How to come up with great lyrics?

Hey everybody

I've got a minor problem whenever it comes to writing songs, and I'm hoping someone here has some advice on how I get past it. I have tried doing some songwriting in the past few months, but I always find it incredibly difficult to come up with great lyrics for a song, or even not-too-shabby ones. Everytime I sit down with my laptop and say "Here we go, I'm gonna write a great song", I end up staring at a blank screen for hours before giving up, or end up with something that even a 4-year-old kid could write better and I decide to erase it because it's that badly written.

So I'm asking: Is there a great way to learn to come up with great lyrics on the spot? I've read that Sweet Child O' Mine was written in just 5 minutes (not sure if it's true, though), and Smoke On The Water just narrates an incident that Deep Purple witnessed. Those two examples make it seem so simple. It may just be that I'm suffering from Writer's Block (which I won't deny is a possibility), but I find it to be a real problem coming up with any half-way decent lyrics. Any advice is highly appreciated.

Hello,

When you sit down with your computer, do you already have an idea, a theme, or do you start working with only the will to "write a great song" ? In my view, you don't try to write a song because you need some lyrics for a music, or because you want to write something great. You try to write a song because you have something to say, a story to tell, feelings to express. You did not give much details on the way you work so maybe I'm wrong, but maybe this is were your problem is ?

I've read many accounts where songs just seem to "happen".

I think you can find inspiration from what interests you and what you are passionate about. Are there political issues you feel strongly about? Any particular news stories that had a strong impact on you? Plently of songs have been written in that vein. Do you enjoy reading or writing fiction? Science fiction? Early Rush and plenty of Iron Maiden songs have lyrics along these lines. Then there's Jon Anderson of Yes who would throw random words together just because they sounded good together but made no sense.

You could start out with a dittly like "I can't write no lyrics and got no inspriation" blues. Remember, bad grammar is a key ingredient of the blues :-). Somebody usually dies, gets arrested, or is wronged in some wayt too...

Originally Posted by: maggiorI've read many accounts where songs just seem to "happen".

I think you can find inspiration from what interests you and what you are passionate about. Are there political issues you feel strongly about? Any particular news stories that had a strong impact on you? Plently of songs have been written in that vein. Do you enjoy reading or writing fiction? Science fiction? Early Rush and plenty of Iron Maiden songs have lyrics along these lines. Then there's Jon Anderson of Yes who would throw random words together just because they sounded good together but made no sense. [/QUOTE]
Well, as far as I can think of, there are 4 main things that actually interest me: Sci-Fi, Electronics/Technology, Japanese Culture and 70's/80's/early 90's Rock music. The latter is easy enough to write about, or rather, write in the style of, but the first three seem quite a bit more challenging. There probably are a few more things that interest me, but those would be the 4 primary things. I don't really care that much for politics. There's simply too little variation between the bad ideas the danish government comes up with, so it gets trivial really quick.

[QUOTE=maggior]You could start out with a dittly like "I can't write no lyrics and got no inspriation" blues. Remember, bad grammar is a key ingredient of the blues :-). Somebody usually dies, gets arrested, or is wronged in some wayt too...

I've actually considered trying my hand at recording a slightly altered 12-Bar Blues, using a mix of Open Chords and Sus-Chords. Maybe I should try writing some lines about my interests... I'm just very, very bad at expressing how I feel. All the cool bands I like make it seem so easy to write about a dozen different topics, and here I am, apparently unable to write about a single one... It's frustrating, to say the least.

Well, there's a lot of things here. Sci-fi, for instance : pick up a book / movie / theme that touched your particularly. Do not stay at the story level (it makes the most boring songs, in my opinion), but ask yourself what's the theme is, the ideas, or how you feel about it. Write down a few words about all this. Just words, do not try yet to write actual lyrics. It makes raw material you can start working on, develop, organize.

Since sitting down with your computer apparently does not work with you, and you say your bad about expressing yourself, then let the music help you. I've read in another post that you come up easily with riffs and licks. Pick one that you feel goes well with the theme you chose - or, chose the music first and pick a theme that would goes well, whatever. Play that music, humm it. Then, try to put a few words here and there ; again, do not try to put lyrics : just words that seem to go well with the mood, the rythm of the music. Let it flow, do not force it : let the music speak, let words come. Here again, you may end up with raw material that you can work on, develop and structure.

