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Alyricist is awriter who writeslyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to acomposer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to themelody,harmony, arrangement and accompaniment.
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A lyricist's income derives fromroyalties received from original songs. Royalties may range from 50 percent of the song, if it was written primarily with the composer, or less if they wrote the song in collaboration. Songs are automaticallycopyrighted as soon as they are in tangible forms, such as arecording orsheet music. However, before a song is published or made public, its author or publisher should register it with theCopyright Office at the United StatesLibrary of Congress to better protect againstcopyright infringement.[1]
Songwriting collaborations can take different forms. Some composers and lyricists work closely together on a song, with each having an input into both words and tune. Usually a lyricist fills in the words to a tune already fully written out.Dorothy Fields worked in this way.[2] Lyricists have often added words to an established tune, asJohnny Burke did with theErroll Garner jazz standard "Misty".[3] Some partnerships work almost totally independently, for example,Bernie Taupin would write lyrics and hand them over toElton John, who composed the music to go with it, with minimum interaction between the two writers.[4]
The collaboration ofJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney is widely considered the most successful songwriting partnership in history, with their songs making up the majority ofThe Beatles' catalog.[5] Other famous collaborations includeLeiber and Stoller,the Rolling Stones lead singerMick Jagger withKeith Richards, andRichard Carpenter withJohn Bettis.[5]
In theChristianhymn-singing tradition, many of the popular pieces have words written to fit existing melodies. TheChristmas carol "What Child Is This?" had its words set to an old English folk tune that had been a lover's lament, "Greensleeves". The English composerRalph Vaughan Williams set existing poems, such as those byWilliam Cowper andCharles Wesley, to traditional folk tunes to create hymns, many of which he published inThe English Hymnal. A different way this happened was the combination of unrelated words and tune, such as "The Star-Spangled Banner", thenational anthem of the United States, with words written byFrancis Scott Key strictly as a poem, later set to the tune of an old drinking song.[citation needed]
In opera, thelibrettist is responsible for all text, whether spoken or sung inrecitative oraria.[citation needed]
Media related toLyricists at Wikimedia Commons
