Stewie: Here's my method for transcribing songs: Play the song all the way through each time. First time through, just try to write down the first word of each line. Next time through, add a word or two to each line, whatever you can manage, but don't let the recording get more than a line ahead of you. Some slow songs, and songs with lots of repeats, can be transcribed in just 2 hearings. Fast-paced songs, and songs that are hard to understand, take more--5 or 6 maybe. But you don't have to keep stopping and restarting the recording.

I learned this technique back when all I had was an LP, pencil, and paper, but I still use it now with sound files or CDs and a word processor.