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My dad have about 45 years of experience in the industry. When I started writing songs, he told me this : "Every line that's not an image, you cut it. Every single one of them. No filler." I've basically been doing this subconsciously for years!

" a very plastic bag thing to do." made me laugh so hard. love it

i feel like a cinnamon roll always spiraling, never in control because.... i dont know myself

"I'm gonna fly as a bird through the night" from Chandelier is not a WHY, but rather more HOW. The lyrics of that song just gives you metaphors that sets the listener in the scene and help convey the current feeling and somewhat dark actions of the person in the song. The lyrics talks about being mentally in a bad place (the reasons left to interpretation) and overall the song means you’re holding on for dear life. The WHY isn't given to the listener.

It's always fun when you find a really important piece of advice and realize you've already been following it for years :) Not quite the same as validation or feeling like you've been doing it "right", because in a creative space like songwriting there isn't really a right or a wrong, but it's encouraging all the same.

I heard it said once that the art of writing poetry is essentially alienation. That is, taking something familiar and looking at it or expressing it in an unfamiliar way, making the mundane seem extraordinary. If you can do it in a particulary interesting or striking or beautiful way, you have poetry - or in this case, song lyrics. This is really what this "SHY method" is really about.

Honestly read (especially older) poetry to learn how poetic devices are actually supposed to work. View the world as if it is actually full of meaning and look through objects and situations to find their ultimate truth.

I tend to break the rules quite a bit in every regard(I don’t write pop music), but one thing I always do on every song or verse is the ‘why’. I always figure out a way to tie my lyrics and structure together with some intent. It makes the song feel like it has a purpose. Now this video brings new ideas, especially with regard to working with other artists who are more pop oriented. Good shit! 🤘

Thanks. This helps out a lot. True story. I've been writing music ever since I was a young kid, and when I was a kid, I wrote songs like crazy. They just popped out like nothing. I would see the things you're describing. The thing now is that when I was in high school, I got some head injuries playing football that I only just recently found out about in the last few years. Im not stupid, it's like my brain just works in a entirely different way. I can't seem to write good lyrics to save my life now, but I'm glued to my guitar now. Just one of those things. Seeing this really kinda reminded me how I used to write though. I guess I was doing some of this stuff just not knowing it at the time. I'm gonna see what I can do now. Thanks again

An example of a song i wrote using this method: they say numbers tell no lies i stop and think before i dial it would you tell me you cant hear me i bet that club so crowded or could you hear it in my voice that im alone and i feel surrounded tell me that you’ll be right there breathe count to a thousand your love is like a deep breath at the top of a mountain they say you cant get over it then you go around it i cant get over it there’s no way around it i cant get over you and i need you need you around me i need you around me your love is like the finish line lookin back at those who doubted your love is like the sun and sky still keeps me grounded your love is like a deep breath at the top of a mountain they say you cant get over it then you go around it i cant get over it there’s no way around it i just cant get over you and i need you need you around me

I'm a singer/songwriter just starting in Brazil and I'm really glad that I found the SHY method on my lyrics even in Portuguese, I never forget that, thank you!!!

Btw this is the best songwriting channel on YT. Helped me tremendously

Have been writing songs forever and took a break recently.. now it feels like I can't write anymore. Going to try this method and let you know how it goes. Thanks!

A lot of lyrics are based off of poetry so making some sort of image with words it’s generally great advice.

Been struggling with the music for new song. Even more so with the lyrics. This actually helped!

I hope this channel blows up soon. your videos are amazing and deserve so much recognition

Bro, I have watch lots of lyric writing videos and this is by far the best formula yet, it fits the examples perfectly and easy to execute. Thanks!

"I'm gonna make a change/for once in my life/ it's gonna feel real good/ gonna make a difference/ gonna make it right/ .." this is the pinacle of an imortal anthem that was ever written. It tells the story trough inner monologue but out loud. How much personal can it be, than to whiteness someone facing their biggest fears and finally coming to the point of Realisation about themselves. Your all alone, only you and the man in the mirror. 💚 Thanks for the tipps

I was doing this but unintentionally already, I’m going to make a wave of sound and enjoy the process of creating what I’m intended to create.

