One way I like to think of good songwriting, or good anything in the creative arts, is that it always makes me think something even better is about to happen; a good song keeps me hooked and listening for the next moment.
Chord progressions are the most obvious example of this concept. If you take a simple one, like I-vi-ii-V-I (C-Am-Dm-G-C), the I-chord (the C chord if your song is in C major) sounds like “home.” Then it moves off of that C chord, and we hear Am. Once it moves on to Dm, we get a strong sense that it’s trying to find home again, and then when we hear G, that’s like arriving at the front doorstep, and the final C is us arriving back home. With every chord, we feel compelled to wait until we “get back home.”
If you find chord progressions hard to create, and you just need some to get your songwriting process started, you need “Essential Chord Progressions, and “More Essential Chord Progressions.” They’re collections of chords that you can use as is, or modify to suit your needs. They’re both part of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle.
That sense that a set of chords follow a kind of musical logic — a strong sense of direction — is why we call them progressions. But in good music, it’s not just chords that progress. Everything progresses. The first few notes of a melody give us a bit of an indicator what the next few notes might be: it’s not all random.
With lyrics, there’s also an important sense of progression. The best lyrics are comprised of lines which follow each other with a strong sense of direction and logic. If you find that your own lyrics just seem to be lacking the ability to pull listeners in, it could be that they’re simply missing that all-important aspect of direction and logic.
The best way to improve your lyrics is to keep listening to songs written by lyricists that you admire. Analyze what they’re doing, and try to figure out what keeps you listening… what do you like about what you’re hearing.
The Beach Boys’ song “God Only Knows” from their 1966 album “Pet Sounds”, written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, is a textbook example of how a lyric can present a line that seems to artistically “demand” a certain kind of following line. And then that following line demands the next line.
I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I’ll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I’d be without you
In that sense, “God Only Knows” keeps us riveted, focused on where the lyric is leading. It’s not a collection of isolated thoughts. It’s a long, coherent thought that keeps us thinking that something even better is about to be sung. It keeps us waiting, listening, and hoping for the next line. If it’s not perfect, it’s about as close as it ever gets in the arts.
Taking your lyrics to the next level involves reading your lyric through, and asking yourself: Does the first line demand the next line? Is that second line a “logical follower” of the first line?
If it is, you’ll have an audience that wants to stick with your song. They want to hear what happens next.
If it isn’t, you need to do some editing. As I say, the best way to become proficient with your lyrics is to listen to and read lots of lyrics by the kind of songwriter you admire. The more you listen, the better you’ll become.
Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.
Thousands of songwriters have been using “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 10-eBook Bundle, along with the Study Guide, to polish their songwriting skills and raise their level of excellence.
This reminds me of some words I once read in a book:
“Each sentence educates the next sentence, and each paragraph educates the next paragraph.”
You can even write novels using this technique. Robert Louis Stevenson did that on Treasure Island. And if it works for novels, then it works even more for lyrics.