SONGWRITING TIPS

How a title becomes a lyric.

The best way to demonstrate this is to give an example. Let's say I'm interested in writing a song called "California Girl." (The title occurred to me one summer morning when I was sitting on the beach in Santa Monica eating sushi for breakfast, feeling very much like a California girl. You never know when a title will hit ya!) Okay... I don't know what this song is about yet or why this phrase interests me but it does, so I need to find out more.

First: Ask Questions. Start by asking the questions this title wants to have answered. Let's say your title is "I Drove All Night." What questions need to be answered: "Where did you drive?" and "Why did you do that?" Now apply this idea to '"California Girl": "Who is she?" and "What is she doing?" How I answer those questions will determine what my song is about. Now, you may answer them in very different ways than I do and that's just fine. There could be several songs written with the title "California Girl" and they would all be different. My "California Girl" is no longer the teenager of the Beach Boys songs. I want to know how her life turned out, what she thinks about when she remembers those long ago golden summers. This has a strong emotional pull for me so that's the song I should write. You might want to write a party song or a song about young lovers on a beach. Your choice will depend on which of those ideas has the strongest emotional appeal for you - THAT is the song you should write.

Notice that I didn't start this song by wanting to tell a story or relive something that happened to me. Instead, I am just following my feelings. This is how songwriting (or writing poetry) teaches you about yourself. If you already know what you want to write, don't write a song, write an essay. A song is about DISCOVERING! 1.


Second: Make a list of words, phrases, or images suggested by the title. "California Girl" obviously makes me think of sun, waves, playing, warmth, ocean, paradise, beach, sand, etc. Sand makes me think of flowing, changing, so I add the words "flowing" and "changing" to my list, then try to think of things that flow and change: time, water, dreams and add them to my list, too. After you have a list of related words, make a list of words, phrases, and images that are opposites. My list would include: cold, night, dark, sadness, loss, lonely, etc. this is a kind of free-association game. Don't be judgmental, just write down whatever comes to you.

EXERCISE: Go back and look at the title you circled. Does it suggest any other words, images or thoughts. Make a list. Write them down quickly, in single words or short phrases. Don't think about rhyming or making sense at this point. Then, make a list of opposites. Write as many words as you can think of.



Lyrics are not poems. Using ghost melodies.

Many inexperienced songwriters begin by writing a lyric that looks like a poem, complete with nice rhymes and a regular, sing-song meter. What you get when you write lyrics without music is usually bad poetry. So, let's say you want to write a song but you don't play a musical instrument, here's what you do: Pick a song that already exists and write new words to it. Call this pre-existing song the ghost song because you are going to use it as a pattern on which to base your lyrics, then it's going to vanish completely! If you have a favorite artist in the genre you'd like to write your song in, use one of their songs as the ghost song. Play the song until you are familiar with the melody and can hum it to yourself.

EXERCISE: Choose a hit song as a ghost song. Make sure it's a song you like and one that moves along at a tempo (speed) that suits your mood. Do you feel like writing an angry or happy song with lots of energy? Then you want a song with a fast tempo. Want to write a sad song or sensual love ballad? Than you want a slow tempo. Become familiar with the ghost song. Learn to hum the melody line.


Song Forms

The advantage to using a ghost melody is that the song form or structure is already laid out for you. The most common contemporary song form is verse / chorus / verse / chorus / bridge / (verse) / chorus. The other common song form is verse / verse / bridge / verse. I don't have space here to explain why we use song forms; for now let's just say that it's what all us listeners like to hear and what we respond to emotionally. A couple of useful definitions:

Verse: The verses all have the same melody but different lyrics. The verse lyrics give us information about the situation, emotions, or people in the song. In the verse / verse / bridge / verse song form, the title is usually in the first or last line of each verse.
Chorus: The chorus is the section in which both melody and lyrics are repeated. The chorus lyrics give us the heart of the song. The title of the song almost always appears in the chorus section and may be repeated two or more times.
Bridge: The bridge has a different melody, lyrics, and chord progression from the verse or chorus. It provides a break from the repetition of verse and chorus and is sometimes an emotional turning point.


Writing chorus and verse lyrics to a ghost song

Look back at your title, questions to answer, and your lists of related words and phrases. Think about the title, hum the ghost melody in your head and try to fit your song title into the chorus section. See if you can use it two or more times. BETTER YET... choose the ghost song first before you look for a title, then find a title you can comfortably sing in the same place where the ghost song title is. Fill in the rest of the chorus lyric by answering the questions and using some of the words and phrases from your lists. This will keep your lyric focused which, in turn, makes it emotionally effective. Don't make a big effort to find rhymes (unless you are writing for animated films or musical theater); it's more important to say what you feel at this point. If you happen to find something that rhymes, and says what you want to say, that's great but don't distort the message to make something rhyme. Keep things conversational and honest.

Once you have a chorus, try writing the verse in the same way. Again, try to use the questions and related and opposite word lists. If you used them all in the chorus section, go back and create another list. With each verse, try to give the listener more information. You don't have to tell a linear story but there should be some development. And remember, the listener knows nothing at all about your situation or about you. Let us in! Here are some questions you can answer in your verses: What are you feeling? Who are you feeling it about? What is the problem? How will you solve it? How did it begin? How do you think it will end?

EXERCISE: When you're listening to the car radio or playing music around the house, make up new lyrics to hit songs just for fun. Once you feel comfortable with this, then choose a ghost song and find a title you can comfortably sing where the ghost song title is; make sure it's a title you want to write about. List two or three questions suggested by the title and make your lists of related and opposite words. Write a chorus lyric using some of the words on your lists and answering the title questions. Play around with phrases and ideas to fit them into the ghost song melody. Keep the title where the ghost song title is. After you finish your chorus, write your verses the same way.