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10 tips for writing lyrics
© Al Paton 12 Sept 2007
1. Make sure your song is a real idea about something believable. Is it something that's worthy of having a song written about it? Make it simple, and about one thing only. Stick to the subject.
2. Does it make you sympathize with or relate to the singer? It should. If you want to identify with people, write a song about something that will strike a common chord, something that expresses how they feel too.
3. These days there are some pretty obscure song titles, so you can get away with murder for artistic license, but if you're looking to appeal to as many people as possible, you'll need a title that they'll remember after just one hearing. It must summarize the entire plot of the song.
4. The beginning must establish 'who what where when' very early on.
5. The song should have a natural progression of events and ideas that develop to draw a conclusion (obviously or not-so-obviously)
6. The music must match the lyric's meaning and deliver the message.
7. Avoid cliches - but try to twist cliches and axioms (sayings) to mean something new ("Un-break my heart", "I meant every word he said", "Love at second sight").
8. Metaphors are comparisons between two things to create an "Ahh" moment where the listener goes "That's so true, they are so alike". They are equations: A=B. Metaphors and similes are a minefield. "Metaphors and similes" (A) = "walking in a minefield" (B) which is dangerous. Use metaphors sparingly, and try a fresh approach to the mundanely obvious ones we hear every day. Don't mix them up (eg. "If you break through the pain, you'll live through the rain" is a mixed metaphor (pain= a wall, and hard times=rain) - It doesn't equate. Make sure A=B.
9. Be adventurous with your wordplay. Make up words, twist words or create phrases. Make unusual comparisons that have truth in them. Read up about personification, metonymy, apostrophe and synecdoche (sounds scary? They're not!)
10. For good books on the subject of lyric writing, check out authors like Shiela Davis, Jason Blume and Pat Pattison.
Thanks for reading. Hope that helps!
All the best
Al Paton.
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© Urban Mix Recording Studios 2008
