What should my lyrics be about?

[PleaseDele]

Hello people of escapist!

Unfortunately my current band has decided to call it quits. I do not intend to quit music forever and I I have been toying with the idea of a new project.

Basically, I wanna start a simple rock band writing clever pop songs about what we tend to call nerd/geek culture. My guess is that there's plenty of us out there that like love songs and party anthems but find the lyrics to be somewhat lackluster.

I already have some ideas but I figured: If you're planning on catering to a market, you should do the research. And if anywhere is a good place to start it's here.

So escapist:

If a quirky little rockband was singing about nerdy stuff and throwing in some clever twists to the basic themes, what would you like them to be singing about?

Cheers!

 

[Elfgore]

For my opinion, I'd say listen to a little of the band called Kirby Krackle. They have songs about video games, poppy sound, and could be enjoyed by non-gamers. The song Vault 101 is particularly amazing.

 

[Flutterguy]

I think most musicians will tell you something on the lines of " Lyrics are stupid. Dont worry about it."

 

[TheRookie8]

Satire the he'll out of popular T.V. shows. Werewolf apocolypses. Breaking the fourth wall. Giant robot love story. Alternate WWI history where WWI is avoided, only to have aliens invade. The trick is to make a seemingly ridiculous concept and make it endearing.

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

I've had a similar idea in the past. I called the band Save the Spiders. It was to be "nerdcore punk," in my own words. I named the first three albums (Self-titled, Oi Oi Desu, and Protect and Sodomize), planned out the evolution of our style (light pop-punk novelty songs about specific works, then a slightly-emo introspective period about the experience of actually being a geek, finally settling into angry, aggressive political hardcore that happens to incorporate nerdy references), and wrote about a dozen songs before I remembered that I can't play any instruments and don't know anyone who can who isn't already committed to their own band.

What I'm trying to say is I'm crazy.

But yeah, songs about how it feels to be part of this subculture and how it affects your worldview sound good to me. Along the lines of Wheatus's "Teenage Dirtbag" or "Revenge of the Nerds" by Former Fat Boys. Except, y'know, both of those are about being bullied and ostracized, so perhaps the opposite as far as tone.

 

[Guffe]

There's a lad on this site called MiracleofSound, check out his material unless you haven't
He has a very wide range in his music, but he has a few ones you can cathegorize in the Rock/Metal genre.
I don't know, I only listen to music, take a character, a game, or a section of a game and make a song about it.

EDIT
Damn I was just skimming the opening post... the whole nerd/geek culture... :/
No idea...

Still: check out MoS

 

[PleaseDele]

Hey peeps,

Thanks for the replies!

Checking out Kirby Krackle right now and it´s a great start to check for my sound and lyrical content. Great stuff.
Also, I most definitely know Miracle of Sound. Gavin´s stuff is amazing. But he mostly writes tributes to series or certain stand alone games and movies. I´m mostly looking for the nerd culture aspect.

Anywayz, thanks for the input. More is always welcome!

 

[HardkorSB]

I think most musicians will tell you something on the lines of " Lyrics are stupid. Dont worry about it."

Sad but true.
Lyrics are usually the last thing people pay attention to when listening to music.
That's why most pop songs have a part when the singer goes "LALALALALALA" or "OUOUOUOUOUUUU" so that you can sing along without knowing the words.

Write about science but in an entertaining way.
Make the lyrics catchy yet informative.
Hardly anyone does that.
I'm pretty sure I've heard some songs like that but I can't name you any of them from the top of my head.

 

[Queen Michael]

I'd be happy to hear a Phoenix Wright song. They're not too common.

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

I think the main thing is to write about things you genuinely love and are interested in. The main thing about geek culture is unashamedly getting into things. Jokes and comments about things you love are going to be more insightful and it will show through that you are a fan of the genre, which will appeal to other people who love those things.

If you write about things which are 'nerdy' but you don't really care about that much, I'm not sure it's really possible to replace the energy of genuine enthusiasm and people will notice.

I'm also not sure about the "culture". It's so big nowadays that there is no one path to nerd-dom. Anyone can be a nerd.

Not musicians, but I think of people like Zach Weinersmith (smbc) and Simon Pegg, who have huge nerd followings, and are clearly nerds themselves and love what they joke about.