Guy called him Yorkie 😂

Good vid and yes this is a way, I think you have to do what works for you. Most songwriters fight with themselves and spend too long thinking and overthinking. I have a book side of bed wake up and write the words because you never remember the next morning. Also I just write what comes into your head I can write 6 songs a day and then spend time going over editing ( sometimes months) but get the basic thoughts down first. I think the content you have on your channel is really a great watch cheers David

"you're just like an angel" has to be one of the most cliché lines/lyrics ever written. Most people go for the idea they've heard a million times before because it's easy and lazy. Go for something, a turn of phrase, that no one's ever heard before. Be unique, be brave.

When deciding between similes and metaphors, I try to think of how strong it should be. With "I'm like a stone", the focus is still on me, but now I'm rather stone-ish in some particular way. Whereas "I am a stone", I've now fully become the stone and ready to take on all traits of being a stone, like rolling or gathering moss or no moss.

The 'why' has to be obvious for the writer as the teller of the story, and it should give the listener a reason to listen otherwise they won't. Nice short video - straight to the point with great examples!

Verse= Describe a person, place, thing or feeling. Chorus= What are you going to do. With rock and roll lyrics you don't have to make sense. Leave the meaning of the song up to the listener's interpretation. The Beatles 'Come together'.

I tried this on a song I just wrote and sure enough it did improve it IMO!

Yay thanks! You guys inspire me to become a better song writer. Cheers!

The radio head song, is also like patronising someone in a kind of demoralising way. Good song lyrics, I believe, have a “not what they seem” way about them at first. Sometimes years go by before the actual meaning sets in.

thanks for your videos! Great advice every time and straight to the point. Keep up the good work, song writers (and their listeners) will benefit greatly!

Be careful with similes, boys and girls. That’s a very quick shortcut to ending up on Metaphor Boulevard in the famous town of Cringeville.

Being told to put a simile in your poetry is like being told words are made of letters.

love this video, man got right into the topic and gave very worthwhile advice

Dope tips. Simple and straightforward. Thank you!

It's all about poetry. "Angel" is one of those poetic words.

My favourite simile is found in Coffee and TV by Blur: Do you feel like a chain store Practically floored 😆

I make lots of instrumental music, and I write a lot of words. I should be a natural at songwriting, right? Wrong. Even with those two conditions and practices, I hate trying to write song lyrics. My solution? Never try, because trying to write a song will make me hate the process. Good solution? No, not really, because I'd like to write songs my own way. I like starting with an instrumental, and then let lyrics occur to my mind if they do, and if they don't, I made a nice instrumental. Um, this S.H.Y. method might actually get me unstuck. Really I want songs to have a purpose, and express something that is quite a bit bigger than the words. Thank you for this video. I like your ideas.

Often the words will come out from just singing the song through with whatever consonant and vowel sounds flow with the musical phrases. Then, you go back and try to make sense of it all. I think Cat Stevens said he did this when writing his songs.

Nice tune! Thank you for sharing your process through Jeff Tweedy. I love the idea of being a collaborator in the meaning of a song! I feel confident to dive into the song in my heart!

This is such a helpful video, I've studied lots of music theory in college but where I've always struggled is creating lyrics for my songs. I've always been strong in English but these concepts are so new and refreshing to my mind and make so much sense to what I'm trying to accomplish. I wish I could've received this kind of useful education earlier in my career. I don't know what school or program you attended to learn this techniques but I would be incredibly in your debt to share with me lol. Thank you for all your amazing content I'm hooked.

You’re more than a teacher With you I’m not alone I’ve learned everything I can Now I’ll write a story of my own... Thanks!

Glad I watched this and good examples to back up the SHY method, gonna apply that technique on my 1st song!

"a very plastic bagey thing" loled hard XD

Interesting advise and I'd add another color to that palette - flow. Just start writing without stopping and then go back and look for SHY areas to touch up. I like to get it all out no matter how the words collide for those are my ideas and not a copy of something I've already written. At least that's my hope and oft times I'm pleased and what the listener hears is no longer of importance to me.

HAHA THOSE TRANSITIONS RULE MAN... THANKS FOR MAKE ME LEARN AND LAUGH IN BETWEEN.

I had a friend with a radio head, but video killed him, right in his head.

