写作方法2015medium.com
Death Cab for Cutie 的 Ben Gibbard 拆解歌曲创作的科学
Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard Deconstructs the Science of Songwriting
导读
这是一篇关于 Death Cab for Cutie 主唱 Ben Gibbard 谈自己如何写歌的文章：他拆解了自己创作歌词与旋律的思路。评论区还额外补充了一份完全不同的“金曲制造者”写词公式清单，与 Gibbard 的创作观形成对照。写作者可以从中看到：写歌词时如何用句式钩子抓住听众，以及创作者对自己作品的评价和受众的感受常常并不一致。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
开头先放一句“嘿”“哎呀”“打扰一下”式的招呼语，直接制造对话感和在场感。
- 02
标题或副歌可以套用几种现成句式：自我宣告（“我是个……”“我想爱你”）、祈使句（“把手举起来”）、问句（“明天你还会爱我吗”）、口头禅、结巴式重复。
- 03
用数数、拼读、音素这类“逻辑型”文字游戏强化记忆点，比如把州名拆成音节唱出来。
- 04
成对的反义词（冷与热、天堂与地狱）能同时制造张力和结构感；另外，创作者自己最不满意的作品可能恰恰是受众的最爱，不必把自我评价当作唯一标准。
HN 评论精选
金曲写词可以归纳成八类句式公式：招呼、自我宣告、祈使、提问、数字与拼读逻辑、口头禅、结巴重复、反义对比。
除了原帖和 Suzanne Vega 在《纽约时报》的系列文章，这里还有一份几乎完全相反的写歌指南，摘自 David Samuels 在 n+1 上那篇很长、标题戏称为《贾斯汀·汀布莱克感冒了》的文章。制作人 Mike Caren 的规则虽不全面也不排他，但看他办公室墙上挂着的几十张金唱片和白金唱片，就知道它们的价值。他逐条讲给我听：“第一，开头是一句招呼：‘嘿’‘哎呀’‘打扰一下’。第二是自我宣告：‘我是个皮条客，宝贝’‘我想爱你’‘我今晚需要你’。第三是告诉对方该做什么：‘把手举起来’‘把你所有的爱给我’‘跳’。第四是提问：‘明天你还会爱我吗’‘你这一辈子都去哪了’‘真 Slim Shady 请站起来好吗。’”他深吸一口气，又飞快说出四条：“第五是逻辑，可以是数数，也可以是拼写或音素：‘1-2-3-4，让尸体落地’，或者‘加-利-福-尼-亚 很-复-杂’这类。第六是那种因为熟悉而顺口溜出的口头禅：‘永远别说永远’‘毁了我的游行’。第七是我们说的结巴，比如‘别—别—别停下来’，也可以是重复：‘真 Slim Shady 请站起来，请站起来，请站起来’。第八又回到逻辑，像热与冷、天堂与地狱、头……”
mturmon查看英文原文
Besides the OP, and Suzanne Vega's recent series of posts for the NYT, here's another, almost completely opposite, guide to songwriting, extracted from a (very) long article by David Samuels from n+1 cheekily called "Justin Timberlake Has a Cold" -- While [Mike] Caren’s rules are not comprehensive or exclusive, it is easy to measure their value by a glance at the dozens of gold and platinum records hanging in his office. He is happy to run down his rules for me. “First, it starts with an expression of ‘Hey,’ ‘Oops,’ ‘Excuse me,’” he begins. “Second is a personal statement: ‘I’m a hustler, baby,’ ‘I wanna love you,’ ‘I need you tonight.’ Third is telling you what to do: ‘Put your hands up,’ ‘Give me all your love,’ ‘Jump.’ Fourth is asking a question: ‘Will you love me tomorrow,’ ‘Where have you been all my life,’ ‘Will the real Slim Shady please stand up.’” He takes a deep breath, and rattles off another four rules. “Five is logic,” he says, “which could be counting, or could be spelling or phonetics: ‘1-2-3-4, let the bodies hit the floor,’ or ‘Ca-li-fornia is comp-li-cated,’ those kind of things. Six would be catchphrases that roll off the tip of your tongue because you know them: ‘Never say never,’ ‘Rain on my parade.’ Seven would be what we call stutter, like, ‘D-d-don’t stop the beat,’ but it could also be repetition: ‘Will the real Slim Shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up.’ Eight is going back to logic again, like hot or cold, heaven or hell, head to toe, all those kind of things.” The ninth rule of hit songwriting is silence. [...] His favorite example of a song that uses the most rules in the fewest words is a hit by the rapper Ludacris, “What’s Your Fantasy,” which starts off with the lyric “I wanna li-li-li-lick you from your head to your toes.” Caren loves that song. “In the first line: a personal statement, ‘I want to,’ a stutter, repetition, ‘li-lick you,’ logic, ‘from your head to your toes, move from the bed down to the down to the, to the floor,’” he explains. “‘I gotta know’—another personal statement—and asks a question, ‘What’s your fantasy?’ So he’s got six of them, in the first two lines of the song.”
创作者自评最差的作品常是死忠粉丝的最爱；创作过程的痛苦与作品的最终价值并不成正比。
评论先引用 Gibbard 的原话：“《The Photo Album》是我最不喜欢的一张唱片，因为制作过程非常艰难、痛苦。录这张唱片时我们差点解散，之后的巡演也很糟糕。回头看那张唱片，我觉得自己当时歌不够——勉勉强强只有 10 首歌，其中两首还只是勉勉强强成形的想法。”评论者接着说：有意思的是，对最忠实的老歌迷来说，《The Photo Album》通常排在他们最喜欢的 Death Cab 专辑前三名。顺便说一句，我觉得《Kintsugi》后半张很弱，希望这不是 Walla 离开造成的。
aaronbrethorst查看英文原文
The Photo Album is my least favorite record we’ve ever made because it was a really difficult, arduous process to make it. We almost broke up during the recording of the record and then the tour after that was horrible. I look back on that record and I think I didn’t have enough songs — I barely had 10 songs and two of the 10 were barely complete thoughts. Funny, given that The Photo Album is usually one of the top 2-3 Death Cab albums[1] of their most dedicated, long-term fans. For what it's worth, I think the second half of Kintsugi is weak, and I hope that this isn't a result of Walla's departure. [1] Mine are probably Transatlanticism, Plans, and The Photo Album, although The Open Door EP holds a special place in my heart.
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