Samiul Bashar Samin
For a large number of songwriters, lyric-writing is the hardest aspect of the art. The main reason it’s such a struggle is that lyric writing is a completely different skill to writing music, and skill in musical theory and composition is of little to no help in lyric writing, which places entirely different demands on a songwriter. As well as working on my own material, I do a great deal of work with songwriters who are struggling with their lyrics, particularly writers for whom English is not their native language. These are the most common errors that I find when helping songwriters, and what can be done to fix them.
Writing the lyrics before the music
Many songwriters decide to write a song about a certain subject, write some lyrics about that subject, and then write the music. In my experience, this is the #1 cause of bad lyrics. Fitting music to words is extremely difficult. Even if the lyrics in themselves make great poetry, the rhythm and melody of music can do all sorts of ugly things to the emphasis and delivery of the words that can ruin them. Not all poetry makes good lyrics, and not all good lyrics make good poetry The most effective process in my experience is to first decide on a subject, but then think about the emotions that that subject elicits. Does the subject make you feel angry, sad, happy, romantic, or a mixture of things? Then use those musical skills of yours to write some MUSIC that conveys that emotion or emotions. Only then think about lyrics.
Not paying enough attention to the song structure
Whilst most good songwriters know the difference between a verse, bridge, chorus, midsection and the like in musical terms, they will often not pay enough attention to the structure when writing the lyrics. The most common (but not the only) symptom of this problem is that the entire song ends up with chorus-style lyrics and is, as a friend of mine put it, just a series of slogans. Think about the relationship between the different elements of a song structure. If you’re not using a conventional structure, then think about the musical progression and the change of moods throughout the piece.
Not enough detachment from the subject matter
This is quite a complex concept, but a very important one. A common feature in almost all substandard lyrics is that they are written in a matter-of-fact style. They either talk about the events or subject of the song (Direct lyrics), or they discuss what has happened and how it makes them feel (First-level lyrics). However, the best lyrics, especially in the rock and metal genres, go to the second level of detachment, wherein the subject matter of the song is erased entirely from the lyrics, and all that is discussed is the images and feelings the events or subject are evoking. It’s always nice and interesting to write somewhat vague lyrics( or so they seem) and then give the listeners a nice little part to think about. Before you know it, they’ll be thinking about it for hours and suddenly it’s their favorite song.