I want my lyrics to be less obvious. One of my favorite lines is from Jeremy by Pearl Jam, "Jeremy spoke in class today" and I think how genius is that of a way to say "jeremy shot himself in class today." John Prine is another one of my favorite song writers and he writes lyrics that are so relatable and paint a picture. He has a lyric "Climbing walls while sitting in a chair" about someone using heroin in Sam Stone, for example. In All the Best, a song about divorce, he writes "Say you drive a Chevy, say you drive a Ford, you say you drive around the town til you just get bored" which hit me hard because that's exactly what I did when I split with my fiance many years ago. You don't have to directly say your point, but it's made. I also want to write something where I know what it means, but it can be interpreted in different ways, like in poetry. What I don't like about the simile example in Katy Perry's song is that it explains exactly what she's trying to say. It takes away the impact, for me. In Summer's End, Prine writes "well I can see that you can't win for tryin and new years eve is bound to leave you cryin. Come on home, you don't have to be alone" that can be interpreted in so many ways. And when you watch the video, you see it's about a mother dying from a drug overdose and the grandfather raising the child and so it's like his message to her. It's heartbreaking and it wasn't spelled out for you. You could have interpreted that in your own ways. Amazing stuff. Your video really got me thinking about this and I'm going to watch more of your videos and check out your site and keep working on writing and performing.

big help in killing my months long writers block. Lots of love from drogheda, Louth

PURE GOLD. Amazing.

Ornamental structures shattered again Broke the gates that should've stayed within Seems like I shat myself

Omg you’re the best! Thank you for this, very helpful.

I love how "do you ever feel like a plastic bag" is used as an example of greatness here! That's literally the exact example that I always use to tell people about how embarrassingly bad lyrics can get in songs 🤣 One man's trash is another man's treasure... Or should I say "plastic bag"

I thought it was “you’re just like an onion, your skin makes me cry” 🤣

criminally underrated channel

because if there is anything I know about angels, its that their skin makes me cry

Sia is truly underrated lyricist

This was actually a great video and very useful Cheers!

Like a mighty sea veseel she sails the waves of sorrow, heart filled with grief, she knows no surrender, truly a vessel built for tough waters strong is she .ready to face life head on. Once a hero's queen now a lonely star Though lonely,still shining brightly . Take care of my little soldier cause I don't think I'll be coming back.

why hasn’t anyone thought of this?? this is BRILLIANT

Having watched the whole video, I've got some criticism to make. I really don't think you've made great choices in terms of songs. "Firework" by Katy Perry is not an example of good lyricism, not even in the context of a pop song. Any bored teenager can write bland lyrics like that, and that's definitely not a sign of artistic greatness. "Chandelier" by Sia is quite similar. The lyrics aren't as bland as "Firework", but they're not particularly good either. What really makes the song 'worth a listen' are Sia's fantastic voice and her great interpretative skills. Again, definitely not the lyrics. "Creep" by Radiohead, in my opinion, has the most interesting lyrics out of the three songs you picked, but frankly, as a long-time, huge fan of this band, I gotta say they're not particularly good lyrics. He definitely wrote much better stuff (lyrically) than "Creep" on later Radiohead records. It should be noted though that Thom was only 24 when he wrote them and that he was never satisfied with them (I think, to this very day). One more thing - I understand and appreciate your willingness to provide some advice to young songwriters, but, at the same time, I also think that videos like these can be a bit 'dangerous' as they can potentially 'flatten' and standardize people's writing. I mean, there's a reason why Bob Dylan's (or Leonard Cohen's) lyrics are instantly recognizable. It's because they've never followed any advice, and in doing so, they have developed a way of writing lyrics that is very personal and that, ultimately, makes their pens truly unique. I hope you get my point of view, man.

I just followed this and made myself cry with my lyrics.

Good tip! I need all the help I can get😅

Helped a lot with my poems! Thank u

All the lyrics you used as examples are loaded with clichés which most people are told to avoid... I've heard writing the lyrics to the chorus first helps a lot to establish the theme of the song

"Do you feel like a chain store? Practically floored"

Great lets all use the same formula and make all songs the same.

X-Ray Spex 1977 - My mind is like a plastic bag. Stealing lyrics is good too.

I try to steer clear of similes. They've been overused as lyrics over the last 20 years. Especially by rappers, who rarely follow it with a 'how?' They just use them because it's a cheap method to throw in a word or phrase that fits the meter.

Brilliant video. Now I have to write a song to address the ecocide... Woe is me!

