Over the years I have written lyrics for the bands Hot Mama (progressive metal) and MotorPlanet (blues rock), for singer Julie Carpino (collaborating with composer Pierre Cannella; pop), and for the composers Alexander Geibel (pop), Bernd Oettinger (rock, pop), Christian Comaschi (rock, folk), Erjan Leroy Nurhassen (pop), and Larry Blustain (jazz). Those lyrics were written to the music of my partners.
Others set my lyrics to music. There are Craig Pavone (country, rock), Clemens Bauer (aka 'Beyolie'; pop?), Nacho Beltrami (rock), and many others. There were also the two punk rock bands, Melon Gallery, and the Selfastrays. And there has been the duo KOMIR (Fredy Bischof and Angela Braitinger) who alone have published about 140 songs with my lyrics, twice as many as MotorPlanet. And, of course, I use my own lyrics in my acoustic or rock songs - or I write matching new ones.
Most lyrics are written just for fun. I publish them, so interested musicians or composers can take their picks and set them to music. My licensing conditions are quite simple: give proper credits (i.e. mentioning me, Bernd Harmsen, as the lyricist), and register them with your PRO* IF the resulting songs are being performed publicly or sold, i.e. used commercially. Of course, artists performing the songs are expected to submit the setlists to the PRO in question as is customary.
* PRO=performing rights organization like BMI, ASCAP, or - in Germany - GEMA
| lyrics collections | ||
| my acoustic songs | (my "Songbook") | |
| me as "Rock Bernd" | / my rock songs | |