7 Tips for Writing Songs With a Message

We value instincts in the writing of songs, but did you know that you can improve your songwriting instincts? Read through “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, now with a 7th eBook absolutely FREE: “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro.” Read more..

___________

It’s true that love songs still sell, and the topic of love – whether directly or indirectly – still account for the vast majority of music that makes it to the top of the pop charts. And even the songs that don’t specifically speak of love approach the topic obliquely.

In other words, love still makes a connection to audiences. And it’s not difficult to know why. Listeners need to be able to place themselves in the world created by the song. And the ups and downs of love is one of the easiest and most effective ways to do that.

But occasionally, you’ll find that you want to do more with your music, and that often means writing songs that convey a message. That message may relate to social justice (“Give Peace a Chance” – John Lennon), urging the world to take better care of the planet (“One Sweet World” – Dave Matthews), or advocating for someone who’s been wrongfully treated by their government (“Free Nelson Mandela” – The Specials)

In those kinds of songs, you want to be sure that people are focusing on your message – on your lyrics. How do you do that? There’s no one right way, and music would be boring if that were the case. But there are several ways you can get people listening to and connecting to your deeper thoughts. Here are some tips:

1. Start with a question. Starting your lyric with a question means people will automatically either create their answer, or they’ll wait for your answer. Either way, questions have a way of grabbing attention. It’s the difference between saying, “Our planet used to be so fine…” and “What’s happening to the earth beneath me?“
2. Set a “lyrical stage” that listeners can connect to. In “Free Nelson Mandela”, the first verse begins “21 years in captivity/ Shoes too small to fit his feet…” It has a way of getting your attention right away. They could have started with a lyric that spoke about the ugliness of oppression, but that wouldn’t have made a strong connection.
3. Try spoken word as a song starter. Lennon could have chosen to start “Give Peace a Chance” with melody, but after the intro he yells out, “Ev’rybody’s talkin’ ’bout/ Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism/ This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism…” His vocal tone makes him sound immediately fed up with “isms”, but he obviously felt that singing those lines would have negatively softened his message. It comes across as a bit of a preach, and in a good way.
4. Try a repeated pitch. Singing your lyric with the melody on one pitch has a way of “drilling the message home.” “Like a Rolling Stone” (Bob Dylan) demonstrates the effectiveness of this.
5. Try a small, repeated melodic cell. Singing a short melodic idea over and over causes listeners to focus on words more than melody, as we hear in “Free Nelson Mandela.”
6. Avoid being preachy. The danger with songs that have a strong message is that you can come across as someone who has all the answers, and that’s not always received well. That’s why questions can work so well in a lyric: you motivate people to think without necessarily saying you have all the answers.
7. Don’t forget that beauty still has a place in a lyric with a message. So you still want to be sure that your lyric works not just as a message, but as an art form. “One Sweet World” demonstrates the need for words that proclaim their message while still wrapped in some measure of charm: “Nine planets round the sun/ Only one does the sun embrace/ Upon this watered one…”

______________

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. $95.70 $37.00 (and you’ll receive a FREE copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro.“)