This weekend, we attended a songwriting workshop led by Nashville songwriter, Craig Carothers. We had a great time, and learned some tips about how to write funny songs. On Saturday, we had the writing workshop where we did various creative writing exercises to get us thinking "funny", and on Sunday, we did song critiques with Craig.
The biggest thing that we got out of this workshop was to stop being so hard on the initial words and thoughts that we have. We should write them down or record them WITHOUT passing judgment. One line that keeps coming to me that Craig said was, "Contribute more, edit less". This is a BIG lesson that we need to learn.
I am a perfectionist, and I don't usually write a lyric down until I have a pretty good idea of what it should be, and where is should be going. Craig talked about how we miss SO much when we edit first, then write. Writing should be free flow thought, without deciding initially what is worthy to be written and kept. The point he was making was to write it ALL-the stupid ideas, the funny ideas, a couple of rhymes, interesting words, free association, or whatever comes to mind.
A few things he mentioned about how to write funny song were...
1. Go to the most outrageous place that a song could go. Don't be afraid to write
things that are crazy. Then you can tone down the idea if necessary.
2. Timing can be funny. Where you end a rhyme can be funny. Whenever a rhyme
is expected, if you place the rhyme in a different part of the sentence, or don't
rhyme at all, it can make the audience laugh.
3. Use a different musical genre than the words rely on. For example, you can
write a song about murdering someone, and if the music or singing is beautiful,
then that can be funny.
4. Write a title for the song, then write the strangest or funniest way to express that
thought.
5. When writing comedic songs, you must change the chorus more often than you
do in mainstream songwriting. Once the audience has laughed at your joke, if you
tell that same joke again in the second chorus, then it loses some of its punch.
6. When writing a funny song, you must give your audience something
unexpected. The meter of your song can make it funny, or the character you use
to speak the words can be funny.
7. Most, if not all funny writing is written from a "truth" perspective. The more your
audience can relate to the humorous story, the funnier they will find it.
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