You might think that the topic of your song is going to be the most important part of writing a good song lyric, but that’s not the case. Most listeners can enjoy a song even if the lyrics are so abstract that they don’t even know what the song is about. Lennon & McCartney’s “I […]
Most song lyrics tell a story, but not usually in the “first this happened and then that happened” way. They largely resemble having a conversation with someone, a conversation where your side is frequently the only side that gets heard. “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle” covers every aspect of how to write great […]
When it comes to the performance of a song, you’re probably very well aware of the importance of musical energy. Much of the time we might safely equate energy with loudness, though the true definition involves a lot more than just loudness. If all you need are tons of progressions to try out, you need “Essential Chord […]
The average listener may think that a song melody moves up and down in a kind of random way, but for the best songs, there does seem to be value in thinking about a melody’s direction as something purposeful and important. I’ve said in many blog posts (like this one: “How Making a Line Drawing […]
For songs that use one of the verse-chorus formats, you’ll know that verses usually use the same melody but different lyrics. Occasionally you’ll find a song that uses different melodies in the verses — “I Know What I like (In Your Wardrobe)“, by Genesis for example, or a song with the same lyrics in subsequent […]
You likely know that verse lyrics tend to describe people, places and situations, and is the part of your song that tells the story. Sometimes it’s a literal story, and sometimes it’s just images that get placed together, helping to set up the chorus and the deeper emotions that happen there. Chorus lyrics don’t have […]
