Krylyn Peters

In my experience, many people view songwriting as some mystical process that only few, gifted people are endowed with. It’s sometimes difficult for me to address this because songwriting has always come quite easily to me. But I liken it to other skills I don’t have that I am mystified by and try to see the process through the eyes of someone who doesn’t have (or doesn’t think they have) the gift.

In Part 1 of Lessons from Lyrics, I talked about the power of thoughts, words, and lyrics. Here in Part 2, I’m going to share some examples of how I use lyrics in my songwriting therapy work. Here is an example: Changing the words One activity I use involves taking an existing song and just changing the words. This works well with familiar songs that most people are likely to know because they already know the melody. When I was an elementary school counselor, I used Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (aka the ABC song) quite a bit to write new lyrics for various lessons I was teaching. Following is an example of lyrics I wrote and sang to the melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with incoming kindergartners: Changes, changes all around Places, faces, sights, and sounds Talk to teacher, mom or dad When I’m angry, scared, or sad Changes, changes it’s okay Happen each and every day

Words are powerful, whether they are spoken aloud or in the form of thoughts. What someone says can give us a glimpse into how they are feeling - about themselves, their environment, and their circumstances. And how we assess and provide treatment to clients is affected greatly by what they tell us.

What do emotions sound like? Have you really ever stopped to think about it? While I believe there’s some universality to how we hear the expression of different emotions, I also believe that it’s a little different for all of us. For one person, anger may sound like a loud voice, to another breaking glass, and to another complete silence. It all depends on our own experiences with anger.

Have you ever stopped to think about how you listen to music? Sure you might listen to the radio, CD’s, or your ipod, hear songs playing in an elevator or doctor’s office, or stumble upon a live music performance, but what happens when you hear the music? What thoughts and feelings come up for you? How does your body respond as you listen?