Do Lyrics Matter?

Power of Lyrics in Musical Theatre: Do Lyrics Matter?
"WE'RE OPENING DOORS/SINGING, 'HERE WE ARE!'/WE'RE FILLING UP DAYS ON A DIME/THAT FARAWAY SHORE'S LOOKING NOT TOO FAR/WE'RE FOLLOWING EVERY STAR/THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME!"

-- Stephen Sondheim, Merrily We Roll Along

Have you ever sat in a theatre watching a musical and thought, "Why isn't this working for me?"

"Why am I unmoved?"

"Why am I not laughing?"

"Why am I bored?"

"What am I not getting?"

Conversely, have you sat there and thought, "Oh my God, this is the greatest song I have ever heard. I'm moved, delighted, engaged," and then at some point had the thought, "How did they do that?"

Or even, "Could I do that myself?"

The answer is, you can. Look around you, people do. People with a lot less talent (but doubtless more ambition) than you likely do, do it all the time.

In fact, plenty of people who don't know much beyond the fact that they both "like music" and "know words" do it, with no idea of what they're doing or how. They reject training, are suspicious of what "learning" will do to their "inspiration" and don't have respect for the form they profess to want to write in,

Don't be like those people.

Those people account for the bulk of the majority of the first set of questions, above.

Those people are the reason most people think they "don't like musicals" (and I'm sad to say, there's more of them).

When I'm sat In a theatre, watching a musical, I can tell you, in the moment, as I'm experiencing it, why the show, the songs, and most specifically the lyrics, are not working (which is most of the time), or why they are (which is much rarer).

I started this course because I want you to be able to know that, too.

I started this course so that one day when I'm sat at a musical with lyrics written by students of mine, I won't have to suffer the difference between what works and what doesn't, any more. As Sondheim once wrote, "there's not enough time."

Lyric writing for the theatre is a singular skill, within which are a subset of skills and skill-sets, if you're going to do it well.

You must have an understanding of the form of Musical Theatre itself; what works, what doesn't, and why; what's come before, what's happening now, and where it's headed.

You must understand narrative, story, structure, character, plot and how to build on a theme.

You must understand what sings, what doesn't, and why; and how the lyrics must play off, against, and with each other, to create levels of storytelling through song both external and subliminal.

You must have an understanding of music, music theory, and how harmonic language works in a score and with your lyrics. The more granular and academic your knowledge of music the better. The more you can speak the language of the composer the better. You will work with composers who will know less about music than you do. No matter how little you think you know. I promise. Composing music is first and most importantly (though for the good ones, hardly exclusively) a right-brained exercise. You are, as a person of words, primarily (though hardly, and fundamentally not exclusively) a left-brain functionary. Your composer will need your help to develop and complete a successful score. (If you're your own composer, you probably shouldn't be. But that's a discussion for another lesson. More on that anon.)

You must have something to say. But you must say it through characters in your narrative, because while no one cares what you have to say, they will care about what a character they become invested in, within the course of your narrative has to say.

And finally, and most important, you must understand the basics of the craft of lyric-writing itself: the fundamentals and multiple varieties of rhyme, what is rhyme and what it isn't (in the theatre), meter, scansion, prosody, variety, imagery, metaphor, the uses and abuses of cliché, and ideally, so that you will know what has been done before and need never be done again, encyclopedic knowledge of every bit of essential musical theatre from Showboat in 1921 to Maybe Happy Ending in 2025.

This course will be conducted in three essential phases. Let's apply songwriting metaphor to them, just to be fancy (and on theme).

VERSE. We will bring in, analyze, and metabolize classic and contemporary examples of what we consider great work of musical theatre lyric writing worthy of study.

CHORUS. Then you will bring in what you consider a great work of musical theatre lyric writing worthy of study. And we will examine, analyze and metabolize that.

BRIDGE. And finally, you will bring in what you are working on, and we will apply what we've learned and how we've analyzed the great works to examine, analyze and metabolize your work.

Through this three-step process, you will gain a deeper understanding of how lyrics can enhance a character's development, evoke emotion in an audience, and drive the overall narrative of a production. By examining the craft of lyric writing, you will learn how to effectively use the multiple tools in the professional theatre lyricist's toolkit to create compelling and memorable songs and musical sequences that resonate with audiences.

By the end of this course, you will have a greater appreciation for the art of lyric writing in musical theatre, and be equipped with the knowledge to craft impactful and engaging lyrics for your own musical productions.

And I will be able to sit in the audience and witness your accomplishments with tears in my eyes, not dread in my heart. Along with my fellow audience members, not having to wonder if and why something is not -- quite -- right.

So, come with me. There isn't much time.