylus Mignon)

"Here I sit, patiently
In hopes of admiralty" (The musical I'm working on now)

2. Pick similes and metaphors in your filler that you are unique. My example earlier from...that play is a good example. How about instead of talking about the frolic in the spring, pick the frolic at a carnival. I don't know, I even found it hard to think of cliche metaphors off the top of my head since they make me cringe.

3.Pick words that are unique to the lexicon of the character who is singing them. Mechanical people use mechanical terms, etc. This is also a good form of characterization.

4. Generally being clever in your word choice. Unless you are already clever, pick the tenth word that comes to your mind instead of the first.

I know someone is sitting out there right now saying "Why is this all about rhyming? What about those of us who are too good to rhyme?" Firstly, you are never too good to rhyme, and the words that take the most choosing are the ones that fall into the important positions, aka the rhyming spots. Haven't you ever noticed that if your rhyme is bad you rewrite the whole sentence, not just the last word. The choice of those other words doesn't matter as much.

Hopefully this helps you in your attempt to fill in those lines to your melody. Now I need to go write lyrics myself.