Pamela Phillips Oland: Lyricist

Welcome to www.PamOLand.com!

Meet Grammy-nominated writer Pamela Phillips Oland, one of the industry's most versatile, prolific and successful lyricists!

With hundreds of artist cuts and TV & film usage credits accumulated over more than 20 years as a successful songwriter, Oland has become the go-to lyricist composers, directors, artists and music supervisors look to for the precise kind of lyrics they need.

Project Writing is Oland’s specialty. In the past year, her work has included conceptualizing and writing lyrics for the amazing “Van Gogh by Van Eck,” an album in which 12 songs, inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s own art, are sung as if by the artist himself. Twelve of Vincent’s great artworks have influenced Oland and her writing partner, album producer Tom Harriman, with Netherlands singing artist Diederick van Eck, to create an album that allows listeners to take a musical journey into the Artist’s heart and soul, as if experiencing his life with him.

Another 2006 project was a Grammy-nominated kids’ album which Oland co-wrote with one of America’s best-loved kids’ entertainers, Red Grammer. The album, this time an album on “the virtues” for kids, called “Be-Bop Your Best!” was nominated in the “Best Musical Album for Kids” category.

Also new for 2007 are songs co-written with two brilliant young artists: Simon Lynge and Sascha Dupont. The songs, “Birds Eye View” with Simon, and “Mad About You” with Sascha, were written in the eclectic style of each of these innovative performers. Another song just released is “In The Corner of My Eye,” on the incredible 15-year-old Lil Keesha, produced by Pamela’s co-writer, veteran Motown record producer Samm Brown III.

Also in the works are 18 songs for a McGraw Hill educational project. This will reunite Oland with composer Mark Brymer, her collaborator on “Digga Digga Dog,” the theme to 102 Dalmatians.

Whether it’s rock, writing with a band—such as the Ben Schultz Band—to take a great rock hook idea and make the story pay off powerfully; or jazz, working with such artists as Joe Sample and Chris Bennett; whether it’s country—writing with great country writers such as Todd Cerney and Paul Overstreet; whether it’s writing for kids’ projects such as Crayola Kids Adventures; or R&B-writing for such R&B greats as Aretha, Whitney, Peabo Bryson, the Whispers, the Spinners, and on and on; or whether it’s straight ahead pop—Oland’s co-writing several great Christmas songs with pop legend Richard Carpenter—Oland is a lyrical chamæleon who defies categorization.

The author of two Must-Have Books on Songwriting, “The Art of Writing Great Lyrics” and “The Art of Writing Love Songs,” Oland knows her stuff…she wrote the books on it.

Do you really know the difference between lyrics and poetry?
Do you know how to turn a good idea into a great lyric?
Are you someone who uses songs as an artist, publisher or record producer, and would like a solid way to judge the quality and impact of the lyrics?

…If so, then you're why these books were written.

Great lyrics don't "just happen." The greatest ideas are a result of creativity, yes; but the crafting of songs relies on a clear understanding of the writing process.

The message of "The Art Of Writing Great Lyrics" is: "If you're going to break the rules, know them thoroughly, and break them brilliantly!"

Says Oland, “Being a working lyricist at the center of the music industry in Los Angeles is the best job in the world. Every project is a new challenge, and my favorite style of songwriting is whatever I happen to be working on – I jump in with both feet and write it till it’s right.

“Not everybody gets to make their dreams come true, but one thing is certain: The one song you will for sure never get recorded is the one you never write. So I suggest you roll up your sleeves and get to work. Learn to be competitive in this industry by learning to be self-editing, self-motivating, and your own best critic. Learn what works and what doesn’t, and why. Songwriting isn’t brain surgery, but it’s a skill that needs developing, a muscle that needs working out. A great idea means nothing until you know how to flesh it out and give it powerful impact. Lyric writing is part craft, part talent, part artistry, part business, and it is about being the best original you can be.

“As someone who’s been "in the trenches" writing hundreds of recorded songs over 20 years or more, including dozens of film and television themes and songs; as someone who has endlessly written on assignment, who has learned the value of rewriting, and who has learned to be a true collaborator; as someone who lives and breathes lyric writing—I feel certain that I have hundreds of useful ideas and tips to pass on that will make you an exceptional lyricist.

So if you have "a way with words," explore your potential, and let me teach you The Art of Writing Great Lyrics!