Another tip : write everyday. To not try to write a song in one shot. Always have a notebook and a pen with you. Write words, sentences, ideas, that come to your mind, that sound well, that fit with your current mood. Read your notebook from time to time : are there pieces that go well together, that form a theme ?

You previously said that you may end up with lyrics, but you find them badly written. Have you considered using a synonym / thesaurus dictionary ? Express the same thing with different words, words that you do not use in normal conversation, make unusual words associations. The most basic concepts can suddently get a flavour, a third dimension. See what I mean ? A rhyming dictionary will help you too.

Originally Posted by: FeurtelYou previously said that you may end up with lyrics, but you find them badly written. Have you considered using a synonym / thesaurus dictionary ? Express the same thing with different words, words that you do not use in normal conversation, make unusual words associations. The most basic concepts can suddently get a flavour, a third dimension. See what I mean ? A rhyming dictionary will help you too.

Reading this comment made me think of something else...we are often our own worst critics!! It could be that what you've come up with yourself isn't as bad as you think. Perhaps you could have somebody you know well that you trust to give you an honest opinion read something you've written over. Just prepare yourself for their honesty if they don't like it.

In my college freshman english class, we had to keep a journal throughout the entire semester. We had to write a full page each night. It could be about anything, random words, stream of conciousness, the same sentence over and over again...the professor didn't care. The idea was that you learned to write well by writing, and keeping a journal was good practice.

I'm sure you're frustrated...but I'm sure there are folks out there that can't come up with a good riff to save their life but can write lyrics on command.

Originally Posted by: FeurtelWell, there's a lot of things here. Sci-fi, for instance : pick up a book / movie / theme that touched your particularly. Do not stay at the story level (it makes the most boring songs, in my opinion), but ask yourself what's the theme is, the ideas, or how you feel about it. Write down a few words about all this. Just words, do not try yet to write actual lyrics. It makes raw material you can start working on, develop, organize.

Since sitting down with your computer apparently does not work with you, and you say your bad about expressing yourself, then let the music help you. I've read in another post that you come up easily with riffs and licks. Pick one that you feel goes well with the theme you chose - or, chose the music first and pick a theme that would goes well, whatever. Play that music, humm it. Then, try to put a few words here and there ; again, do not try to put lyrics : just words that seem to go well with the mood, the rythm of the music. Let it flow, do not force it : let the music speak, let words come. Here again, you may end up with raw material that you can work on, develop and structure.

Another tip : write everyday. To not try to write a song in one shot. Always have a notebook and a pen with you. Write words, sentences, ideas, that come to your mind, that sound well, that fit with your current mood. Read your notebook from time to time : are there pieces that go well together, that form a theme ?

You previously said that you may end up with lyrics, but you find them badly written. Have you considered using a synonym / thesaurus dictionary ? Express the same thing with different words, words that you do not use in normal conversation, make unusual words associations. The most basic concepts can suddently get a flavour, a third dimension. See what I mean ? A rhyming dictionary will help you too.

Hm... I'll try following your advice, and see where I end up. I have an uncanny habit of fantasizing about the weirdest things when I'm in certain locations while walking the dog. I doubt it's a sign of being mentally healthy, but I think it's a sign that my creative mind works just fine. Last week I even caught myself standing on a bench on top of a hill, pretending to play Slash's parts of "November Rain" in front of a huge audience with a complete band. Then the song ended on my phone, and realized how ridiculous I must've looked. And no. That is not something that happens only once in a while. It happens every time I'm walking the dog alone. So my creativity works just fine. I just need to learn to control it, I suppose (judging from all the past occurrences of this, it could seem that being alone with my dog in certain places works like a kind of catalyst or trigger that makes my creativity take control).

As for the notebook-part, I've actually been trying to keep a sort of journal on my phone, where I can write anything that's on my mind, but last time I read through it, it was mostly just me complaining about stuff. A lot of it could probably be turned into songs, but to do that I need inspiration and more ideas.

