You can write a song about anything, but sometimes it's hard to just start the writing process. Some people use their personal experiences as inspiration, while others write things they have read. Whatever you want to write, remember that anyone can write their own lyrics with a little practice.
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Method 1 of 3: Getting Ideas
Step 1. Write freely whatever comes to your mind
Songs can tell you anything-romance, missing shoes, politics, depression, euphoria, school, and more. Therefore, you don't have to worry about the "right" topic and can start writing anything. Even if you can't rhyme the lyrics yet, that's fine. Right now, you need to gather ideas and materials to work on later. When looking for ideas, try some of the following:
- Speak from the heart. Strong feelings are usually the easiest inspiration for writing lyrics.
- Don't judge or throw away your work. This is the stage of writing a draft and as you write, you can perfect your written lyrics.
Step 2. Find a line that you like and rhyme from that line
Let's say you want to write about school and you've written the line "Oh fierce teacher, angry and angry again." Instead of writing the whole song right away, use these lines to build rhymes. All you need is the right line to start with.
- What would you rather do than confront the teacher (eg “I want to put my headset on and listen to some rock music”)?
- How do you know that the teacher is a fierce teacher (eg "Step straight like a general, come late and get rebuked")?
- Usually, song stanzas only consist of 4-6 lines, so at this stage you have managed to make half a stanza.
Step 3. Make a simple hook or chord
The hook is the part of the song that is usually repeated. The passage should sound fun and simple, and usually tell the listener about the story the song is telling. A good strategy for hook writing is to write two pretty rhymes and repeat them so that they stick in the listener's mind:
- Keep the chorus simple so it's easy to remember.
- Hooks don't have to rhyme, as in the famous Tulus song: "We know we want to be together / But we can't do anything."
Step 4. Remove redundant words, lines and ideas until you have only the best content
Songs are usually short and unobtrusive, and the best songs usually don't waste lengthy lyrics, even one syllable. When revising a song, consider the following:
- Action words. Do not rely too much on words that are widely used and often heard by others, such as “is”, “love”, and others. Try using other words that are more unique and precise to convey the emotion of the song.
- Trim redundant lines of lyrics. Think of ways to rewrite the lines to make them seem shorter and less verbose.
- Think about the parts of the lyrics that seem vague. Instead of saying, “We went for a walk in the park”, it's a good idea to say the name of the park. Instead of talking about going out to dinner together, say what kind of food you enjoy.
Step 5. Explore the different types of rhymes
There are many ways to write a song, but almost all of them use rhyme. The best practice for beginners is to understand the types of rhymes that exist and create 2-4 lines of simple lyrics that rhyme. While practicing and applying the following concepts, you can slowly create a masterpiece:
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Simple rhyme:
In this concept, you only need to rhyme the last two syllables of the two lines of lyrics, such as “Staring at the wide sea stretched / Under the dance of sang star.”
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Imperfect rhyme:
In this concept, technically the words written do not rhyme, but the words are sung in a way that makes them seem to rhyme. This turns out to be pretty much found in all forms of songwriting. Some examples of words that rhyme imperfectly include “song” and “haru”, or “love” and “sore”.
- Double syllable rhyme" In this concept, some words or syllables have rhymes. Try listening to Isyana Sarasvati's song entitled "Stay in the Soul". In the song, there is a line that reads "When" of course must separate, I will permanent loyal / When of course this the end, you 'right stay inside soul.”
Step 6. Think of your song as a short story
In fact, songs about political feelings or ideas can be formed from storytelling techniques. You need to insert tension, change or progress. For example, think about love songs that start with the singer's sad feelings before the idol arrives. After that, you can follow the journey of his love so that the lyrics of the song sound interesting.
If you're writing a complete song (from start to finish), think of each lyric stanza as a scene in a short film. Since songs usually consist of three stanzas, each stanza represents the beginning, middle, and end of the story
Step 7. Stick to one idea or theme for a song
In fact, Bob Dylan, one of the most complicated and convoluted lyricists of all time, realized that a good song must stick to one idea. If you listen and look at the lyrics to Iwan Fals' songs, you can see that the songwriters tried to show that the best songs only explore one idea in depth, not several ideas in a nutshell:
- "Brother Hatta". This song tells of the departure of Mohammad Hatta, the proclaimer and first vice president of the Republic of Indonesia. The main theme of this song is reflected in the sadness that is depicted in each stanza.
