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Jane Shieldsane Shields
J

13. Don’t use an excess of adjectives, or describing writing.
words. While they are clearly essential to song
writing adding too many can make a lyric less 22. Be cautious when using ‘clever’ or overly
concise. elaborate language. These words often look fine on
paper, but normally don’t translate well into song.
14. Don’t feel that using imagery will make your You also run the risk of alienating listeners that don’t
lyrics too arty or flowery. Used well, it can evoke know what a word means.
emotions or moods that can’t be created by using
blunt description alone. 23. Consider the rhyming scheme, if there is one.
It’s important to remember that how ‘catchy’ your
15. Be careful when using the emotional song is in not just a product of the music and
abstract, for example, saying things like “I want to melody; it also comes from the lyrics, especially the
feel free”. Complex emotions are often difficult to rhythm and rhyming scheme.
describe; it’s sometimes more effective to use imagery
(see tip 14) or context (see tip 8) to convey an 24. If possible, avoid writing filler lines in order to
emotion rather than simply stating it. make rhymes work. It’s fine to use filler when
mapping out the structure of the song, but you
16. Experiment with tense. It can be should use any subsequent re-writes to try and make
interesting to write about the past, present and each line count in is own right.
future, sometimes all within the same lyric.
25. Keep it real - write about things you know about,
17. Be clear. Remember that the listeners might miss or do plenty of research before starting to write. Not
a word, or a line, or three. Don’t rely on just one only does this make it easier for you to write your
small line to put the whole song in context. lyric, but it makes your lyric more believable too, as
you can insert emotion or feelings into the correct
18. Experiment with attitude. Songs can be places, where you know they belong.
humble, arrogant, hopeful, sombre, aggressive and
more. Creative droughts can often be tackled by
radically changing the outlook of your lyrics. This
isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be yourself, but a bit of
experimentation won’t hurt.

19. Experiment with pronouns. Songs don’t always
have to be written using ‘you’ or ‘I’. Lyrics with plural
pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘they’, for example, can
give a very different feel to a song. Avoid using too
many different pronouns in the same song though as
this may be confusing.

20. Don’t use too many words. Cramming a line full
of words where they clearly won’t fit may cause each
word to lose its impact; it’s normally wiser to re-write
the line completely rather than trying to play literary
Tetris.

21. Be aware of the ‘sounds’ of words. Words have
an inherent sound to them which becomes even
more pronounced when sung rather than spoken.
Some words sound spikey, some stodgy, some open,
some blunt, some roll off the tongue. Take the sound
as well the meaning of the word into account when

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