We all have our favorite songs. But what sets them apart? What makes you enjoy a particular song? It could be due to a clever metaphor in the lyrics or its unique title. Here's a few examples:
Michelle Creber's "Lighthouse" personifies a friend or loved one as a lighthouse, shining light on those who are deprived of love and happiness, but how can the lighthouse shine its light onto itself?
Adele's "Hello" is written out as a phone call to a former lover lost to time, with each verse phrased to sound like yet another voicemail.
Lewis Capaldi writes "Burning" to describe the painful sensation of staying in a relationship that only continues to hurt him.
Paramore utilizes the unique phrase of "Figure 8" to describe the hopeless lack of control one put himself/herself into from compromising one's own morals and desires for a harmful relationship they put above their own needs.
NateWantsToBattle writes "V1r@l" as a rebellion against the internet, comparing it to an addicting and poisonous drug to inject into his veins.
Sara Bareilles writes "Love Song" ironically to mock her record company for forcing a love song out of her, with her chorus beginning with the lyric "I'm not gonna write you a love song."
YonKaGor writes "You're Just Like Pop Music" as an analogy to compare a friend they lost touch with online. The verses are packed with online lingo, such as "I have been on DND", "your icon on the VC", "I only see you on my feed." You can easily imagine this applies to social medias, such as Discord, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Olivia Rodrigo's "Vampire" compares an ex to a vampire, who seems to take the life out of her simply from being around them. She writes, "bloodsucker...bleeding me dry like a...vampire."
In such cases, how would you be able to replicate such writing skills in one of your own sets of lyrics?
The way I see it, there's multiple concepts you'll need to plug together in order to convey some unique and powerful lyrics.
Start with an experience
Let your creativity run wild. You can start with a concept as broad or specific as possible, as long as you have something you can compare it with. Take some time to brainstorm. Jot down some ideas in a notebook. Below are a few suggestions:
Common songwriting themes:
A relationship, good or bad
Advice to a friend
Writing a song
Coping with emotions
Nostalgia
Use some events from your own life:
What was something from your past that feels significant to you?
Look through some videos you recorded on your phone. What made the moment worth capturing?
What was something someone told you that resonated with you?
Who is someone you look up to, and why do you admire them?
Look to other media for ideas:
What's a movie you love to watch over and over again? What about the plot keeps bringing you back to it?
What's your favorite song and what about the lyrics stick out to you? How many analogies can you find in that song?
What's your favorite book or book series? Why is it so interesting to you? How are the characters' relationships to one another relevant to your own?
Take a step outside and admire the world:
Where's your favorite place to visit? What do you like about it?
What's something you see outside that inspires you?
Apply your emotions
Once you have an topic to write about, think about it with more depth. Be descriptive in your lyrics, as if you were writing in a journal, or writing about a character in a book.
Imagine yourself in the situation you chose. How does it make you feel?
How would you react to someone who hurt your feelings?
What would you say to someone who did something kind for you?
What sort of common patterns or behaviors do you experience while you're feeling an emotion?
Do you cry when you're sad?
Do you clench your fists when you're angry?
Do you start hyperventilating when you're anxious?
What would you say to someone to indicate you're feeling the way you do?
Would you push your friends away if you're upset?
Would you invite them back if you're lonely?
Would you apologize and tell them you're being irrational when you're not thinking straight?
Suppose you're explaining to a toddler what it means to feel a particular emotion.
What does it feel like to be happy? What would you compare it to? (ex. "I feel warm and fuzzy when I'm drinking chai tea, because of the warmth it has as I drink it, and the taste makes me nostalgic.")
When you're upset, why do you need time to yourself?
What sort of images or colors do you associate with sadness? Fear? Anger?
Compare it to a subject/object
This is where things could get a bit hard. It's times like these where you hope you can retain what you learned in sixth grade about metaphors, similes, personification, and analogies. But just in case you don't remember...
Metaphor: comparing two separate concepts into one shared idea.
Example: "Her words were daggers to the heart."
Simile: Comparing one concept to another, married by the words "like" or "as":
Example: "Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get."
Example: "I'm as blind as a bat if I'm not wearing my glasses."
Personification: Giving inanimate objects or concepts human characteristics.
Example: "The sun smiled down on us warmly as it emerged from the clouds."
Example: "His guitar strings sang a melody of wistfulness as he softly plucked, musing over his former lover."
Analogy: Using a hypothetical concept to compare an idea to so the idea is easier to understand by this comparison.
My favorite childhood book series is called Animorphs, a series about kids who gained the power to turn themselves into animals to fight off an invasive parasitic alien race. The books are littered with analogies of the narrators explaining the sensations only animals could feel. Here's a few examples:
"I caught a beautiful thermal that billowed up the face of some skyscrapers. A thermal is like a big bubble of warm air. It rises beneath your wings and makes it effortless to just go soaring up and up. I caught the thermal and went shooting up the side of the skyscraper like I was riding an elevator."
- Animorphs #3: The Encounter"Rage is addictive...Anger and hatred get you high. But like any addiction, they hollow you out and tear you down and eat you alive."
- Animorphs #5: The Predator Set the stage
Let the depth of the emotions you're writing about be reflected in the atmosphere of your song. Namely, describe your environment and let it further add onto what emotions you want your audience to feel. List a few actions you or your character may be doing that feels relevant to your song.
Create tension in the air to match the heavy aftermath of arguing with your close friend.
Describe the utter devastation the world experiences in your eyes as you watch the life escape the eyes of someone you love.
Describe the feeling of tightly gripping a pen as you rack your brain for ideas to put to paper.
Describe the sensation of biting your lip as you carefully think of the words to say to confess to someone you've developed romantic feelings for.
Describe the gentle blow of wind as you lie down in the grass outside. Describe the subtle and gentle movement of each blade of grass around you, reflecting the tranquility you feel.
Describe the fading of sight and sound from the world around you as you drift to sleep; the muffling of words in distant conversations around you, the mellowing of once bright and flashy colors of billboard signs outside the car window you're staring out of, etc.
In conclusion
Get creative and have fun with your lyrics! Look to other media and your own experiences for inspiration. Hone in on your emotions and thoughts as you experience the things that you want to write about. Utilize literary devices you've learned and take some examples you find in books. Connect your feelings to analogies of objects or scenarios. Look to other song lyrics for ideas. Don't copy, but add some changes here and there to make it something unique in a style that fits you.
Above all, WRITE. Keep practicing, and write down any idea that sticks out to you, whether you decide to use it immediately or save it for later. Best of luck to all of you writers and songwriters out there!
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