The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Do you prefer songs with lyrics that rhyme? Does it matter? Or do you prefer no rhymes?

It's like, you know how you laugh harder at a joke when you know the punch line? Kind of like that. When a word rhymes a line or two later in a song, it kind of makes my brain say, ah, cool.
But some songs don't need it, like a folk story.

Yeah, it all depends on the song. But as I see it ...

If a song doesn`t need rhyming, but has it ... it`s icing on the cake - might feel a bit forced, but it won`t piss me off too much.

But a song that needs rhyming lyrics and doesn`t have it - I`ll just be disappointed.

Reïst wrote:But a song that needs rhyming lyrics and doesn`t have it - I`ll just be disappointed.

Yep, I feel the same. I've got reviews for scary about half done (I do them in cycles) and the song that made me cringe was Lord of Oats. Not sure if he did it on purpose, but knowing him, he did. He's always fighting the power, lol.

Not a rhyme thing, but what about changing tempo and flow? Dance song, funky, groovin', then breaks away for guitar lead. Dose it make one stop dancing?

No preference, but they should never be written with the intent to rhyme. If your lyrics rhyme because the rhyme happens to sound good while the lyrics are strong, that's fine. If your lyrics rhyme because you're using a rhyming dictionary, you are shitty.

This is not from my high horse or anything because I write fucking terrible lyrics.

Rhyme is part of what drives the phrasing and rhythm of a song. It's a powerful element. Which means it can also be cheesy and disappointing. Some of the most effective turns in lyric happen when they set up a word that rhymes, and makes sense, but then it never comes. I'll have to update examples later since I'm still half asleep. But I like that.

Some songs need a lack of rhyme. I'm thinking of like, most of the Pearl Jam hits.

"Son," she said, "have I got a little story for you...
What you thought was your daddy was nothin' but a...
While you were sittin' home alone at age thirteen
your real daddy was dyin'. Sorry you didn't see him, but I'm glad we talked..."

Where should you put the rhymes in there? Nowhere. Rhymes in that song wouldn't be a bonus, they'd make the song sound corny.

No preference. When it works, it works and when it doesn't it doesn't.

Rabid Garfunkel wrote:No preference. When it works, it works and when it doesn't it doesn't.

I think you said what everyone was saying but you pretty much summed it up in a nutshell.

My favorite punk rock band Against Me! is the perfect example of a band that rhymes when they need to and don't when they don't.

The first band that introduced me to 'not having to rhyme' as a general rule (because I just didn't know that was an option beforehand) was The Cure. The album Disintegration is full of songs that don't rhyme but flow very well.

roymond wrote:Some of the most effective turns in lyric happen when they set up a word that rhymes, and makes sense, but then it never comes.

Although an intentionally corny song, I did this on my shoelace soup song.
We can go outside and play some catch,
you can lift up your skirt and show me your lap
We can try on clothes to see how they fit
You can lift your shirt and show me your wrists

Billy's Little Trip wrote:

roymond wrote:Some of the most effective turns in lyric happen when they set up a word that rhymes, and makes sense, but then it never comes.

Although an intentionally corny song, I did this on my shoelace soup song.
We can go outside and play some catch,
you can lift up your skirt and show me your lap
We can try on clothes to see how they fit
You can lift your shirt and show me your wrists

One of the first songs I learned on guitar (I was about 6) was:

had a little donkey, wouldn't go
think I'd wollup it, oh no no
I'd put it in the pasture, feed it on grass
take a big stick and hit it on the rear

I think rhyming is good in more songs than it's not good in, so I picked "should" - however I agree that some (small) number of songs should not rhyme.
-bill

@Roy
HaHa! Yeah, my goal was along those lines. Juvenile humor.

roymond wrote: I'd put it in the pasture, feed it on grass
take a big stick and hit it on the rear

We used that one in "Rot to Fill":

Billy McSwill ate some grass,
Conner O'Cotten sat on his chair.

Funny thing is, our "chair" almost rhymes with your "rear".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Susie

I have modified the Wikipedia version to align with my memory of singing it on the bus to swimming lessons, summer 1981:

Miss Susie had a tugboat; the tugboat had a bell (ding ding)
Miss Susie went to heaven and the tugboat went to
Hello operator, give me number 9
And if you disconnect me I'll kick your fat
Behind the refrigerator, there was a piece of glass
Miss Susie sat upon it and it broke her little
Ask me no more questions, I'll tell you no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom, zipping up their
Flies are in the meadow, bees are in the park
Miss Susie and her boyfriend are sitting in the D-A-R-K D-A-R-K DARK DARK DARK!
Darker than the ocean, darker than the sea,
Darker than the underwear my mama puts on ME ME ME!
Mom gave me a nickel; Dad gave me a dime.
My sister had a boyfriend whose name is Frankenstein
He made me do the dishes; he made me scrub the floor
When he made me clean his underwear I kicked him out the DOOR DOOR DOOR.
I kicked him over London, I kicked him over France.
I kicked him to Hawaii where he did the hula DANCE DANCE DANCE
My mother is Godzilla, my father is King Kong.
My sister is the stupid one who made me sing this SONG SONG SONG!

JB, that's so funny that you posted that. After reading roy's post, I was trying to remember that song. I was thinking really hard to remember it, but the smell of bacon overcame me and I walked towards the kitchen and lost my train of thought.

Albatross wrote:

Ha, they ended it like I did. Beating around the bush, as it were, then ending with a resounding F bomb. Awesome!

rhymes are good... and no rhyming is also good... just DON'T rhyme Girl with World... or the song Fails automatically.

When it comes to my own writing style, I haven't yet figured out the trick to non-rhyming lyrics that sound good. But on the other hand, a rhyme has to be creative, or it just sounds corny. What plays into which rhyme to use has a lot to do with the meter.