The art of songwriting歌曲创作的艺术

　　音乐人的创作灵感从何而来？鲍勃·迪伦说《鲁滨逊漂流记》等小说给他提供了写歌词的灵感。音乐剧作曲家斯蒂芬·桑德海姆认为研究歌词的抑扬顿挫对创作旋律很有帮助。泰勒·斯威夫特表示她的歌词中有很多反映真实生活的字句。看来不同的音乐人有不同的创作方法，这中间没有什么铁律。本期 “随身英语” 讨论歌曲创作的艺术。

　　词汇：music音乐

　　Singer-songwriters write songs, but how do they do it? Where do musicians get their inspiration from? What comes first – the music or the lyrics¹? It turns out that everyone has their own way of writing which works for them.

　　Bob Dylan is a musician with a unique musical style. It has been described as folk rock, gospel, country and jazz.He told the BBC that he gets a lot of his writing inspiration from novels like Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe. He said 'They give you a way of looking at life and understanding of human nature and a standard to measure things by. I took that all with me when I started composing lyrics'. It seems to have worked for him. He has had a career spanning six decades and has won many songwriting awards.

　　And what comes first, the music or the lyrics? Stephen Sondheim, a musical theatre composer who died in 2021, said in an interview with The New Yorker that, when it comes to songwriting, the stress in a phrase is very important for him. 'You can start writing a lyric², and then the inflection of the lyric suggests a tune³.' Therefore, in his way of writing, the music and lyrics come at roughly the same time.

　　In 2022, Taylor Swift won a Songwriter-Artist of the Decade award. In her speech, she said lyrics are her favourite part of songwriting. She describes the majority of her songs as having a 'modern storyline or references, with a poetic⁴ twist' and commonly uses real life experiences and conversations as influence.

　　Aside from lyrics, an important part of many songs is the instrumental backing. This is often created with chords, where at least three notes are played at the same time, often on a piano or guitar. Chord progression is where different chords are played one after the other, and therefore can act as the base for vocals⁵.

　　So, if you're feeling musical, lay down some chords, get inspired and give it a go yourself!

　　词汇表

　　singer-songwriter 创作型歌手

　　lyric 歌词

　　folk rock 摇滚民谣

　　gospel 福音音乐

　　country 乡村音乐

　　jazz 爵士乐

　　compose 创作

　　composer 作曲家，创作者

　　stress 重音，强调部分

　　phrase 乐句

　　inflection 语调的抑扬变化

　　tune 旋律，曲调

　　storyline 故事情节

　　twist 转折变化

　　instrumental backing 乐器伴奏

　　chord 和弦

　　note 音，音符

　　chord progression 和弦进行，一连串的和弦转换vocal 人声演唱部分

　　lay down 写出，录制

 

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