How to Write Meaningful Lyrics

Think about the main line. The lead verse is another name for the chorus. Before you start writing this part of the song, review the list of phrases you just composed. Think about which phrases include the most vivid, powerful, or meaningful words and are directly related to your chosen topic/topic.

• The chorus usually begins with a sentence or two and is extended. The chorus doesn’t have to rhyme, but it should catch the ear and attract the listener. ^[6]
• Try developing phrases that you find most characteristic or evocative about the song’s theme. Again, at this stage you don’t have to worry about perfection. Just try to expand and add details to the phrases you have written.

Decide on your point of view. Any piece of music is written from some point of view, and it’s up to you to decide which perspective works best for the song. You may need to try a few different perspectives and decide which is the best one to tell your story from.

• The first person singular (“me”, “you”, “em”) is one of the most popular because it conveys a personal experience, and the person listening to the song (especially the person singing along!) will easily replace the self-advocacy for the pronoun “I” in the song. ^[7]
• Not only because the first person perspective is easy to relate to, but it has to be relevant to your song. Maybe you’re composing a song that proves something more than putting yourself in the song.
• Experiment with different perspectives to see which is the best place to convey what you want to convey.

Composing the chorus around emotions. The most impressive choruses are often very condensed and express the most basic and raw emotion at the heart of the song. The chorus doesn’t have to be complicated (unless that’s your style and you feel comfortable doing it). The key is to create a chorus that moves the emotions and highlights the overall theme of the song.

• When writing the lyrics for the chorus, you should put this part at the heart of the dominant emotion in the song. If you try to cover up too much, the chorus will be messy, sloppy, or difficult for the listener to grasp. ^[8]
• If you haven’t decided what the main feeling of the song is, go back to your chosen topic and list of words/phrases to review the general theme. If your subject is relatively specific, you will be able to come up with corresponding emotions without too much difficulty.

Build structure. Structurally, the chorus usually has four or six lines. Sentences can rhyme, but not necessarily. The chorus may also contain a repeat at the beginning or end of each chorus. ^[9] There are no strict rules governing the structure of a chorus, but at least a knowledge of the basic format can help you sketch out a more structured chorus .

• The most common chorus structure is AABA, meaning the first, second, and fourth lines rhyme or have a repeating phrase. The third sentence is related to the first, second, and fourth sentences, but can be modified slightly.

Review what you just wrote. Once you’ve written a few lines in the chorus, you need to reread it to see if it makes sense. By theme, the chorus should succinctly describe your emotional reaction to the events, people, or places mentioned in the main verse. Even if you haven’t written the main lyrics, the chorus should clearly respond to the meaning the song is trying to convey. ^[10]

• For example, in a sad love song, the chorus should be about how you feel when you lose someone. The main lyrics can tell where the sadness comes from, but the chorus should be emotional, graphic, and/or contain your feelings about the breakup.
• A protest song whose main lyrics detail/recount a certain social event (like the execution of an innocent person who was wrongly convicted) needs a chorus that handles the whole meaning. of it – which may contain indignation, horror, grief, or some other entirely different emotion, but must present a succinct emotional response to the subject.

Decide on the action in the song. Once you have a topic and a response to it, more or less, you will need to recount the events that led to your response. One of the most important elements of the lyrics is the action that drives the story in the song. Actions also help you express your thoughts and feelings without having to say them directly. ^[11]

• The old adage about writing “show, not tell” also applies to songwriting.
• The lyrics “I carve your name in my heart” will be more moving than the simple “I love you”. The phrase “I love you” in a love song risks becoming boring to the listener, while describing the act of carrying love is much more meaningful.
• If you find it difficult to write the action for the main lyrics, look back at the first word list, reread the chorus, and think about the theme of the song. From there, you can find phrases that specifically describe the action in the main words.
• If you feel stuck when writing the narration of a song, try writing a very short story about your chosen topic. From there you can decide which events are relevant, or at least you can have more ideas to put on paper. Either way, this will make your song stronger. ^[12]

Select the image in the song. Once you’ve identified the action thematic in the song, you can use descriptive words to evoke imagination in your listeners. For example, in a song about the sadness of losing a loved one, you might include a sentence that describes you falling to your knees and tears rolling down your cheeks. This visual helps the listener feel the depth of the love affair, while also supporting your emotional response during the chorus. ^[13]

• Listeners won’t be able to “see” your emotions in the song, but rich lyrics can help listeners visualize your actions as you experience that emotion. This will make it easier for listeners to grasp the meaning of the song. It also personalizes the story you tell.