Don't forget to record your dreams.. Do it when you first wake up.. Dreams are just your mind entertaining itself.. Maybe your dream material would be entertainment for lots of other people.
Keep at it and good luck..

Originally Posted by: compart1Don't forget to record your dreams.. Do it when you first wake up.. Dreams are just your mind entertaining itself.. Maybe your dream material would be entertainment for lots of other people.
Keep at it and good luck..

Thanks. I'd try it if I had any sparetime in the mornings. I do have a voice recorder in my phone, though, so I could try humming riffs or saying words into it and try recording it that way, or I could try writing the lyrics I come up with in my dreams down on paper.

Funny enough, a few hours ago, this quote just popped up on my facebook feed:
"The only thing that holds any artist back is the critic in their head and negativity..." - Nikki Sixx
And while Nikki Sixx isn't a guitarist, he's the main songwriter and bassist in Motley Crue, one of my favorite bands. And the quote itself is so true.

Oberve your world.

In the end, you are not trying to write to coolest lyric. If you are, you will fail miserably.

You're trying to communicate something. Sweet Child O' mine was not about writing great lyrics but about describing a feeling and/or someone. Even Welcome to the Jungle was an observation.

I'm learning that by letting my world filter through me, I get more lyrically.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were out on a beautiful autumn Saturday. She said that she liked when the trees were bare. So I said 'there's beauty in desolation'....immediately my brain popped in a follow up line 'there's comfort in despiration' and it happens that I am mulling through a song called 'Far, Far Away'.

So I ended up with:

There's beauty on desolation
and comfort in desperation
but what will I do, without you
to help me through

Today...you're far, far away

Anyway,a working example...unfinished song but whether that is all awesomeness or averageness....It, I suppose, makes an example that just noticing the world and observing it, you will get better at describing it.

Trying to write a great song by just sitting down ain't gonna happen. I let it happen organically and the results are so much better.

An old psychology axiom is 'observe and describe'...Song writing can be very psychological in nature. Sometimes an observation turns in to a turn of a phrase that then leads to a story that is totally made up but it was rooted ina real observation.

Just some food for thought.

I've just tried writing down a thought that's been stuck in my head pretty much all day now, and despite only being 1 line in itself, I ended up with a basic idea for a whole 6-line verse, although I'm not quite sure how well it fits with the melody I came up with earlier... Not that the lyrics themselves make that much sense, though... I'll have to work with that a bit. I have an idea about what I want this chunk of lyrics to say. Now I just need to find the correct wording and singing melody.

Sometimes, music amazes me. Tonight I tried playing a very nice chord progression I've come up with on my Martin Acoustic, and I didn't expect the results to be this good. It sounded okay on my SG, which is the one I used when I came up with the progression, but it wasn't that impressive on any of my electrics. However, when I played it acoustically, it sounded so beautifully sad that the words literally just popped into my head. Almost as if I had already heard the lyrics dozens of times, though I hadn't. those words that came out, came from somewhere inside me. Too bad I didn't have time to grab my phone and record it. I will if it happens again, that's for sure... Of course, I know I can't rely on this method forever. I'll still try the things suggested in this thread :)

Originally Posted by: KasperowSometimes, music amazes me. Tonight I tried playing a very nice chord progression I've come up with on my Martin Acoustic, and I didn't expect the results to be this good. It sounded okay on my SG, which is the one I used when I came up with the progression, but it wasn't that impressive on any of my electrics. However, when I played it acoustically, it sounded so beautifully sad that the words literally just popped into my head. Almost as if I had already heard the lyrics dozens of times, though I hadn't. those words that came out, came from somewhere inside me. Too bad I didn't have time to grab my phone and record it. I will if it happens again, that's for sure... Of course, I know I can't rely on this method forever. I'll still try the things suggested in this thread :)

That's really cool!!! Yes, it amazes me all of the time. It's happened to me many times where I'll pick up a particular guitar and it will inspire me in a certain way. My strat will inspire me differently than my les paul. My LP on the bridge pickup will inspire me differently than on the neck pickup. Messing around with tone and effects can do the same thing. For me it's more about being inspired about riffs since I don't write lyrics.

