Pen to Paper: 5 Handwritten Lyrics to our Favorite Songs
By: Ivan Munoz
In the age of ever present technology there is a certain romanticization of the written word, be it from a letter or birthday card to something as mundane as a shopping list. Regardless of what it is, the further we stray from pen to paper being the norm of cataloguing thoughts, the more interesting it becomes; and it’s especially interesting for all of us in one specific form of art: songwriting and lyricism. There’s something so interesting about seeing the stream of consciousness from the great artists that formed the soundtrack of our lives in their own handwriting. It adds such a personal touch and provides us a new window into the thought process of the writer. Here at Victor, we’ve compiled 10 handwritten lyrics from the musical greats.
1. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite
The Beatles (1967)
Lennon took inspiration for this song from an old circus poster, the drawings and large title really reflect not only the mood of the song but also of the 1967 era. Note the litany of exclamation marks that provide insight into the mood conveyed during the writing that led to the flamboyant execution of the song. It’s interesting that benefit is misspelled as “benifit” but no one can fault him there, he was too busy making Sgt. Pepper to worry about the occasional typo.
2. Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel (1970)
Paul Simon’s originally written lyrics to the 1970 smash hit Bridge Over Troubled Water from Simon and Garfunkel’s final album bearing the same title of the song really show a lot. This song marks a leveling up of Paul Simon’s writing ability showing an musician in his prime working towards reaching his full potential. The bitter sweet song is also rather appropriate in it’s meaning as it acts as the swan song for one of the 60’s most cherished duos. With every ending, however, must come a new beginning and with a song like this under his belt, Simon was easily able to transition to a very fruitful solo career. Now the handwritten lyrics on this sheet are especially representative of what this song is about, this piece of paper stained in ink captures the dynamics of both the sound and the meaning of this song without ever uttering a single note. The dulcet and gently sung verses are written in small words woven throughout the strong and powerful chorus that covers the entire page; showing that the message of the chorus is not only the most important part the overarching theme that the verse lyrics represent. Paul Simon describes that he started writing this song as a “hymn”…to me he achieved that and so much more, this song speaks to the soul and fills the entire breadth of it while doing so.
3. Riders On The Storm
The Doors (1971)
Would you believe that a seven minute and 9 second song can fit on a single sheet of paper? Well lo and behold The Doors’ 1971 song Riders On The Storm. This song finds its place on the L.A. Woman album, the final Doors album to feature the iconoclastic frontman Jim Morrison. The song is an especially dark one, not just in the sound or meaning, but it the circumstances surrounding it. This is the final song the Doors recorded together as a singular unit and also the final song to be released in Jim Morrison’s lifetime. Adding an extra layer of creepy to this already deliciously spooky song. This is the only song on this list to be written on yellow paper, and if you research more handwritten doors lyrics, especially from this era, you’ll find many of them to be written on this yellow notepad paper. Seems like Morrison had a preferred medium on which to jot down his (pen) strokes of genius. Even though Morrison physically wrote the words down, the writing credits go to all four members of the band, however Jim appears to have crossed out all of the other names and just written “The Doors” under it. Perhaps it was a subconscious distancing of oneself from the group, Morrison was in fact growing tired of his rockstar image and looking to pursue his true passion of being a poet. Thrown into this world by one way or another, Morrison would soon leave it only a month after this song was released.
4. I Want To Break Free
Queen (1984)
Though not as blissfully bodacious as Freddie Mercury, nor delightfully ostentatious as Brian May, Bassist John Deacon of Queen was of an equal talent. In fact, he penned many of the band’s greatest hits including Another One Bites The Dust, You’re My Best Friend, and the above I Want To Break Free, along with many others. Though not a smash hit, he also wrote a personal favorite of mine Misfire. Deacon was able to take a relatively simple concept and succinct words and make them into a powerful song that communicated so much more that the the words would imply on the surface. Obviously that came with the help of the full band, but that is what makes the unit of Queen such a fascinating one. Ever the pragmatist and fast thinker, Deacon employs quotes in the first verse to show it repeats words and to get on with the process, maybe his mind was working faster than his hand could write and he really needed to get the idea out there onto the paper, quite probable. Though it’s an impossible task to read the mind of someone from more than 30 years ago, it is however a fun endeavor to try to get into that mind space nonetheless, but I digress. By the rest of the song he “breaks free” from his quoting and just writes the lyrics out normally and off to the studio it went. Soon this song would be played across the airwaves, oftentimes accompanied by a video of the band cross-dressing, much to the chagrin of a maybe a select few grandparents, but to the joy of most who appreciated a little British humor.
5. The Word
The Beatles (1965)
The Word is technically The Beatles’ first psychedelic song, it touches on the universal topic of the concept of love, not just loving someone romantically, but love as a fundamental part of oneself and the human experience. Love with a capital ‘L’ if you will. It came quite early too, released in December of 1965 on Rubber Soul, certainly predating what is traditionally accepted as the psychedelic era of the 60’s. After finishing the song, John and Paul celebrating by lighting one up, penning the lyrics and making some colorful drawings in a rather psychedelic style. In the Barry Miles biography Many Years From Now, McCartney states: “We smoked a bit of pot, then we wrote out a multicolored lyric sheet, the first time we’d ever done that.” In a 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon says of the song: “You read the words, it’s all about getting smart. It’s the marijuana period. It’s love. It’s a love and peace thing. The word is ‘love,’ right?”…With all of this in mind, this lyrics sheet is very reflective of what was going on in their heads at that time, and not only demonstrates a pivotal change in The Beatles’ writing, but ultimately also shows the inflection point of introspective enlightenment of our culture, from the age of antiquity to modernity, from the old to the new.
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About The Author
Ivan Munoz is a musician, bassist, singer, musicians advocate, and member of the Victor Talking Machine Company. Along with this Ivan can be found devoting his time to various musical projects, compositions, and working on musical instruments. Click the photo for more!