Over the years, I've created more than 500 lyrics files and all are available here. If some match songs that you have, and you like the the easy-to-read format, you can download those lyrics files and use them along with your other lyrics files. You can also download any lyrics file that is similar to what you need and then change the words in it and the filename to match a song you have.
You'll have to check out the examples and lyrics files to see if the format works for you. I use indenting, color, lines and boxes to hopefully make the sections stand out so you'll know where you are on the lyrics page at any moment as the song plays. And if you prefer other colors, font-sizes, indenting, etc, for your personal lyrics files, you can alter that too.
The Song
Songs are usually the gentle and most sucessful part of the tip. The 64-beat phrasing should mean that dancers will likely keep up with you while you call the song. However, the song, the choreo and the dancers are not always in sync: the dancers may be still promenading home but the music is telling you to start the next Break or Figure.
Your eyes are the key.
- you need to watch your dancers; they can stumble or get behind,
- you need to read the choreo for the figure from somewhere
(because not many of us can sight-call a song), - you may need to look at SqView's colored progress bar to see where you are
(eg, are you coming up to the 4th Figure? or is it the Closing Break?). - and you need to glance at the screen to get the words to sing.
Now I wear glasses to read but not when I'm calling. Mostly I watch my dancers in front of me and read my choreo from 4x6 cards -- so I need to able to look over at the computer and see the lyrics, and know where I am, INSTANTLY. And my memory is no better than my eyes because I certainly can't remember the all the words of each song.
This means that the lyrics for a song should be very very easy to read because in reality you are only glancing at it. You need to spend most of your time watching the dancers while "reading" your choreo (without making it too obvious, of course).
Readability
To achieve readability in my lyrics, I
- enlarge the text so I can see while standing next to the table,
- use indenting and color to emphasize parts of the song.
- use abbreviations that make the moves stand out (ie, PR not "Promenade your lady"),
and - have consistency displaying the lyrics for every song so there's no second guessing
Choreo in Breaks and Figures
Choreography is definitely needed in most lyrics files ... at least for the breaks. This is because of the way songs are planned:
- some allow 16 beats for singing during CIRCLE LEFT,
- some allow 32 beats for GRAND SQUARE and
- others expect you to use a number of other short moves at the beginning and only give you chance to sing during the WEAVE or SWING & PROMENADE ...
Now you could include choreographic moves in the "Figure" part of the lyrics file as well ... but why would you? That would then limit the song to the same dance level and choreo each time you played the song. I occasionally added the choreo that came with the called side of the song ... if it was interesting or facilitated the lyrics. But in most cases it's so much more useful to capture that choreography elsewhere to use with any song. So very few of my lyrics files contain choreography for the figures; I add the needed choreography (for moves that I taught, for focus moves, for variety, etc) when I sing the song.