- "Teacher Oemar Bakri". This song is one of Iwan Fals' most famous songs and tells the story of a teacher's great dedication, despite his dwindling income.
Step 8. Keep a notebook to write a unique five-line, even if the lines don't make up a song
Over time, these line fragments can form the foundation for a whole song. You can combine and adjust the lines to get a tone. Therefore, having a book or note on your phone is a great way to retrieve and store ideas whenever they come up.
Paul Simon, a songwriter who has produced many works, says that all his songs are made up of loose line pieces. When he finds a few lines that fit, he begins to build those lines into a song
Method 2 of 3: Writing Whole Song Lyrics
Step 1. Use the song title to establish the most important mood, theme, or idea
The title of the song can be taken from the chorus, or in the form of other words/phrases that are deemed to be able to conclude all the song's content. The title is also the first clue for listeners to know the story or meaning of the song so take your time to think about the right title.
Therefore, don't use a complicated title unnecessarily. Usually, songs get their title from the chorus for one reason: the chorus itself already explains the main theme of the song
Step 2. Arrange the lines of the lyrics into a rhyming pattern
The right way to organize it is to use a rhyme chart. In this diagram, each letter represents a rhyme. For example, in the ABAB rhyme pattern, the first line (A) rhymes with the third line (A), and the second line (B) rhymes with the fourth line (B). In addition, there is also an AABB rhyme pattern that is close to each other. There are hundreds of ways to rhyme so try playing around with the lines of the written lyrics until you like how they sound.
- ABAB, or “intermittent rhyme” is a fairly widely used pattern and can be made easily by dividing two long lines into four lines.
- Songwriters who are very technically considerate may want to rhyme with 4-6 lines of lyrics. The rhyme can be AAAA BBBB, or even AAAA AAAA if you're feeling really confused.
- Some writers try to expand the rhyme in several stanzas, as reflected in the CCCB AAAB rhyme pattern. For example, you can hear the song "Tombstone Blues" by Bob Dylan.
Step 3. Get to know the lyric part of the song
In general, there are three main parts to a song (not including the beginning (intro) and the end (outro) which can also contain lyrics). These three parts are combined and adjusted to form one song:
- Refrein/ Hooks is the part that is repeated in the song. Usually, this section has its own uniqueness that (hopefully) can make other people remember the song that was written. In addition, the chorus is usually quite short and is repeated identically.
- stanza usually the longest and most unique part. In this section, you can expand your ideas about songs and make statements, tell stories, and more.
- Bridges, otherwise known as "Middle 8s", is a section filled with various instrumentals. These sections are usually transitions between chorus or stanzas, and feature differences in texture and sound. In this section, you can fill it with instrumental solos or hints of mood swings or lyrical themes.
Step 4. Arrange existing stanzas, choruses, and bridges
Once you have (at least) one chorus and a few stanzas, you can think of an arrangement pattern. You can also compose bridges to join the pieces together. The structure of the song that is most often used is the intro / stanza / chorus / stanza / chorus / bridge / chorus / outro. However, you don't have to stick to that structure when composing a song.
- Another trick that is quite popular is the use of multiple bridges to switch from verse to chorus, as in the stanza structure / bridge / chorus / stanza / bridge / chorus / and others.
- Bridges can also include instrumental performances, such as guitar solos.
Step 5. Hum, whistle, strum the guitar, or play the piano for a lyrical melody
Writing the lyrics is only half the struggle because you have to know how to sing it. Even if you are a rapper, you still have to think about the "strain" or the speed and rhythm of the words. The best thing you can do is experiment with musical instruments or something. You can also whistle or hum until you find a nice tune.
Paul McCartney of The Beatles found the melody for his famous "Yesterday" again, simply repeating the phrase "Scrambled Eggs" until he found a notebook. The word "Yesterday" then he put into the song
Method 3 of 3: Improving Your Skills As a Songwriter
Step 1. Take advantage of the internal rhyme so that the written lyrics sound more melodic and comfortable to sing
Internal rhyme is a small rhyme hidden in the middle of a line of lyrics. You can still insert regular rhymes at the end of the line, but with a little "touch" in the middle. For example, the song “Ke Either Berantah” by Banda Neira has the following chorus: “And my friends take me lost to somewhere / somewhere between pleasure or pain."
