JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Ande's Lyric Writing Tips

Thought I'd share my Lyric writing tips with Y'all

btw you might enjoy
www.SongWriterBlog.com
to receive it
send an EMPTY email to
DIFS-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Ande's Lyric Writing Tips
By Ande Rasmussen www.SongWriterBlog.com
edited 04/06/08


01) You don't need to be able to sing, read music, or even write music to write songs. You need to believe that you can write songs. If you want to write songs, start writing. Your first songs aren't likely to be very good, be patient stick with it you will improve.


02) No Rules
There are no rules, there are only tools, guidelines. You'll find exceptions to everything below, but it's generally good to use the tools, unless you have a really good reason not to. It's important to understand each guideline.


03) A song contains 3 things:
a. Lyrics: the words to the song
b. Vocal melody: the way you sing the words, the notes, stresses, and pauses and
c. Music: the notes, chords, and instrument sounds
that fit around and support the lyrics and melody


04) Study the songs you love.
Listen to them and write out the lyrics by hand (play the song over and over.)
Learn to perform the songs you love.
Write songs that are similar to the ones you love.
Read songwriting books, go to songwriting conferences, join songwriting organizations and participate, attend meetings, volunteer. Participate on online communities.


05) Song Idea Radar
Have your song idea radar on at all times, always be looking for and listening for great song ideas, when you find one, capture it, write it down or record it. Capture as many as you can. Then develop them further.


06) When a song idea arrives, let it flow, capture it, write down or record everything that arrives. Just get it out, don’t edit in that moment, you can always go back later and edit. If you are cowriting and your cowriter is flowing, sometimes the best thing you can do is stay out of the way. When you have a strong idea you will think of many lines to go with it, your task is to edit them down to the strongest most effective lines that fit and sound the best.


07) Songwriting Journal
Start a songwriting journal and write down your ideas. Keep pen and paper handy where you can't bring your journal. When you have enough of a song going transfer it to your computer


08) Cowrite:
Consider cowriting, you're likely to write better songs faster. Plus you’ll have another person who cares about the song and might share expenses. If you cowrite with an artist or producer you increase the chances of the song getting performed and recorded. Cowriting is kind of like dating, write with many people and you'll find a few favorites. Get the first one out of the way. Keep trying your best song might be the 5th, 9th, or 25th song you've cowritten. Learn how you cowrite best.


09) Keep a list of all the songs you've written,
the date you started,
who you wrote each one with,
the current status of the song.


10) Move People
Well written songs emotionally move listeners.
Well written lyrics emotionally move the readers.
Songs need to be universal this means many people can relate to the song’s story or situation.
We write songs for our listeners.


11) Music is about theme, variation on theme, departure from theme, then return to the theme.
Song sections contrast, lyricists do this by:
a.) only using title words in the chorus
b.) using different line lengths, rhyme sounds and rhyme patterns in different sections


12) The Building Blocks of Songs
Song Structures or Forms
Lyrics have building blocks and structures.
The building blocks are:
Title, Verse, chorus, bridge and prechorus.
The title is name of the song, it's what the song is all about, the most repeated phrase in the chorus.
Verse provides the story and details about the song and leads to the title.
The chorus is summarizes the song and hammers home the title.
Bridges are a section between the last 2 choruses usually just 2 lines adding more details or a twist.
The prechorus, sometimes called channel, lift or climb is a section in some songs between the first verse and the chorus, and the second verse and the 2nd chorus.
The simplest structure or form is:
Verse / Chorus / Verse / Chorus or V C V C
Many songs have a bridge their form is V C V C B C
Songs that contain a prechorus or climb, the section between the verse and chorus, that section is called a climb or a lift
Have this structure is V Cl Ch V Cl Ch
There's several more song forms like
Verse Verse Bridge Verse, and
Verse Verse Bridge Verse Bridge Verse.
The form you choose depends on which one best serves the song idea.


13) Genuine Idea
Is the idea worthy of becoming a song?
Does it strike a chord?
Is it universal, will millions want to hear it and sing it over and over?


14) Keep It Conversational
Write a lyric the way you would say it. Lyrics are conversational, don't reverse word order for the sake of rhyme, only use words you'd use in a natural normal conversation. KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Harlan Howard said, write songs so people who are half listening can half understand.


