5 Tips For the Song That Just Won't Fix Itself

Here are some ideas for fixing that song that just never seems finished.

Do you have a song in your own personal catalogue that’s finished but just doesn’t sound right? Every once in a while you dig it out and sing through it, but it just lies there like yesterday’s porridge.

Everything seems right, but you can tell there’s something not working. And every time you sing through it, you hope you’re going to have a sudden revelation, something easy and obvious to fix or change. But you put it away again, and try to get going on something new.

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If that song is always sitting there in the back of your mind, here are a few tips that might help you home in on what the problem might be.

1. Consider each song element separately. I’m usually fond of reminding songwriters that successful songs are the result of a partnership of elements: lyrics, melodies, rhythms and chords all working hand-in-hand. But in order to figure out what’s going wrong, you need to do what car mechanics do: look at each part separately first, and make sure they’re all in working order. So do the following:
   1. Play through the chord progression with backing rhythms. Do you like what you hear? Does it work for you?
   2. Sing through the melody with no accompaniment whatsoever, just as a solo melody. Do you like it? Can you hear contour? Does it have a climactic moment (likely in the chorus)? The best melodies will have a discernible shape, often like an inverted-U: low to start, higher in the middle, then lower just at the end. Even without that common shape, is there something about the melody that lends itself to being drawn like a line?
   3. Read through the lyrics. Have you used common, everyday words that anyone would understand? Do you start with narrative-style “this-is-what’s-happening” kind of statements, and then move to emotional lyrics in the chorus?
2. Don’t make your intro overly long. Most intros work best if you can start verse 1 by the 15-second mark.
3. Don’t take too long to get to the chorus. Most choruses will start anywhere between the 45-second and 1-minute mark.
4. Is the story interesting enough? A love song is simply a category, not a story. If it’s just “I love you” dressed up with fancy words, you may need to create a more enticing story.
5. Is the song the right length? One of the trickiest things to get right about popular songs is the length. Remember, you’re taking the listener on a musical voyage, but it’s a short one, usually 4 minutes or so in length. If your song is too long, it may not have the energy to sustain that length. Look for ways to shorten up ideas, cut a verse, or shorten a bridge.

One of the best ways to solve a problem with a song is to play it for a musician you trust. You need someone who can listen and communicate their thoughts to you, however brutal they might be, in a concise and respectful way.

That’s why producers are especially valuable. They have talents that allow them to zero in on what the problem with a song might be. So find someone who can act as a temporary producer for you, and describe what weaknesses they’re hearing in the song.

And when all else fails, put it away and start a new one. There’s nothing wrong with having a few songs that never see the light of day. As you build your catalog of great songs, no one is ever going to ask you, “So… how many songs have you never finished?”

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Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter. “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle looks at songwriting from every angle, and has been used by thousands of songwriters. How to use chords, write melodies, and craft winning lyrics.  (And you’ll receive a FREE copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro.“)