Dominic S.
For many artists the process of songwriting is both deeply personal and is endlessly unpredictable. Some craft every line with intention, while others lean into instinct, letting the words and the melodies find them. I am a lyricist, singer and rapper myself and I don’t always sit down knowing exactly what I want to say, or write or what I even want the song to sound like. It usually just starts with an idea, a goal, a few words or a melody that pops into my mind and then it unravels from there. It’s like following a thread and not knowing where that thread will lead to.
That thread might begin with a feeling, a mental image, or even a single word. I keep a running list of lyric fragments, some poetic, some strange, some random and some unique, scribbled in notebooks or journals or saved in my notes app at three in the morning. Sometimes I use all of those lyrics and sometimes I don’t use any of them but then also, I write a new song and suddenly those words or phrases from six months ago become relevant again and I fit it into a few verses or it would make for a catchy chorus or bridge.
When it comes to melody, the approach is similar for me. Melodic ideas often arrive when i’m walking, cleaning or just playing a video game. I try to come up with unique melodies and when I start to hum a tune, I record it on my phone and give my producer some ideas. Some of my best hooks have come from me recording an 8-second snippet of a random tune I thought in my head in the middle of the night. It’s like melodies sneak into your subconscious when you’re not trying to force it that much.
One unexpected technique of mine is to think of three random words and make a song out of that. Many people tell me “How are you able to make a whole 3-4 minute song out of just three words and make it make sense?” Well, sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t and I personally like my songs to take an approach where the lyrics are meaningful but not personal and so sometimes it’s a project. I believe lyricism opens up your vocabulary and gives your brain something fresh to chew on by learning new words.
But at the center of the process is one important rule which is following the feeling and the vibe first. Whether that leads to a polished pop hook or a raw, emotional ballad, the goal is always the same and that is to write something that is real.
I have taken inspiration from many different things and places such as being in a doctor’s office, being on a plane, visiting a cool experience in another state (that was similar to MeowWolf) and even simply getting inspiration from my backyard. In music, I feel like you have to have a lot of patience when writing if you want the song to sound at its best in connection with the lyrics, the melody, the tracks, the instruments, etc…
Personally, I have written over 230 songs in three years of creating music and I have written songs in the genres of pop, hip-hop, rap and rock. Some songs were easier to create and write than others. Some took just nine minutes and some took weeks. I always write down and jot down lyrics and melodies no matter how stupid or how random they sound because you never know when the perfect time is to include it in a song.
My biggest advice is to not wait for the perfect lyric or the perfect melody to pop up. Just start writing. Be messy. Be honest. Be real. The gold shows up somewhere in the middle of the mix. I would also say don’t be afraid to step away from the song and come back to it later, which is a problem that I’ve always had when writing music. For me, the song needed to get done right away and to be honest, my mind stopped thinking more because I focused too much on one song and that caused the song to sound not at its best. I have had lyrics that didn’t make sense to me until weeks later, and then suddenly the meaning changed and clicked. Trust that the song will find you when it’s ready.
Johnny W.
Like any form of art, songwriting inspiration can come from literally anywhere. The melody for The Beatles’ hit “Yesterday” literally came to Paul McCartney in a dream, and George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” came about from flipping to a random page in a book and writing about the first thing he saw, which happened to be gentle weeping. I often write lyrics in a Moleskine that I guard with my life while I’m working at a local coffee shop, and in the past few weeks I’ve gathered inspiration from:
– A husky staring at me through a truck window
– A woman walking down the road wearing all pink
– A street sign that says “Douglas Park”
– A craft shop across the street
Wherever you find yourself, even something as mundane as your surroundings can serve as brilliant and unique song material. It doesn’t have to be complicated – you can write a song about your cat or a bird you see perched on a bench. On the other hand, it can be as complicated as you like it, because it’s your song, and you’re the only one who can offer up your unique views on world politics or that girl you like with hazel eyes. Other than being really fun, songwriting is a way to share your thoughts with the world through sound. You don’t have to be the best singer or composer – as long as you’re writing what you care about, the creative possibilities are endless.
Another great way to gather inspiration (and probably the one I use most often) is through consuming other art. Experts like Rick Rubin and Austin Kleon have probably reiterated this to death, but the more art you consume, the better you will be as an artist. In fact, Kleon has a book called Steal Like An Artist, which does not mean plagiarize other peoples’ work (although that would make writing a heck of a lot easier). The book discusses ways that you can borrow inspiration from other creators and implement it into your own work for its betterment, and as a result I’m constantly trying to take in art. I listen to music from tons of different genres (except modern autotuned country, which is a plague on society) and take mental notes about what I like relating to the lyric structure, the subject matter, or the composition so that I can channel it into my songs. I also scroll through Pinterest a lot (probably too much) and have written songs off of Arcane fanart. Essentially, I study a picture and think about what it would sound like were it a piece of music, which I can then use as inspiration towards making a track. I’ve also drawn countless inspiration from film and TV, whether it be the harsh indie music of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the vibrant world of the Shrek franchise (I’ve just written a song about going to Shrekfest), or the emotional dynamics between anime characters.
Sometimes, you won’t even need inspiration – a song might just come to you. That being said, it’s usually at the most inopportune moment of all time, like right when you’ve just lost your pen, but when it happens it’s the best feeling in the world. If a melody comes to you out of the blue, a great way to remember it is to whip out your phone and hum it into the voice memos app, so you can refer back to it later when you’re writing. As songwriters, we’ve become accustomed to this structure:
Verse
Chorus
Verse
Chorus
However, a song doesn’t have to exactly follow that format. Some indie songwriters write songs that are only verses, and some write two or three verses, a chorus, and then a bridge, like James Marriott on his new song “Toothache.” The basic song structure is great as a template, but when you want to branch out further you can experiment with switching it around or even playing with differing musical sections to accompany your lyrics, like throwing in a MIDI trombone just because you can. A song can even be spoken word, like the twelve-minute outro to Kendrick’s magnum opus TPAB, or a poem you’ve written set to music. A song that rhymes is more satisfying to a listener, but you can literally rap a five-page essay on Zootopia’s race allegory over a beat if you so choose. A journal entry I wrote started with “I’m still hopelessly in love with her” and that was the beginning of a whole song, titled “Journal Entry #4” (shameless Spotify plug).
Using the aforementioned strategies, here’s an example of some of my rough lyrics (based off of Arcane lore) with guitar chords noted for later playing and recording:
If you can get your lyrics outlined and you have access to any kind of musical instrument, whether that’s a physical guitar or a drum sampler through an online software, you’re ready to make a song! One of the best ways to progress your songwriting journey in the upcoming school year is to take Composition/Songwriting with Mr. Newland, which covers a lot of useful material on how to write lyrics and compose music.