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drummer relaxes and waits between shows / For the cinnamon girl' ('Cinnamon Girl') and 'What's that guy moving
'cross the stage? / It looks like the one used by Jimmy Page' ('Rock Show').
Politics, Religion and Protest
With these themes, the song lyric turns outward to much bigger issues. This raises the question of whether a popular
song is the best place to do this. Each area has its own problems.
Outside of gospel ('Oh Happy Day'), hymns, carols and the songbooks of fundamentalists, religious songs are
difficult – especially in rock ("the devil's music"). If artistically done, religious rock numbers can be highly effective
because rock's earthy energy keeps religious expressions from becoming sentimental and wooly. Think of
Townshend songs about Meher Baba such as 'Bargain', some of U2's tunes and, in reggae, Bob Marley. Biblical
themes inspired 'Turn, Turn, Turn', 'Sire Of Sorrow', '40', 'Rivers Of Babylon', 'Song Of Solomon' and 'Heaven Help
Us All'. 'The Glastonbury Song' is impressive because, despite the broad-ranging imagery of the lyric, the poignancy
of the music suggests the human cost and struggle that faith entails.
Political songs sometimes merely sloganize or preach to the converted. They become more interesting as they move
beyond a black-and-white situation. 'Shipbuilding' is a wonderful political song that examines the human realities of
the relationship between war, economics and employment. 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' is another notable peace-
sentiment song. 'Orange Crush' is about defoliants in Vietnam. There's always room for humour here, as in 'Fixin' To
Die', the anti-Vietnam War song by Country Joe & The Fish.
Other notable songs with political and social themes include 'Invisible Sun', 'Give Ireland Back To The Irish', 'Night
Rally', 'Pills And Soap', 'Stand Down Margaret', 'Love Child', 'War', 'Bring The Boys Back Home', 'Young, Gifted
And Black', 'Indian Reservation', 'Woman Is The Nigger Of The World', 'Power To The People', 'Ebony And Ivory',
'Candy Man' and 'A Thousand Trees'. The Mission's 'Amelia' is about child abuse. Charity songs such as 'Do They
Know Its Christmas?', 'Bangla Desh' and 'We Are The World' are a specialized form of this genre. Dystopian
warnings about the future can be heard in songs such as 'Eve Of Destruction' and 'In The Year 2525'.
Ecology has always been a safe bet: 'Big Yellow Taxi', 'Silvery Rain', 'Crazy Horses', 'Cuyahoga', 'Breathing', 'Mercy
Mercy Me (The Ecology)'.
How You Write
Having considered some theme categories, let's look at techniques. First, if you are writing lyrics get yourself three
books: a thesaurus, a book of proverbs and famous quotes, and a rhyming dictionary.
Point of View
Consider the question of point of view. When you write your lyric, through whose eyes are you looking? How does
this affect what you describe?
First Person
Song lyrics tend to use "I", the first person, as the main point of view. This is popular because a writer may be
writing from experience, and it is certainly popular with singers as it allows them to identify with the speaker (and
for their audience to make this identification). You can also write in the voice of someone else, such as an invented
character. Suzanne Vega's 'Luka' is sung from the point of view of an abused child. In 'Wuthering Heights', Kate
Bush voiced the feelings