The Songbay Lyric Writing Competition: How We Chose The Winners

The winners of the 2020 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition were announced at the end of last year. The standard was incredibly high and the process of choosing the winners, from a short list of over a hundred and fifty, was a challenge! In this blog post, we reveal some of the thought processess of the judges. We’ll also be sharing the winning and commended entries throughout this article in case you missed the announcements last year. Perhaps this information may even help you with your preparations for our 2021 contest later in the year!

This year’s competition was organised and managed by Justine Perry, a freelance professional lyricist and writer. She currently manages Songbay’s Lyric Improvement Service

Our judges were Gary Cubberley, Chris Porter, Olga Wells, and Justine Perry. Their musical backgrounds are impressively diverse. From film composing, songwriting, musical theatre, lyric writing and opera, to music production, TV/ Radio commercials, arranging, recording, mixing, mastering, session singing, vocal coaching and instrumental teaching. The Songbay creative team has some very high profile clients-  Kasabian, Keane, Ellie Goulding, Ed Sheeran, Gary Barlow, INXS, Nick Cave & The BadSeeds, Patti Labelle, John Lee S-Club 7, Jamie Cullum, West One Music, Faye Tozer Steps, Amy Pearson, Gareth Gates and Dagny (to name a few).

There were some great prizes on offer, the winner-Mandy Vinson, had her lyric turned into a fully completed song by our expert songwriting team using our Lyric to Song service >>  Whilst our runners up, received free use of our Lyric Improvement Service.

Commended Entry:

(Isaac Gray with lyric Swept Away  View Lyric)

The challenge was to write a lyric incorporating three random words – ‘flamboyant’, ‘ramble’ and ‘hope’.  No easy! Trying to make the words interconnect within a strong lyric way was a serious challenge.

Commended Entry:

(Songs4Singers with lyric He Will Live Forever  View Lyric)

(Ward Lane with lyric Remember View Lyric)

“Some lyrics immediately stood out.  I tried to put my personal preferences aside and pick the lyrics that were strongest in terms of storytelling and emotional connection, technique, and how well the lyrics lent themselves to music” Justine Perry

Commended Entry:

(Plasma Baby with lyric Drift Away  View Lyric)

“I went for lyrics where the three required words were used most naturally, that also displayed originality, imagery, and poeticism. Essentially, I asked myself, did the lyric move me emotionally; could I imagine this in a song? I tend to be drawn to the ambiguity, where a word can mean different things to different listeners, whilst still making sense from a variety of viewpoints. There were some lovely lyrics that achieved this, I chose those that seemed the most creative and original.” Olga Wells

Commended Entry:

(Ceciliya with lyric Flamboyant Art  View Lyric)

“I tend to look at lyrics from more of a ‘music-writing’ perspective, i.e. could I see the lyric actually working as a song? For me, I like clarity and simplicity. This creates a clearer message for listeners and much stronger ‘hook lines’ that I can then reinforce musically. Additionally, I’m looking for scansion and implied rhythm – this makes any songwriter’s job much easier.” Chris Porter

Commended Entry:

(Brett Hunt with lyric Buffett  View Lyric)

“I looked for lyrics that had a clear story, that resonated on an emotional level that I could also envisage working well in song format, i.e. lyrics that could easily transfer to songs with regard to rhythmic flow, hook lines, and naturally contrasting emotional sections. From a songwriting perspective, I tend to interpret the emotions displayed in the lyric as the basis for my musical harmonic (chord) progressions, and the storyline as the song’s melody. With this in mind, I was really looking out for lyrics that displayed strong emotion and story-telling qualities.”  Gary Cubberley

4th Prize Winner

(Maria Teresa Guzman with lyric Tomorrow Without Me View Lyric)

Interestingly, since each judge approached the task from his or her own professional background and musical ideology, their choices and comments were remarkably similar. Four entries were particularly noteworthy, chosen as winners by three of the four judges. It is interesting to note that all the judges placed a great deal of emphasis on the ability of a lyric to transfer to music, something that is often overlooked by inexperienced lyricists.

3rd Prize Winner

(Sheena Hope with lyric The Fire View Lyric )

We received some submissions that used the three required words ingeniously. However, these did not make the short list due to their complexity or length. Essentially we were looking for lyrics, not poems, and this was overlooked at times. We also detected an emphasis to impress rather to create a lovely lyric- a sort of a paradoxical trap of lyric competitions!

A good lyric is not the same as a good poem and a bad lyric is not the same as a bad poem. Often the two are confused. Inexperienced lyricists, sometimes forget the purpose of a lyric, i.e., to work with a song, to create the feeling, to create memorable hook lines, to enhance rhythmic potential, to work with music and harmony to form a symbiotic relationship. Some of the entries reviewed took the form of intellectual poems, it was difficult to envisage these working in song format.

These very same considerations are examined in our Lyric Improvement Service. Launched last year, it is a cost effective way of improving your lyric and writing skills, helping with all aspects of lyric writing, from improvements in word choices, to working with rhythm and melody. Find out more here: Lyric Improvement Service >>

2nd Prize Winner

Martin Hampton with lyric Good Grace and Hope View Lyric

Our first-prize winner was offered free use of our Lyric to Song Service. This service was launched last year to help Songbay lyricists create completed songs from their lyrics. It can be difficult to break into the music industry as a lyricist alone – most publishers do not accept ‘lyric-only’ submissions, whilst others will want to hear some examples of your lyrics in song format. Find out more here: Lyric to Song service >> 

1st Prize Winner

Mandy Vinson with lyric Watching  View Lyric

WATCHING
BY MANDY VINSON
Verse 1:
I watch her with her paper and pen
Jotting notes and doodling
She looks at me with her flamboyant eyes
Points at her book with a big ole smile
Says, hey mom, I’m just like you
I’m doing this, just like you do

Chorus:
There are times when I feel like giving up
I get let down and times get tough
When I feel I can’t reach my calling
I’m reminded, there’s someone watching

Verse 2:
I watch him as he tightens his strings
Strums down slow to find the perfect ring
I ask him what he’s trying to play
He says not sure yet, but someday
I hope, to play just like you
Hes watching, everything I do

Chorus:
There are times when I feel like giving up
I get let down and times get tough
When I feel I can’t reach my calling
I’m reminded, there’s someone watching

Bridge:
Even when my mind starts to ramble
And all my strings become untangled
I’ll work hard, fight and push through
Because my loves, live life as I do

Chorus:
There are times when I feel like giving up
I get let down and times get tough
When I feel I can’t reach my calling
I’m reminded, there’s someone watching
There’s someone watching
My kids are watching

Our winner Mandy received the fully produced version of our Lyric to Song service >>.
Our latest songs created through our Lyrics to Music Service can be heard here >>

The Songbay Lyric Writing Competition 2021 will launch in September.
So if you have any ideas for this year’s challenge? We’d love to hear your thoughts, we’re @Songbayteam on Twitter and @songbaylicensing on Instagram.