Equirhyme Workshop
William Overington
Welcome to the equirhyme workshop.
Equirhyme is a noun that I have coined to mean "a song or poem within which
each of those lines that is a rhyming line rhymes with all of the other
lines that are rhyming lines".
Recently, on 18 May 1998, I posted to rec.music.makers.songwriting the
lyrics for a song that I had written entitled "Where Asparagus Grows".
I do not write, or play, music.
In those song lyrics the rhyming lines were the even numbered lines only.
I rhymed each of them to the word "grows".
In fact, the word grows appears a number of times as the line "Where asparagus grows"
is used several times.
The repeating of a line is not a condition of a song being an equirhyme.
When I wrote the song I started off with the first four lines and then used
the rhyming dictionary located at
http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/dougb/rhyme-doc.html
to find rhymes for grows.
This produced quite a lot of rhymes and I chose from them in order to complete my song.
I found it interesting that the rhymes in the rhyming dictionary that I found
dramatically influenced the resulting song.
For example, in the song, there is an eight line section about the landscape in winter.
I only thought of including this because the two words froze and snows were pointed
out to me by the rhyming dictionary.
Also, the word crows influenced me to use the image of the birds that I had
not thought of using previously.
Rather taken by the creativity that the use of the rhyming dictionary
produced, I decided to try to carry out the composing of another song in a
similar manner, yet this time distinctly noting the process and what I
thought about along the way, with a view to setting it out in a posting such
as this in the hope that it might be of interest to others interested in
songwriting and hopefully lead to some interesting discussion on the topic
in this group.
A feature of the rhyming dictionary is that some words produce lots of
rhymes, some very few and some none at all.
The word "grows" produced a good supply.
The word "asparagus" produced none!
As will be seen, the word "arm" produced only a few, many of which did not seem
appropriate to the song that I was writing.
Nevertheless, the exercise that I carried out did produce a result that, to me, was both
surprising and interesting, so I have presented it here.
Along the way I have found one or two interesting matters which, whilst perhaps not
directly relevant do contribute a few interesting background points of more general
interest and so I have included them.
I was searching for a word that means that which I have now defined the new
word equirhyme to mean when I happened upon the word eye-rhyme which refers
to two words that look as if they rhyme but, in fact, do not.
For example, home and some; for example, love and move.
I decided to start my song by seeking a topic.
As with "Where asparagus grows" I decided that I would like some sort of rural English theme.
I like country music and I like German volksmusik which, in fact, we can see on the
television here in England as a number of German television channels are
distributed unencrypted on the Astra satellite system across Europe and so
anyone in England who has an Astra system, probably bought for the English
language channels, also has a number of German channels available as a free
bonus.
From time to time some of the volksmusik from Germany is presented
in the format of a singer walking in the countryside singing as she walks.
I noticed some dandelions growing in the garden.
They do no harm.
Well, in my humble opinion you understand.
I just leave them to grow.
So, the repeated line is "Dandelions do no harm"
I then wrote, before looking at the rhyming dictionary, the following.
The beautiful dandelion
I then used the rhyming dictionary.
I entered the word arm as it is best to enter the shortest word possible
that carries the rhyme that one wishes.
Unfortunately only a few rhymes were produced, some of which were just
unsuitable for my purpose.
However, there was the word underarm. To me this meant cricket, and
old-fashioned cricket at that, before the overarm bowling of today was
introduced.
So, the very English cricket and a 19th century style setting.
Quaint old fashioned cricket
The use of ladybird adds to the Englishness.
I think that Americans sometimes call them ladybugs.
While writing the song, I wondered, bearing in mind my intention to post it
to the newsgroup with the possibility of it being read all around the world,
whether readers in other countries would know of the dandelion.
So I looked it up.
It is a flower of Europe, Central and Northern Asia and North America.
It would be interesting to know where readers are and whether
dandelions grow there.
Well, what about the music.
Well, some woodwind would be nice.
There can be an instrumental verse and some lyrics that she can sing to herself to
keep timing.
How about, for fun,
An example of an eye-rhyme
Well, what about the order of the verses.
How about putting the second verse that I wrote originally to be sung last and the
instrumental verse after the cricket verse, so that the camera can stay on the cricket in the
background while it is being played, the band not being on camera.
Now, let the third and fourth lines of each verse be repeated and let there
be a line of woodwind after each verse.
I like, when publishing songs in the newsgroup to include a creative
setting. So what about having the singer making a video on location in the
countryside.
She is on location for the day in the English countryside. The production
company has arranged that the filming will take place at a meeting of a
cricket society that is putting on a Victorian Cricket Day where gentlemen
are wearing striped blazers and ladies long dresses, all in correct period
fashion.
Naturally, the singer is costumed accordingly, her dress a pale purple colour.
She is to be filmed walking through a meadow.
Two cameras are used, one filming looking back obliquely at her walking against the open
meadow and the other filming looking back obliquely at her walking against
the cricket game in the distance as a background.
She will sing looking slightly to her left when singing the first verse and then slightly
to her right for the second verse.
Then to her left again for all except for the
last verse.
The two cameras are so that the whole song can be filmed in one
take and then frames selected later for editing into a finished video.
Three woodwind players are walking ahead of her, out of camera shot.
They too are suitably attired, as are the film crew, as that was a condition of
them being allowed to attend so as not to disrupt the old fashioned ambience
of the day.
She starts to walk, the music will soon start, she will then start to sing.
Has great primeval charm
Yellows in blended variety
Dandelions do no harm
Dandelions in the garden
Please have no alarm
Delight in their yellow simplicity
Dandelions do no harm
Where they bowl underarm
Like such simple pleasures
Dandelions do no harm
When out in summer walking
A ladybird lands on your arm
And like this gentle insect
Dandelions do no harm
Insects in a swarm
With their lovely shades of yellow
Dandelions do no harm
(Dandelions do no harm)
The beautiful dandelion
Has great primeval charm
Yellows in blended variety
Dandelions do no harm
Yellows in blended variety
Dandelions do no harm
(Dandelions do no harm)
Quaint old fashioned cricket
Where they bowl underarm
Like such simple pleasures
Dandelions do no harm
Like such simple pleasures
Dandelions do no harm
(Dandelions do no harm)
(An example of an eye-rhyme)
(Insects in a swarm)
(With their lovely shades of yellow)
(Dandelions do no harm)
(With their lovely shades of yellow)
(Dandelions do no harm)
(Dandelions do no harm)
When out in summer walking
A ladybird lands on your arm
And like this gentle insect
Dandelions do no harm
And like this gentle insect
Dandelions do no harm
(Dandelions do no harm)
Dandelions in the garden
Please have no alarm
Delight in their yellow simplicity
Dandelions do no harm
Delight in their yellow simplicity
Dandelions do no harm
(Delight in their yellow simplicity)
(Dandelions do no harm)
She continues walking as the music plays on for a few lines.
Song lyrics and creative setting written by William Overington
Copyright 1998 William Overington