If you look at lists of songwriters who have become known as being “the best” over time, you’ll probably notice that their ability to write a good lyric is one of their most important qualities. There is a lot you can say about what makes writing a good lyric challenging, but certainly the need to […]
You’d think that it would occur naturally to us to read lyrics aloud as an important part of the song editing process. For practically every other aspect of songs, we test them out by actually performing them for ourselves: we strum chords, improvise melodies by humming or otherwise singing, try different instrument combinations, and so […]
To say it the way Barry Gibb of Bee Gees fame has said it: “Songs are about feelings.” If you aren’t causing your listeners to feel something when they hear your song, you’ve probably missed the main point of what good songwriting is all about. But there are many ways to deal with feelings in […]
Most songwriters know the benefits that come with creating a word list when writing song lyrics. And though there are several ways this can be done, most lyricists will create a simple list of words that pertain to the song’s topic. The benefit of doing this is that you establish a vocabulary that makes searching […]
Lyrics and melodies go hand in hand when you’re writing songs. In truth everything needs to partner up well in order for a song to sound great, but that particular partnership between lyrics and melody is perhaps one of the most crucial ones. But how do you ensure that your melody is properly supporting both the […]
Most song lyrics tell a story, whether it recounts a series of events in chronological order, or just simply implies a story. In fact, it’s probably true to say that most songs just imply a story, and we fill in a lot of details as the listener. There are any number of examples of what I’m […]