Originally Posted by: Kasperow Too bad I didn't have time to grab my phone and record it. I will if it happens again, that's for sure...

...and then post it up so we can have a listen! :)

Originally Posted by: Slipin Lizard...and then post it up so we can have a listen! :)

Hm... Good idea. That way I'd be able to get some unbiased comments on it :)

Quick question (not related to lyrics but still songwriting): I've got two Chord Progressions for a song, that I think sound nice together - D#min D#sus2 D#sus4 G#min G#sus4 G#sus2 - and - Fmaj Bmaj G#min C#maj - and I'm trying to figure out which scale(s) to use for a solo. The obvious choice would be D# Aeolian (Minor), since as far as I can tell the chords in the first progression all use notes that are in the D# Aeolian scale, but what scales would you use for the two progressions? I'm solely asking out of curiousity because I'm not sure about how to pick scales for solos...

Originally Posted by: Kasperow
...but what scales would you use for the two progressions? I'm solely asking out of curiousity because I'm not sure about how to pick scales for solos...

Honestly, I suck at theory... I'm really not good at seeing a chord progression in writing, and then saying "this scale will sound good here, these notes will sound great there etc..."

What I do instead is listen to the music, and try to hear the notes in my head first. When I start getting some ideas, I'll start playing around until I have enough notes that I can figure out what scale I'm using. Don't get me wrong, if on my BOSS JS10 the song I bring up says "Am" for the key, then sure, I'll start with Am and play around with that for a bit. But I'm always listening and letting my ears be the guide. For example, for one tune I ended up using A Aeolian and A Dorian in the same lick... it just worked over the music. Right after that, technically speaking, I was playing in A Pentatonic Minor (sounds fancy...oooo three scales now being used, but really, the pentatonic minor part was just my way of avoiding notes I didn't want to use for that part). All that was natural for me; I could "hear" the notes before playing them, and it didn't really matter to me what scale/mode I was using. After that, just for fun, I came up with a riff in A Phrygian... so, all flowing together in one sequence... A Dorian, to A Aeolian, to A Pentatonic Minor, to A Phrygian... BUT the Phrygian part really stands out from the rest.. you might listen to it and go "ugh, that doesn't sound that great.." or you might really like it... just comes down to personal taste. But it definitely wasn't a natural process for me to add the Phrygian element... I had to play around with the scale until I found something that fit, so that part was more "forced" if you want to call it that.

So, if you can figure it out what scales and notes to use before hand, great, but if not, I'd suggest just experimenting until you find something that really fits... just my two cents. The end justifies the means... in other words, doesn't matter how you arrive at what you come up with so long as your satisfied with it.

So, in the end, I should just pick a scale that holds the appropriate notes. In this case that would be an D# Minor Scale (which also happens to be the key the entire song is in). Of course, I could probably get away with splitting the "solo" into small bits that use different scales, to avoid ending up playing the same notes over and over again.

I'm still trying to get the right words for the lyrics, but I think I've managed to capture the style I'm aiming for pretty well. So far, it sounds a bit like a mix between "Don't Cry" (GNR) and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" (Poison). I have the acoustic main rhythm like Every Rose, but with a slightly darker sound like Don't Cry, and overall, I think it sounds quite nice, especially considering I'm still new to writing songs.

I just tried writing down the entire story of my life, to see if there were anything there that could be used for songs, and damn. I knew before doing it, that I'd had a messed up childhood, but after writing it down and reading it, I've found there might be enough material there in my childhood and early teenage-years to make a whole album out of it... I'm not so sure who would listen to it, though...

I'd run with it. I think most people don't pay attention to lyrics. As long as it has a catchy rythm and melody, I'd say you are good to go. Yes managed to become a pretty popular band and many of their lyrics don't even make sense.

Originally Posted by: maggiorI'd run with it. I think most people don't pay attention to lyrics.

I guess that's a point. I don't really pay much attention to lyrics the first time I listen to some new music. I can't recall actually listening to the lyrics the first time I've heard a song. And hey, if Sixx:A.M. can be pretty successful with their two albums, one of which is based on their leader's own life, and the other one being written specifically to be as thought-provoking as possible, who's to say I can't make a few songs in the same style?