What comes first. Music or lyrics?

[Bellringer]

I know there is no right way to make a song but what is your usual process? Do you have something you want to say and convert some poetry to lyrics and create a vocal melody? Do you have a band and create a rhythm/chord progression first? Do you sit at a computer and layer loops?
I mix it up a bit, but I have a stack of notebooks full of lyrics and like to try to write music around words that don't expire. Words that I read months later and still feel or am entertained by. Other times a song will almost write itself inside my mind in less than an hour. Those are like magic moments. I know it can be a complicated process but try and share some concepts on how a song comes together for you.

[40 oz]

Every band I've ever been in has written the music, or at least the main riff or hook first. The the singer would put lyrics to it.

[fargone]

I'm with 40. All the people I've written music with, it's always been music first. Lyrics tended to be secondary. Since I'm not a lyricist or a singer, this just seems the most natural way for me.

[Chaorta]

I dont have a "right way" of doing it. Whatever happens, happens.

[mikegee]

i agree chaorta, rule #1, there are no rules... whatever works works, BUT...

99% of my songs start with lyrics, from there i determine melody and rhythm, and build musically around the song, it works good for me that way.

[Uluru]

I too agree with Chaorta, "whatever happens, happens." Though sometimes I pigeon hole myself into a melody by writing lyrics first. A lot of times as I write lyrics I can "hear" a melody that is fitting but this can backfire as I cannot escape the melody and create a new riff. It's like a laughter vortex, just sucks all the humor out of a joke. (happens to me quite often)

[mikegee]

yea uluru, i agree that has happened to me too.

i find when ya discover a natural melody that goes with the flow of a lyric, it is hard to get away from the original melody and try alternate melodies. maybe its a good idea to go with a few different melodies right from the start (as well as a few different tempos) so you are not locked down to 1 specific primary melody? also, transposing the key (maybe it's just in the "wrong" key, if that's possible... ) and alternate tempos can add new life to a melody that may not sound right or sound "tired" or "forced". maybe every melody has a sweet tempo spot? hmmm

[dagosto]

I usually write music first because I have no talent for poetry. I really enjoy writing with a lyricist because then we can work together and build a song with a more centralized theme. So I guess my favorite way is to write music and lyrics in tandem.

[Professor Riffs]

Lately I've started thinking about songs (if you can call them songs) in terms of movies or scenes. I come up with a "plot", then I map each scene out, and write parts (ambient, soundscape, whatever) or actual riffs that I think sound like what the movie would look like. "ok what would it sound like when the fog lifts and you see a dark road with the occasional car" or "then he slips and falls down the stairs what would that sound like". Stuff like that. As for vocals, they usually end up being sounds as opposed to words. Harmonies or rhythmic things...lots of stuff with 2 or 3 guys singing at once. If the tune needs words though (for example, we have a song about riboflavin and all of it's scientific properties with tons of biology/chemistry jargon), they go in. Then I have to figure out how the hell to do all the stuff I've planned, and the hectic nature of the whole thing leads me down a different path each time. Thankfully I'm lucky enough to have a band of stunt musicians that can, and like to, do the same sort of things!

[smopo24]

sometimes lyrics and words come at around the same time....but whatever sparks it is difficult to remember (melody in my head, a unique song structure/rythm that i'm working on, an odd turn of phrase) once it has started, but i think that keeps the "process" from getting stale.