In no particular other the tips are as follows;
Have a theme.
Themes don’t make your lyrics boring, they make them cohesive. Think of Too Much by Edem and its whimsical brands slogan references (Royco, Coca Cola,Nkate3 Borga, Nokia etc). It’s keeps the listener even when the he/she can fully grasp the Ewe lines in the song
Try to stay away from perfect rhymes.
Day and way. Run, fun, sun. They sometimes ring as childish, especially if the context is not interesting enough. Be more adventurous and less strict (fade and wait, mine and kind, crazy and maybe, etc.).
Learn How The Business Works
If you hope to make money on your music, then this is a must-read. Trust me, while not all people in the music business are sharks, there are plenty of people who are ready to take the lion’s share of profit away from you if you let them. You need to understand how money is earned in music on every level: publishing, radio, sales, internet streaming, ringtones , TV, Film, and whatever the future holds. Without this knowledge you are a bleeding swimmer in the sea, and the sharks will smell your blood and eat you alive.Learn the most important song forms. Learn what a lyric hook is. Learn what a melodic hook is. Learn the best place to put your hook in a song. Learn how to use rhyming patterns and consistently. Learn how to use both repetition and contrast. Or … you just could learn all the songwriting theory you can!
Knowing when to use theory and when break the rules is what’s important. Never write to follow all the rules. Write to move your listener first.
Even if you are a songwriter where you sole intention is to have every song be on the radio; write without radio in mind sometimes. It’s good for your creativity as a writer to explore new territory once and a while and spread your songwriting wings, so to speak. Throw the rulebook out the window and write from the heart, not from the head.
Write just for yourself.
Experiment with topics that aren’t radio-oriented. Try non-commercial song forms. It doesn’t matter if these songs are never heard by anyone but you. The purpose is to allow yourself to write freely with no constraints, no rules, no boundaries. Breaking your typical patterns and narrow focus is good to do once in a while to flex your writing muscles. You might discover things you can use in your radio songs that you never would have otherwise.
Although a few bands have named their songs with titles that don’t lyrically occur in the song; this is a bad idea. Want to help people to remember the name of and thus buy your song? Then name the song after your main hook. Duh, this is a no-brainer.
If you write melodies that are all over the place, using a wide range of notes, or have very little repetition; you’re write hard to remember melodies. It’s difficult for people to hum along. People tend to like to hum or sing their favorite songs. While you don’t have to make it dead simple; on the other hand, the simpler your melody is, the easier it will be to remember and sing.
Although a few bands have named their songs with titles that don’t lyrically occur in the song; this is a bad idea. Want to help people to remember the name of and thus buy your song? Then name the song after your main hook. Duh, this is a no-brainer.If you write melodies that are all over the place, using a wide range of notes, or have very little repetition; you’re write hard to remember melodies. It’s difficult for people to hum along. People tend to like to hum or sing their favorite songs. While you don’t have to make it dead simple; on the other hand, the simpler your melody is, the easier it will be to remember and sing.
“Wordy” songs are difficult to sing.
There’s less space to breathe. There’s less time to emphasize certain words. It’s hard to apply feeling and emotion to the performance when you have to work so hard just to get all the words in. Not only that, it’s harder for the listener to remember so many words and sing along with too. Leaving a little space allows the listener to absorb and think more about your lyrics as well. Wordy songs may also discourage another artist from recording your song.
Nothing connects better with listeners than keeping it real and telling the undeniable truth. Even a song that is a science fiction epic can contain universal truth. When we refer to “truth” in songwriting, we don’t mean a true story, as much as we mean “truths.” Things every human being knows are real. How people really are. What people really do and how they would act or react. What people really say and how they would say it. Writers of novels do this. They may be writing a work of complete fiction, but it contains so much truth, it’s truer than life. Do that with your songs too.
Nothing connects better with listeners than keeping it real and telling the undeniable truth. Even a song that is a science fiction epic can contain universal truth. When we refer to “truth” in songwriting, we don’t mean a true story, as much as we mean “truths.” Things every human being knows are real. How people really are. What people really do and how they would act or react. What people really say and how they would say it. Writers of novels do this. They may be writing a work of complete fiction, but it contains so much truth, it’s truer than life. Do that with your songs too.
Write what you know.
That is the only way you can write lyrics that are truthful. Write about things you’ve lived or have witnessed someone else live. You can change the names to protect identities or only take the events and not name any names. Write about things where you know the emotions, the feelings, the trials, the tribulations, the joy, the sorrow or pain. Don’t try to make up a story you know nothing about. If it’s contrived, people will see through it as a bunch of bull. At the very least, if you are making stuff up that you have no experience with, talk to people that do. Research it and have real facts and experience to base your story on.
Who is the audience you want to reach? Can you see them in your head? What do they want to hear? Are you writing about a subject that is going to connect with them? Are you speaking “their language?” Are you saying what’s in their head and saying it with the words they would use? If you can put what your audience is thinking, using the exact words they’d wish they could say—you’ve done your job as a writer.
Nothing wakes up the listener better than hearing something fresh. Being original doesn’t mean “finding the lost chord.” It doesn’t mean inventing a new kind of music (although it could). It’s simply doing something new, fresh or a twist. Typically, what works best is the combination of something familiar with something added to it that is different in some way, making it exciting. It’s a fine line. That is the kind of “original” that works best on the radio.
Who is the audience you want to reach? Can you see them in your head? What do they want to hear? Are you writing about a subject that is going to connect with them? Are you speaking “their language?” Are you saying what’s in their head and saying it with the words they would use? If you can put what your audience is thinking, using the exact words they’d wish they could say—you’ve done your job as a writer.
Nothing wakes up the listener better than hearing something fresh. Being original doesn’t mean “finding the lost chord.” It doesn’t mean inventing a new kind of music (although it could). It’s simply doing something new, fresh or a twist. Typically, what works best is the combination of something familiar with something added to it that is different in some way, making it exciting. It’s a fine line. That is the kind of “original” that works best on the radio.
