1. Be vague.
People like songs not so much because they hear you on it, but because they see themselves in it.
Make sure your lyrics are vague enough for people to interpret in their own way.
2. Use timeless subjects
As long as people can relate to your music, they will have a reason to play it.
Write about subjects that never get old such as: love, struggle, pain, heartbreak, self accomplishment, family, partying, etc.
3. Develop a motif.
A motif is a a brief melodic or rhythmic pattern that is revisited throughout the song.
When you have this element in your lyrics, people are able to memorize the song and sing along it much quicker.
4. Develop a cadence.
Your cadence is basically your “flow”….your rhythms….the bounce in the lyrics that determines how people nod their head to the song.
Cadence is what gets people to physically move to your music. If you don’t have a steady cadence, people may listen silently…but they’ll never dance and sing along.
5. Make your lyrics performable.
When writing, consider fatigue on songs you want to perform live. Even if you use multiple takes while recording vocals, the last thing you want is to write a song you can’t perform live because there’s no space in the lyrics to breathe.
6. Use what’s in the beat.
If you’re writing songs to premade instrumentals, find ways to mimic, match, or respond to the rhythms and melodies that are already in the beat.
You don’t want to be creating lyrics that go completely against the beat… unless it sounds good that way for some reason.
7. Let the song be the star, not you.
Don’t make the mistake of “overwriting” (or putting too much in one song).
Some artists try to show off every skill they have, in every line, of every hook and verse. But if you pile too many things on one plate, it starts to NOT look like an appetizing meal at all.
Give people less to focus on. Break huge ideas down into multiple different songs.
If you have a good concept, that’s pretty much all you need…aside from 🔥 beats and professional mixing and mastering, of course.
