The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #112148 Message #2370395
Posted By: Howard Kaplan
19-Jun-08 - 10:21 PM
Thread Name: Seeking tune for original lyrics
Subject: RE: Seeking tune for original lyrics
Your longer verses almost, but not quite, fit to the verses of "The Streets of London". Lines 1, 2, 4, and 5 work OK, but you don't have as many syllables in lines 3 and 6 as TSOL does.
Here's an idea I've heard but never tried: start by singing your verses to TSOL (making an adjustment for lines 3 and 6), and then change the melody for one line at a time to something that still fits with the remaining 5 lines. By the time you've done all six lines, you've got something with the same feel as the original but different notes. You're not yet done, but you've got something that can be the basis for further refinement. Once you have that verse melody, you can start thinking about a chorus melody that will work. (I think your chorus word patterns are so far from TSOL's that it's not worth trying to adapt it.)
One last thought: you might like the feel of TSOL enough that you want to add a few syllables to verse lines 3 and 6 to fit that melody better, before you start letting the melody evolve into something else.