- Choose a concrete story, reflecting significant details:
In my experience, one of the most common mistakes is to be too vague when starting to write lyrics. For example, artists come to me asking for “a love song” and they usually have some lines already written down. Then I continue to ask them: What is the exact love story? There’s the information and details you wanna lean on when writing!
2. Avoid clichés: rewrite your lyrics until they’re expressed in an original way
When I was 7, I decided to write my first song. Then I went on and merged words and phrases that were typically used in the songs I happened to listen to at the time.
I’m not saying that every beginner does that, but it’s a very simplified example of what we unconsciously tend to do at first.
Try your best to be true to your story, make statements that you haven’t heard before, don’t settle with what you’ve already listened to.
3. Stick to a predefined formal structure
We all know what a pop song’s lyrics usually look like. If you don’t, let me refresh it to you: “Verse – Verse – Pre-chorus – Chorus – Verse – Bridge – Verse – Chorus”.
There are a few variations that you can usually find in pop songs, but this is the main and most common one.
Whether you’re writing a commercial song or not, it is important to stick to a formal structure. If not, you will most likely end up writing a poem or a narration, and that’s not what you want. The difference between a poem and lyrics is that lyrics are tied to melodies and a song structure, and a poem is not. Keep that in mind.
I hope these 3 tips were helpful for you!
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lyrics by laura 