5 Tips for Writing Better Lyrics Faster

Probably the one aspect of songwriting that I’ve struggled with the most until recently is coming up with lyrics. I’ve always considered the words of a song to be less important than the music. I even went through a phase during which I completely gave up trying to convey any sort of meaning, whatsoever, and simply used the words that sounded the best, regardless of how nonsensical they might have been.

But now that I’m in my 30s, and I’ve developed a process for writing lyrics that works for me and my style of music, there are all sorts of things I’d like to say. It helps that I’ve honed my other songwriting skills; now I can spend less time assembling the music and more time crafting the message.

Having taken a few different approaches since I started writing music almost 20 years ago, I think I have some valuable insight as to what works well when writing lyrics. Let me first point out that I recognize that this advice might not be applicable in every genre or for every artist. But my own music has spanned multiple genres, from folk to pop to punk to rock, and so far so good. As always, take these “rules” with a grain of salt, but the advice I’m going to give you here is meant to help you focus your effort in order to be more productive and efficient, not to restrict or hold you back. Without further ado, here are 5 things you can do to write better lyrics faster:

1. Write the melody first.

Give yourself a template. If you already know how the vocal patterns will be performed, you can try to improvise and take note of words or phrases that fit the music rhythmically and relate to the vibe of the song. Since the vocals are just one element of most songs, it’s easier to manipulate them until they blend well with the other instruments than the other way around. It can be done, but it’s a lot more difficult to compose an entire song around pre-written lyrics. I like to make my melodies both catchy/familiar and challenging/surprising. This keeps me engaged when it’s time to come up with the words, and hopefully it keeps my audience just as, if not more engaged.

Don’t be too specific, though. You’ll want to allow your lyrics to shape the melody to a certain degree, so that the vocal performance doesn’t sound awkward or robotic. I would estimate that I typically know how about 80-90% of the vocal melody will go before I even begin to write the lyrics.

2. Don’t write about yourself.

Ian MacKaye, of Minor Threat and Fugazi, once talked about how music is one of the oldest forms of communication. If you’re not shy (and let’s face it: If you’re a performer, you probably aren’t), you probably have no problem putting your dirty laundry out there for the world to see. In fact, if you’re anything like me, being able to communicate your feelings to the world might be one of the reasons you started writing music to begin with. But this can be a hindrance for a few reasons. First, maybe you are shy. If you are, it can be a real balancing act to try to write about your own emotional state in a way that makes sense to others without sharing too many of the nitty gritty details. Second, and this might sound harsh, but maybe your life just isn’t that interesting. There’s nothing wrong with that! Not everyone gets to live a life of endless stimulation. But even if you live a quiet life, you might still be a songwriter, and your music will need substance if you’re going to attract people to it.

If you find yourself in this boat, there’s no need to fret. Your music career isn’t over! All you need to do is write about someone else. Pick a story about someone you find interesting, or make one up. It doesn’t matter whether or not the characters actually exist. What matters is that your fascination with their lives provides your music with substance. 3. Be organized.

Research. Write down words and phrases that might be useful. Find a message in the story. Develop a theme. Then start fitting those words and phrases into your melodic template, keeping the theme and the message in mind as you go.

It might sound tedious, but taking the time to do these kinds of things will help you avoid writer’s block, save you time in the long run, and give your song purpose and equilibrium. 4. Don’t be too vague or too specific.

Just like the music, you’ll want your lyrics to find that perfect compromise between familiar and unique. One of the things that makes pop music so accessible is that everyone can relate to it. Unfortunately, this is also often one of the things that makes pop music so unpopular. People don’t go to the movies to watch their own lives play out on the screen; they can do that at home. People go to the movies to see something they can’t see in their own lives. It might help if the characters are relatable, but there needs to be an element of surprise, of originality, of unpredictability. And so it is with music. If the lyrics are too vague, the listener will bore and move on; he can relate, but there’s nothing to anchor him down and keep him listening. On the other hand, if the song is too specific, the listener will feel like an outsider, a passive observer, instead of a participant in the story. One of the ways I approach this challenge is to use just enough detail in my lyrics that it’s obvious the story has a real-life source, but not enough detail to give it away. I like to think the “mystery” element keeps the listener engaged, the way a suspense film keeps you on the edge of your seat.

5. Keep your titles short and sweet.

Unless you’re an emo band with a respectable following, long titles will probably come off as wordy, pretentious, and alienating. A title is, after all, often one of the first things a potential fan will learn about a song. It should make them want to listen to it. But it can’t be just anything. A good rule of thumb is to use a word or phrase from the lyrics that both sums up the content and allows potential fans to relate, even before they’ve heard the song. A good example of this is the song “Under My Skin” by Jukebox the Ghost. Everyone knows what the idiom means and can relate to the feeling of being annoyed by someone. It also happens to be a repeated phrase in the song.

If you want to get really creative, you can come up with a title that isn’t found in the lyrics. The way to make this work is to use a word or phrase that sums up the content or relates to it, even though you won’t hear it in the actual song.

A good example of this is the song “Good Riddance” by Green Day. Those words are never uttered by Billie Joe Armstrong throughout the entire song, but it’s a relatable phrase that sums up the overall message.

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As always, rules are made to be broken, but these guidelines have certainly made me a more productive and efficient songwriter when it comes to lyrics. I hope they can do the same for you!