Inferno Songs

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Songwriting lessons

- From -

dante's inferno


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Introduction

Compared to a great poem, or the prose of a great novelist, most supposedly greatlyrics don't measure up.

With that in mind, Ive collected a series of songwriting tips adapted from a genuine

literary masterpiece: Dante Alighieris Inferno. This epic poem about one man's tour of

Hell earned immediate fame in its day, and 700 years later its still read, translated,

and studied all over the globe.

As songwriters, what can we learn from Dantes immortal work of art? I attempted to

answer this question within one article, and quickly found the topic spiraling out of

control. Inferno sets an inspiring standard that all writers can learn fromsongwriters

and lyricists included.

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here


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Table of Contents

Introduction

Sensory Images and Vivid Horror

Write the Way You Speak

Rhymes Should Sound Natural

Structure Speeds the Descent

How to Write Heart-Rending Dialogue

Click anywhere on the flying demon to discover whence this infernal ebook came.
http://nicholastozier.com/words


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SensoryImages and

Vivid

Horror

In his timeless Inferno, Dante Alighieri uses sensory imagery to immerse us in visions

of a dark underworld: the far-off wailing of the damned; the bubbling of a dark

purple river of blood; the orange glow and steam of a superheated sarcophagus... justwait til you get to the unfortunate chaps whore being rolled around in the devils

mouth

Reading Inferno doesnt feel like a mere story; it feels like a journey into Hell. Dante

creates amazingly vivid scenarios by incorporating horrific sights, sounds, sensations,

and smells into his writing.

Furthermore, Dante uses his skills to focus on images that emotionally impact the

reader: the tears of two lovers tormented by a never-ending whirlwind. The


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monstrously unnatural winged demon. A familiar face among the damned pleading

Dante for news of his home city.

Where appropriate, Dante uses simile to drive home some of Inferno's most haunting

images. Have you ever seen a man carry his own head by the hair? No? You've

probably seen a man carrying a lantern, though, right? That's how one sinner carries

his own head, finding his way by pointing it in whatever direction he needs to see.

Use sensory description to elicit a strong emotional reaction, and youre writing lyrics

that will move your listener and stick with them for years. Will your art surviveand

even flourishover the next seven centuries, as Dantes did?


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Write the

way you

speak

Heres one translators comment on Dantes writing style in his Inferno:

it seeks to avoid elegance simply for the sake of elegance. And

overwhelmingly it is a spoken tongue.

John Ciardi

It's probably best to follow Dante's example and write in simple, straightforwardlanguage. If you construct your sentences to be overly ornate, decorous, or

pretentious, youre putting on airs that distance you from your audience.


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Dont be any more complex than the material requires! This holds equally true when

writing prose, poetry, and song lyrics.

Clarity is important in many forms of writing, but in song lyrics its paramount,

because lyrics move by at a very fast rate. Nobody that I know of listens with one

finger on the pause buttonmusic is meant to be a continuous, uninterrupted

rhythmic experience. Using simple, direct language gives your listeners the best

possible chance of receiving and comprehending your lyric.


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Rhymes

Should

Sound

Natural

I have not hesitated to use a deficient rhyme when the choice seemed to lie

between forcing an exact rhyme and keeping the language more natural.

-Inferno translator John Ciardi


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If youve been writing songs for a while, or if youve read a book about songwriting,

youve likely heard this advice already: dont force your rhymes. This holds true in

both poetry and song lyricsand apparently it also holds true for John Ciardi, wholaboriously translated every line of Dante Alighieris Inferno from Italian to English.

Of the two, Italian rhymes much more readily than English, containing lots of perfect

rhymes.

To clarify, a perfect rhyme is just a name for one type of sonic connection that can

exist between syllables. Here are the criteria for a perfect rhyme:

the vowel sounds of these syllables will be exactly the same, and

any consonant sounds after the vowel will also match.

As an example, watch me ruin the following couplet by forcing an awkward perfect

rhyme:

He fooled around, and he got caught

Another womans love he sought

It rhymes, but it doesn't sound natural. You might say the first line in conversation,

but that second line would earn you some funny looks. Even if you used the word

sought for some reason, you wouldnt reverse the order of a line that way.

Heres an imperfect rhyme that creates a much more natural-sounding line. I think its

an improvementand when we sing, we exaggerate vowels, so many listeners dont

even notice when we use imperfect rhymes in lyrics:


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He fooled around, and he got caught

It came to light and he took off

If an imperfect rhyme serves the song better, choose it over the less-potent perfect

rhyme. Always.


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Structure

Speeds the

Descent

Dantes thought tends to conclude at the end of each tercet [which] clearly

determines the pace of the writing; i.e., the rate at which it reveals itself to

the reader.

-Inferno translator John Ciardi

We writers tend to conclude our thoughts at the ends of significant sections such as

sentences, paragraphs, stanzas, or verses. Dante chose to write his masterpiece

Inferno using three-line stanzas (tercets), and as John Ciardi points out above, this


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gives Inferno its distinct pacing.

The end of a stanza signals the end of a thought, and listeners can feel this underlying

rhythm of ideas in a well-structured song.

If youre used to writing four or eight lines per stanza, try an unusual number: three,

five, six, seven. This can also bring dramatic results when you add or subtract lines

from a song that youve already been working on for a while. Try adding a line toevery verse, augmenting the rhyme scheme. What happens?

This is not just technical tinkering. Exploring different stanza lengths will prompt you

to think and write differently: it will leverage you out of accustomed habits, force you

to alter your usual rhyme schemes, and generally encourage you to write bold new

material.


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How to

Write

Heart-Rending

Dialogue

Dante's sensory details alone would have been enough to paint a believable picture of

Hell. But the poet's brilliance didn't stop thereDante humanized his Infernoby

allowing the damned to speak.

They crawl out of pits. They shout up from scalding sarcophagi. They emerge from a

whirlwind of fellow ghosts. They recall love affairs and cry. They ask whether Dante

has news of their home city. They wish aloud that they could see their families once

more. They seethe at Dante's freedom to leave Hell.


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These dialogues with the damned add human interest. By hearing these characters

speak, we may feel pity for them and empathize with their sufferingor, dependingon the character, we may even come to feel that we areglad they are suffering. The

lowest circles of Dante's Hell host some... colorful individuals.

Allow the characters inyour songs to speak in their own voices.Let them vent their

pains, their joys, their desires, their dilemmas. Let us sympathize with them or

despise themor experience a tense mixed reaction.

This is a powerful way to capture the imaginations of your listeners. We humans are

not just sensory beings; we also have highly developed social minds. Engage all of

these faculties wherever you canit'll make your songs feel real enough that we're

elated or moved to tears.

That's exactly what you want, isn't it?


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In parting

Thank you for reading my little ebook. Please feel free to e-mail copies of this ebook to

friends and fellow songwriters!

If you enjoyed this ebook, you may also enjoy the rest of my songwriting website,

where I've written hundreds of free articles that'll help you write songs that you can

be proud of. I also offer songwriting audio programs, music downloads, and more

ebookslike my one-month crash course,31 Days to Better Songwriting.

Write Songs!

-Nicholas Tozier
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