: Writing song lyrics I find writing song lyrics really difficult -- maintaining a regular rhythm, making it rhyme and writing something that makes sense all at the same time. Does anyone have

@Heady158

Posted in: #Lyrics #Poetry

I find writing song lyrics really difficult -- maintaining a regular rhythm, making it rhyme and writing something that makes sense all at the same time.

Does anyone have any tips for how to write song lyrics? (This is not about writers block. I have the material I want to include already written. It just isn't in the form of a poem.)

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@Shelton455

@Shelton455

I am not a professional writer but I do have some experience in writing poetry and lyrics. Sometimes I write the lyrics and give them to somebody else to find the right melody, and sometimes I have the melody to build up the lyrics on, which is of course more difficult.

I suggest that you read lots of books with different subjects, listen to people talking about things, and let your imagination 'fly' :) It really helped me!
Sometimes I do use the 'rhyme finder'on google but with a very good imagination and a complex vocabulary everything will come together pretty easily.

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@Kristi637

@Kristi637

Apart from SaberWriter's excellent suggestion, I can only offer the old standbys, read lots of lyrics (research), and write lots of lyrics (practice).

Writing good lyrics is notoriously difficult. There's a reason why even many hit songs have terrible lyrics.

It's also worth noting that even many good songs end up quietly sacrificing at least one of your desired traits (good rhythm, good rhyme, sense).

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@Phylliss352

@Phylliss352

99% of the time professional songwriters write the lyrics based upon the rhythm created by the melody.
There's a famous example of McCartney's Yesterday (from wikipedia link to Yesterday by the Beatles):

Upon being convinced that he had not robbed anyone of their melody,
McCartney began writing lyrics to suit it. As Lennon and McCartney
were known to do at the time, a substitute working lyric, titled
"Scrambled Eggs" (the working opening verse was "Scrambled Eggs/Oh, my
baby how I love your legs"), was used for the song until something
more suitable was written.

So, you might first hum the melody and be guided by the rhythm of the melody and then begin to scat the words. Finally, change the scatted words into sentences which make some sort of sense.

be bop rat a dat tat
She got a old red car
laaaaa di do ta la la
drives it down to L.A.

Are you hip to my poetic lyrics, cat? :)

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