So what makes a great lyric? Well that varies from one person to the next. But one thing to keep in mind is if you like to write in vague poetic metaphors, you may want to be the artist performing the completed song or an established songwriter with some clout. For all new, undiscovered and established lyricists the best bet is to follow the rules at least to some extent.
So what are the rules? I would suggest they are somewhat unwritten, but there are some tried and true rules that assist in the process of quality lyric writing. These lyrical rules differentiate amateurs from professional lyricists. Let’s take a look at a few lyrical skills to add some character to your lyric writing.
1. The first thing that comes to my mind is an identifiable theme, something listeners can relate to. Develop a catchy hook and title that catches the listener’s ears.
2. Grammatical “person” – it’s important to understand from whose point of view a story is being told and to be consistent throughout the song. I can count the times I’ve worked with songwriters who change the grammatical person in the middle of the song, which can be very confusing to the listener.
- First person indicates the singer is the character in the story (they are the “I” in the song). Therefore keep in mind, most singers will want to be placed in a good light if the lyric is first person (the hero or person people can relate to or understand their point of view).
- Second person refers to the person addressed by the language of the lyric (think “you”). You are communicating with the character in the song.
- Finally, in the third person the singer is telling a story. They are simply the narrator of the story.
4. Colorful tangible language – Is used to keep interest and create pictures in your lyrical lines. Think pictures and look deep. You can say “she was on a plane” or you could say “she was on Delta flight 309”…I think you get the point even if that might be a lame attempt.
5. Form – Is simply the way a song is structured. One mistake I see made often is unmatched verses. I would suggest matching your verses, in other words if you rhyme lines 1 & 3 in the first verse, do it in the second as well, but be unique with your rhymes. Use the same amount of lines in all verses. Additionally, words have rhythm, so keep the rhythm consistent from verse line to verse line. Some of the more prominent forms are…
- AAA – This indicates the song is made up of all verses.
- AABA – This format could be looked at as a verse with the hook, verse with the hook, bridge (contrast) and verse with the hook.
- Verse/Chorus – Which can entail several variations that may or may not include bridge or pre-chorus, also known as a lift (pc) some common variations are: ABAB, or BABA, ABABCB or ApcBApcB as well as many other combinations.
7. Alliteration – Is a device used to cleverly utilize the consonant sounds of words to hook a listener’s ears; such as (“Little Lonely Lucy”)
8. Antonyms – Used often in country music, but not necessarily exclusive to country lyrics, use the ear popping combination of opposites such as (She’s so sweet when she’s sour”)
9. Tense – Keep track of whether you’re in the past, present or future and make sure they are setup appropriately.
10. Keep it conversational – This is specifically true for country lyricists, but would be a good rule for any lyricist that wants to clearly convey their message. To be conversational means to say as you would speak it. Many new lyric writers tend to try and be clever and state things backwards to fit a rhyme or for some other reason…don’t force it…say it.
Well as I stated earlier, there have been many books written on this subject, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. Feel free to pick up a copy of my highly recommended reading "The Craft Of Lyric Writing" by Shelia Davis. It's well worth the read. Additionally reading can get the creative juices flowing from writers block.
My Best,
Ray
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