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Writing lyrics is one of the most challenging parts of making songs. How do you craft a story? How do you find the concept of a song AND make the lyrics sound relatable and human? I’m going to break this process down and encourage you to step through it methodically. So you can start coming up with lyrics you believe in and have that something special you want them to have.
How To Get Unstuck
You might be stuck writing lyrics, because there’s nothing inspiring you for any lyric ideas. This doesn’t just mean a situation, or an experience. There’s a myth about the songwriting world that writers and artists only write songs after something has happened… that good lyrics are meant to be your heart on your sleeve and can only come from intense life events. Implying you just have to wait around and live through something, or you don’t have enough life experience to draw from to write songs. All of that is just nonsense, anyone can write lyrics. As Chef Gusteau says, “anyone can cook.” It’s your own story, you already have chapters of life to reference and pull from.
Most often actually, the lyrical concept comes from music, melody or gibberish. Sometimes, you can already have a concept. You may have just experienced something and want to write about it, you may already have notes on your phone or a journal of titles/concepts for songs. But most often lyrics are written as a result of music inspiring melody, melody inspiring gibberish, gibberish inspiring a word or two or a phrase that your subconscious spits out and your conscious refines.
So, if you’re frustrated because you’re just looking at a piece of paper or a screen and nothing is coming to you. Don’t get down on yourself saying “I must not be a writer!” or “I better go get more life experience!” You already have volumes of things to say, I bet you have books of lyrics sitting inside you- you’re just not starting the engine. You’re not giving your lyrics a jumping off point. You can’t steer a parked car, you have to be moving. We get moving by giving ourselves a place to write from, like music or melodies we've written.
How To Figure Out Your Lyrical Concept
The first thing to figure out is what you’re talking about. What are you trying to say? What does this music make me think of and feel like? What kind of song is this? Because of the experience you already have, because of the life you have already lived, you are going to react to the music, melody and gibberish. Or the magical combination of all three. Your brain, your heart, your soul (if you’ll go that far) is just incredible. It remembers everything. It’s why smells, sights, tastes and sounds trigger memories. Like all of the sudden you’re 7 years old at the park eating ice cream. It’s remarkable. It’s magical. You should lean into these things. Lean into these connections, memories and feelings. This is how we get to lyrics we believe in, that we’re confident in and proud of because they are creations and mixtures of our heart, our head and our soul.
This concept you arrive at, should influence the writing of the chorus first. So my advice is to start writing the chorus. Don’t start with the verses. Why? Because vocally, lyrically, the most repetitive part of a song is the chorus. It’s the thing you make once and is used 3 times on average. It’s half of your song, and more importantly it’s the thing that pieces everything together around it. If you don’t have a chorus, you don’t have a song. If you can swing it, start there. If you get stuck, move on to something else like a verse.
Storytelling 101: Making Lyrics Sound Relatable and Human
At the end of the day, a song is a story. It should read that way, when you read your lyrics out loud from beginning to end, it should make sense. It should flow well. It shouldn’t feel disconnected.
What is your vocab? Your way of saying things is a strength not a weakness. You don’t need an insane vocabulary to write amazing, relatable lyrics. That’s another myth. Who are YOU? How do YOU talk? What is your voice on this subject you’re writing about? Your use of words and the way you put them together is what makes every artist and writer so special and awesome. Don’t channel someone else's voice. When you read your story out loud, it should sound like you wrote it. You shouldn’t be stumbling over your own words, ya know? It shouldn’t be hard to read your own lyrics.
You don’t need to rhyme. Can I free you? You don’t need to use imagery in every other line and metaphors and similes and “songwriter talk” just TALK. Share what is on your heart through your voice in the way you want it to be communicated. Don’t start throwing language in that isn’t you, or just because you’re supposed to because some songwriting textbook made it a rule. You’re a human. Not a formula. So be who YOU are.