Lyric Methodology

I'm happy to report that for the first time in months, I've done some significant amount of composing.  I am very happy.

Big surprise: it's Warcraft themed.

On another odd note, it's very much in the same mood and theme as "Lady by the Lake," and both songs were written while I'm being stressed out by inventory prep at work.  Perhaps that says something?

Since I apparently have little else to talk about, I thought I'd spend some time documenting how I usually go about writing a song.



It starts with an idea.  In this case, the idea dates back to last winter when I wrote a quick little WoW-themed holiday song.  I went with a cheery, commercial type tune, but I also had the idea of doing one that was more somber and reflective of the beauty of Winter's Veil.  I pondered using the imagery of snow, and alliteration suggested "the Silvermoon snow."

It was a very pretty phrase, and I'm sure Silvermoon would look lovely covered in a fresh white blanket of snow. However, Silvermoon is not very wintery, despite it being at the northern end of the Eastern Kingdoms. In fact, it's very autumn.  I wondered if the elves used magic to maintain a pleasant temperature all year long; it would be very in character for them.  If that were true, the only time snow would fall on Silvermoon would be when the city didn't have the resources to maintain the enchantment.

Suddenly, a Silvermoon covered in snow was a much grimmer image.  I could see the survivors of the Scourge attack upon the city huddled in the broken walls as the first flakes of snow in centuries fell from the sky.  That first true winter would have been very harsh.

The image of the city just after the Second War stayed with me for several months, until I finally decided to do something with it.

I had a concept for the style of song, inspired by the Lament of the Highborn.  Simple instrumentation, like what could be played by a small number of chamber musicians, with repetitive minimalist lyrics.  I started with the image I already had.

The snow falls, the snow falls, and lays upon the ground.

I spent the next couple of days in my (very little) free time wondering what else would fit that pattern and would hint at the destruction of the city?   The walls falling.  The dead scar.  The dead buried in the ground.  I liked the idea of "the ground" being my repetitive element tying each line together, and I could rhyme things with "lay."   The phrase "silence of Silvermoon" was pretty and evocative of death and the shock the survivors must have felt.


I ended up with this as a first draft:

The snow falls, the snow falls, and lays upon the ground
When silence comes to Silvermoon 
The walls fall, the walls fall, and break upon the ground,
When silence comes to Silvermoon.
The wind blows, the wind blows, the leaves upon the ground,
When silence comes to Silvermoon 
The blood flows, the blood flows, and free upon the ground,
When silence comes to Silvermoon.
The snow lies, the snow lies, stained upon the ground,
When silence comes to Silvermoon.
And life dies, life dies, pained upon the ground
When silence comes to Silvermoon

I didn't quite like it.  Part of the problem was the "snow."  I realized that my image of a snowfall after the war was entirely my own theory and I didn't want to have to explain it to anyone listening to the song, even though I loved the "snow stained upon the ground."   I didn't like the second half of that coupling, though;  "life dies" felt awkward and perhaps too heavy handed.

I rewrote without a mention a snow.

The leaves fall, the leaves fall, and fade upon the ground
When silence comes to Silvermoon 
The walls fall, the walls fall, and break upon the ground,
When silence comes to Silvermoon.
The wind blows, the wind blows, the leaves upon the ground,
When silence comes to Silvermoon 
The blood flows, the blood flows, and free upon the ground,
When silence comes to Silvermoon.
The stones lie, the stone lie, there upon the ground,
When silence comes to Silvermoon.
And trees die, trees die, bare upon the ground
When silence comes to Silvermoon

After a bit of reflection, I  switched the last couplet to:

The trees die, the trees die, bare upon the ground
When silence comes to Silvermoon
The stones lie, the stones lie, there upon the ground
When silence comes to Silvermoon

I did that for consistency's sake.  The first part of each couplet now dealt with nature and the leaves.  The second half dealt with the death of the city: its walls falling, its people dying, and the stones in the final verse could refer to either the walls or gravestones.

I should mention I wasn't just writing lyrics.  I had a melody forming in my head from the first time I started to repeat "the snow falls" to myself.  Again, it was inspired by the lament: slow and lyrical.  Having a basic melody in my head makes it easier for me to think of lyrics that will fit;  I can sing the line right away to tell if it will sound "right" or not.   The melody isn't finalized in my head until I have all the words.

I'll write another post for how I dealt with tweaking the melody.