Kudos for giving a awesome knowledge

Hey, I did it, used the SHY method, wrote a song today....pretty cool, thanks so much. It's not perfect, as I'm adding music via guitar, I'm making it fit, inserted a word here or there, or dropping out a word or two, but it really worked....thanx for the road map !!!

I would also suggest learning how to properly structure a 🎶

Bro your channels awesome. Dont stop kid!

Goated advice

Video would've been much better if it wasn't edited like a corporately run comedy KZfaq channel from 2011

‘ like an elephant shaking his trunk for the hell for of it ‘

cool vid, man

I always thought that the plastic bag line in the Katy Perry song was alluding to a scene in the film "American Beauty".

You are the G mate

Do NOT use similies. Replace them with metaphors.

Excellent advice! Thanks a lot for this great lesson!😊

I found myself in writers block now so I am looking for inspiration and your video is so nice, short, sweet and informative, truly amazing and fun as well

I'm pretty sure that Katie Perry's song is a reference to the movie American Beauty, where there was a short video of a plastic bag floating in the wind, and I'm pretty sure that was lambasting the lack of self-awareness artists seem to have sometimes...

To me this technique usually seems to result in very generic, formulaic and bland lyrics. If you want to write "good" lyrics follow your gut, be yourself write whatever you please with unmitigated freedom

This is very good, and easy to remember. And I didn't have to watch an hour long video to get the information. Thanks.

Wow ! Thanks such awesome content!

👏👏👏😌✌️ it sounds beautiful! Very nicely done. It sounds so sweet, somber, and docile. I would love to hear you play it on the electric with a clean tone and some light reverb and maybe some delay.

Yes, true. It is a very plastic baggy thing to do. That was an amazing analysis.

Great. Gonna try %) Thanks

Hey guys thanks for the video. So I have a weird scenario, I happen to be a great writer and lyrics and ideas come to me very easily, BUT I am ZERO musical, so I have a bunch of these complete songs in my phone with barely any melody involved besides a drop of a ryrhym in my head that I can't even express. I want to show my most recent song I wrote and tell me what u think: Title: You Taught Me The Song Intro: I've heard about these things before, thought I understood it all I've seen it in movies, heard about it in song When they say you can't keep living That the future is bleeding Thought I knew what it meant But it was all in my head I've heard about these things before, thought I understood it all Oh hell I wish that you didn't, but girl you taught me the song Chorus: It's a broken heart A way to start Doubting my reason - Doubting my reason to keep on this breathin I turn right there your sittin Turn left here I'm grievin One minute I'm beamin The next here I'm singin - Bout why to keep on this living Damn I'm feelin that feelin Cuz girl you taught me the song Bridge 1: Some say there's another Some say lose my number Some don't mean no harm Some can't be more sharp But however the storm chooses to open its gates You'll be lying here with me wondering what it takes To click on erase To get her back to your place Chorus: It's a broken heart A way to start Doubting my reason - Doubting my reason to keep on this breathin I turn right there your sittin Turn left here I'm grievin One minute I'm beamin The next here I'm singin - Bout why to keep on this living Damn I'm feelin that feelin Why girl you taught me the song Bridge 2: Can't turn on the radio or lean back my seat Can't roll over in bed and see it's empty Cuz all that stuff kills me Reminding me of what I see - As a love on the brink All because of me Now all that's left of my misery Is my new understanding Of what they sing on the frequency Cuz my baby she's history Chorus: It's a broken heart A way to start Doubting my reason - Doubting my reason to keep on this breathin I turn right there your sittin Turn left here I'm grievin One minute I'm beamin The next here I'm singin - Bout why to keep on this living Damn right I'm feelin that feelin See girl you taught me the song (why) Outro: I've heard about these things before, thought I understood it all Oh hell I wish that you didn't, but girl you taught me the song Yeah why'd ya teach me this song

Luv these comments. Thanks everyone.

Man, wish you could do a session in Ireland, I’d love to have a legit talk with you about songwriting. Maybe extend it to young kids

Thank you for this! Your advice is on point.

amazing channel, glad i found it

awsome i'd glad to see ya video whom can better than teaching you showed that nothing posssiable. it all your

Excellent tutorial. Well done. Thank you!

wow this definitely exceeded my expectations

Thanks for this. WOW!!!!

Thanks for the advice bud

One of the greatest of songwriters Hank Williams read comic books for song inspiration.