15) Titles
Every song has a title. Titles are the songs' brand. The title is the most repeated phrase in the chorus. It's the phrase that sticks in people's heads. Find a word or phrase that DEMANDS ATTENTION. The title usually summarizes the song.

if a chorus has 8 lines: here are 5 examples of where titles are often placed

1) x
2)
3)
4)
5) x
6)
7)
8)

1) x
2)
3) x
4)
5)
6)
7)
8) x

1) x
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8) x

1)
2)
3)
4) x
5)
6)
7)
8) x

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8) x

Some songs don't have a chorus they just have a repeated hook line.
Some choruses don’t have 8 lines


16) Prove the title.
The purpose of the verse is to lead the listener to the chorus, every line in the verse should be connected to and point to the title. Verses should build up to the chorus.


17) IMAGERY
Use imagery, don't tell me, show me with images, write with all of your senses, things you see, feel, hear, taste, and touch
Specifics are special.


18) Opening Lines
The opening line of the lyric should GRAB the listeners attention
Start with a bang. Drop the cat in the punch bowl! Splash
http://www.peoplestories.org/tips.asp
Establish who what when and where in the first few lines. Start in the middle of the action.


19) Avoid cliches, they are the kiss of death
Attempt to create expressions that people have never heard before but when they hear it they understand it. Sometimes a cliche is what you need to use to best convey the emotion.


20) Transition into the Chorus
The last line in each verse should seemlessly transition the listener into the chorus.


21) Be Concise
Each lyric line in a song needs to be concise.
Each syllable has to be sung. What’s the simplest clearest way to write each line? Cut the fat, leave the meat.


22) Some words don't sing well
don't use them.
Avoid adverbs, find the verb.
One and two syllable words are the backbone of lyrics


23) Matching
Verse 1 and 2 should have the same rhyme scheme
Syllable stresses should match, Syllable counts should be close, if not exact.
When you compare each line of verse 1 and 2, they should have close to the same number of syllables and you should be able to sing the same melody on each line ie when you compare V1 L1 with V2 L2


24) Avoid puns and being overly clever
A song should generate a real emotion in the listener rather than make the reader or listener say, "My my my you are so clever." It's fun to write funny songs but novelty songs can be tough to place.


25) Nothing New
There's nothing new under the sun, strive to have something new and special about your lyric


26) Bits and Pieces
Songs rarely arrive fully baked. They usually arrive in bits and pieces. It's up to you to put the lyric together. Writing lyrics can be like solving puzzles.


27) Great songs are Rewritten.
You can keep tweaking the song you're writing. At some point have the courage to say, this song is done, but remember just because you say it's done doesn't mean that it is. Great songs are CoRewritten


28) Make the singer Look good.
Lyrics need to make the singer look good, but not too good.


29) POV
Think about which POV would best expresses the song’s situation and emotion:
a. I / We / Me / Us
b. You
c. He She They


30) Write What You Know
Write with authority, don't contrive. Write about things you've experienced.


31) Rhyming
You don’t have to use perfect rhymes, like rock and block,
you can rhyme the vowel sound without worrying about the end consonants
imperfect rhymes sound similar to each other like swim and win,
imperfect rhymes give writers a larger word palette
Use online rhyme dictionaries like RhymeZone.


32) When you find a song idea you’re considering writing:
Google the title to see if it’s ever been written before, put quotation marks around the phrase
You can also do a title searches on ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
Just because there already is a song with the title you're thinking about writing doesn't mean you should stop. Go ahead and write the song.


33) Don’t steal song ideas from people you know and those who know you. The songwriting community is small, word will get out. Guard your reputation. Be prepared, pleasant, real and fun. Be the kind of person people want to write with again and again. Likeability and personality play an important role in your success at building your songwriting team.


34) Critiquing
You have to become your own toughest critic. Every line and note must shine. One of the best things to do is to write a lyric, then set it aside for a few days, weeks or months so you can approach it later from a fresh perspective. Build a team of excellent writers who will be tough critiquers of your work. Though we crave compliments, we need to write stronger songs. Consider getting professional critiques. It is not sensible to critique songs in one genre with the criteria of another.
IE critiquing a pop song using country lyric writing guidelines. It's all someone's opinion. Songwriters tend to be tougher on songs than fans and listeners.


35) Melody is King
A well written lyric can inspire a great melody, but a great melody is what makes a great song. There are many wonderful songs where you can barely make out the lyrics. Marc Alan Barnette wrote: "A weak lyric can be rescued by a strong melody, it never goes the other way around." Simplicity is critical. Make your choruses jump out, make them clear simple catchy and singable.


36) Songwriting can be a Pandora’s box, if you start you might not be able to stop.


37) That's all for now but I’ll probably write more later

I hope this helps you write better songs, Let me know if it does. So now I challenge you to write a lyric.

Ande Rasmussen