Three questions to ask yourself when writing songs
People often ask me how I come up with song concepts. Years ago, I realized that I look at songwriting like a director looks at making a movie. I like my songs to tell stories. When I write a song, I always ask myself “what do I want to say in this story?” and “where am I going with this story?” Just to give you an example, I once wrote a song about a 2 minute conversation I had with a lady.
1) I started the song with what was said at the beginning of the 2 minute conversation.
2) So what I did after that conversation ended and
3) Then I went back to what we meant to each other before the conversation.
When I let people listen to the song, they immediately felt the emotion of the song through the lyrics and performance. Here are some things to ponder when writing songs.
What story does your song tell?
When you write, what are you trying to say? Do you write more abstract songs, conversational songs, or a bit of both? Are you getting your point across lyrically or are you struggling to get your true feelings down on paper? If you have a hard time expressing your true feelings, try not to censor yourself. By that I mean write exactly what you feel and stop worrying about whether or not your lyrics rhyme.
What do you write more about?
Take some time to think about the topics you write about the most. If you’re a professional lyricist, you probably don’t have a particular focus, but the average songwriter will lean towards a particular theme. I’m not saying that writing about a topic is bad, but it keeps you in a box. So it’s best to find out so you can focus on writing about different topics. That will promote growth as a composer and lyricist.
What songs strike a chord with you and your emotions?
Do you remember how songs made you feel as a child? Now, as an adult, you listen to some of those songs and you get the same feeling. Have you ever wondered why? I can listen to a Michael Jackson song and I’ll have the same feeling I had when those songs first hit the air. Whitney Houston is another, I remember the first time I heard “You Give Good Love” I couldn’t take my eyes off it. I was watching a special about her and when they played “You Give Good Love” those same feelings came back. Words cannot describe the power of music. I have always thought that the songs that touch you the most have a perfect marriage between music and voice.
Here are some things to think about when building or deconstructing a song. Most people think that the songs come from pure inspiration. While there are songs that come from inspiration, great songwriters study songwriting so that when inspiration strikes they have the tools to capture it.