- One great way to create internal rhymes is to cut a line of lyrics in half so that they are four short rhyming lines instead of two long lines.
- Internal rhymes don't have to have regular rhymes. In fact, a rhyme or two in a song can have a great effect.
- You can also have internal rhymes on the same line, such as the last line of the chorus of Agnes Monica's "Say Say": "Say to be honest to herself.”
Step 2.
Rhyme across multiple lines to create a melodic, whole piece.
Try listening to the song "Till Later Until Death" by Letto. Most of the lyrical lines rhyme with the title, “Till Later Until Death”. Because there are so many lines that rhyme (e.g. "If you've ever been afraid to die, the same / If you've ever been heartbroken, so am I / And bad luck comes and goes, without permission"), automatically the first and third lines of the song rhyme. This way, each stanza can have a "free" syllable that doesn't have to rhyme.
Another strategy you can try is to rhyme the last line of each stanza with the last line of another stanza. For example, you can try listening to the song "Dia" by Anji
Use elements of poetry to add musicality to the lyrics without rhyming. Lyrics are poetry made into music, and there is much to be learned from this millennia-old art form. You can use the following tricks in the lyric lines to create a great and professional touch to your songs:
- Assonance. Assonance is the use of a vowel sound several times, such as "cloud child" or "beautiful dream".
- Alliteration. This concept is similar to assonance, but it uses consonant sounds, such as “violet sky” or “love story snippets”.
Write down some metaphors and similes. Actually, not all songs have to have deep meaning, and in fact many songs don't have deep meaning. What's worse, some of the songs seem to try to have deep meaning, but in the end they seem confusing and dreamy. Therefore, the rightly inserted metaphor can turn a sweet tone into a powerful, personal, and influential piece:
- Metaphor refers to one thing that is used to represent another thing, as described in the song "Shoes" by Tulus. In this song, the "us" character is not actually a pair of shoes. However, these characters have something in common with a pair of shoes, namely wanting to be together but unable to unite.
- Simile refers to a more direct metaphor and is characterized by the use of the word “like”. For example, the lyric line “You are like a ghost” in Dewa's song “Kosong” illustrates that the figure of “you” is a figure that seems to haunt and follows the figure of “I” in the song.
- Synecdoche refers to one small thing that represents the whole (or vice versa). For example, "nose bridge is invisible" refers to someone (represented by the bridge of the nose) who has not yet arrived, not just the bridge of the nose.
Try to rhyme with words you rarely use or make up yourself. The most accomplished lyricists know that listeners expect a lot of rhyme in popular music, such as “love opium”, “joy and sorrow”, or “caught in the snare of romance”. However, these musics began to lose their power to surprise listeners with their beautiful rhymes. Meanwhile, the surviving songwriters will still surprise listeners with longer and more captivating rhymes.
In Bob Dylan's "Tombstone Blues", there is a line: "My advice is to not let the boys in" // "You will not die, it's not poison." Very few people find a rhyme with the phrase "boys in" and "poisons"
Rewrite your lyrics. The best lyricists in the world know that it's rare for a song to be perfectly written in one go. Paul Simon even said that he needed about 50 sheets of paper (all already filled with drafts) to finish just one song. Also, a good lyricist knows that he has to keep improving and refining a song after he's finished writing his first idea.
- Keep a copy of the old draft. This way, you can go back to seeing the old version of the draft if your new try doesn't work.
- Take advantage of the performance arena to try out newly created song lyrics. Find out where the lyrics sound comfortable or strange. Also, find out what parts other people like.
Write lyrics based on events, objects, and real things. A song that has a big philosophy isn't a bad thing, but you still need to offer a clear picture so the audience can visualize the idea of the song. Try listening to the song "Bung Hatta" by Iwan Fals and see how sadness is depicted through objects in real life (eg raining tears, millions of heads bowed in shame). In this way, the song can provide a clear picture in the minds of the listeners.