More details. Details bring images to life. You can use powerful and attractive adjectives and adverbs to create images and add detail. For example, in a sentence describing you falling down and crying when you lose someone, you might describe the ground below your knees, or the wind hitting your back. Such specifics turn a general event into its own story. Even if the reader lost someone, they probably wouldn’t have collapsed in the mud on such a cold November morning. ^[14]

• Avoid using generic descriptive words like “lonely” or “beautiful.” Try to be as unique as possible, as this will help your song stand out from other songs with the same theme. The originality will make the song more emotional and meaningful, and help the parts of the lyrics have a closer connection.
• Make the song unique. Describe the weather, season of the year, or what the person in the song is wearing. You’ll help bring the song to life by circling the event. ^[15]

Find the right arrangement. The key lyrics of a song can describe the main event chronologically (in order from when it started) or can be more narrative about an event that led to your emotional reaction. Either way, you may have to experiment with the structure of the main lyrics to find the arrangement that works best for your song. If the song is about a real event in the past (like the death of a loved one), the chronological arrangement makes the most sense. If it’s a general life event (like a breakup), play around a bit with the order of events so that each main passage slowly leads to the chorus.

• The first lines of every major part of a song are important, but the first line of the opening is often said to be the most important. It can cause listeners to continue listening to your song or not. ^[16]
• Use the opening sentence of each main paragraph to grab the listener’s attention and also set the mood for the song. You can start with a statement, as this can help make your message clear from the start.
• Try to use one or two really catchy phrases or specific images. This can attract attention and make the listener curious.
• Repetition in the song is acceptable (as long as there are differences in the rest of the song), but you should do your best to avoid clichéd words. If listeners can guess what the next line will sound like without having heard it, they probably won’t find your song very interesting. ^[17]
• Remember to stick to one point/theme/theme throughout the whole song! You can talk about several events or memories in the main lyrics of the song, but it all has to be related to an event that the chorus expresses emotionally.

Decide whether to use a pre-chorus. The pre-chorus leads the listener from the main verse to the chorus. It usually takes descriptions of the main lyrics and transitions to the emotions of the chorus. The pre-chorus can hint at the emotion of the chorus or simply bridge two parts of the song. ^[18]

• You don’t have to write the pre-chorus. Not all songs have this part. But when used skillfully, a pre-chorus can effectively help set the stage for the chorus.
• Moving from a song’s narration to an emotional response without a transition can still flow smoothly, but it can also make the song feel clumsy and unfinished. Only you can decide whether to write a pre-chorus, and it probably depends on what you feel the song needs to tell your own story.

Connect the parts together. You’ve got the lyrics as descriptions of an event, the chorus as a lively emotional response, and now you start thinking about the song as a whole. The chorus should still be the emotional focus of the song, but the main lyrics need to be the foundation for that emotional response. If your listeners don’t feel that the chorus is an understandable response to the main lyrics, your song may confuse or even upset them.

• Even if the main lyrics of a song describe multiple events or aspects of an event, they must work together to process or lead to the emotional reactions that make up the chorus. ^[19]
• Emotions in the main lyrics should be kept to a minimum. If a part of the song is also filled with emotions, it may be difficult for listeners to feel.
• The main lyrics of the song need to be specific. It should vividly depict people, places, situations or situations without being overly emotional. ^[20]
• If you find it difficult to think of a line of the main lyrics, try humming a tune that matches the song. Even without the music, you probably have a rough idea of the song’s melody based on the lyrics. When you hum or even sing “la la la” to the rhyme of the main line of the song, you can improvise the lyrics or get a better sense of the words that can work in that verse. ^[21]

Review and edit. It can be hard to tell if your lyrics make sense to other people. It certainly means something to you, and if you write it truthfully and vividly, your lyrics will also touch the hearts of your listeners.

• Show the lyrics to a close friend, or sing it to someone whose opinion you value.
• Tell people you need honest feedback. If there’s anything in the song that your friend feels is inappropriate, confusing, or insincere, ask them to let you know.
• Edit if necessary. Use feedback from friends to decide which parts of the song (if any) need tweaking. Then go through the process again to solidify the parts of the song that need fixing.

Know how to show assertiveness. Depending on the theme of the song, you may want to express your own (or that of the narrator’s) strength and conviction. The easiest ways to do this (beyond what the lyrics actually say on paper) is to let your voice convey the strength and determination of your character. ^[22]

• Start the song’s melodies on the first beat of each bar to create a song with a solid, steady beat.
• Consider starting the song with a lower or higher pitch than usual. So when you raise the pitch in the chorus (or lower it, depending on how you start), the lyrics are emphasized and draw the listener’s attention to the melody of the song.

Express emotions in songs. If it’s about love, loss, or heartbreak, your lyrics must have conveyed so many emotions. But the way you sing it can also help to deepen the emotion of the main lyrics and the chorus of the song. ^[23]

• Try singing most of the song’s melody in your mid-range. This way, you will create a change in pitch in the song, be it higher or lower, to add more emotion to what you want to say.
• A good example of this is the song “Me and Bobby McGee” with Janis Joplin’s version. She sings most of the song in her mid-range, but each time she raises or lowers the pitch, the feeling of longing and pain immediately increases.