But thinking about not just the lines, but also the spaces between the lines, can help. This will never be something we can completely control. Every word affects the picture the listener is painting in their head. This is why precision and discipline are so important in lyric writing. Our challenge is that we can only include a tiny fraction of the details of the story to get this result. We’re trying to use the power of suggestion and inference and detail to get the story the listener is making up to be something close to what we have in mind. Think about it this way – our lyrics are primarily indicators. The line after that does the same, and so on through the song.Įvery listener’s interpretation will be somewhat different, but in any kind of song, if it’s written well, the story, scenario, or effect the listener infers will be close to what the writer intended (it also has to be well performed, of course).Įven non-narrative lyrics have to be carefully chosen to create what the writer intends… even if that effect gives the listener much more freedom to interpret, or many more interpretive possibilities, than in a more conventional narrative song. Then the next line is heard and the listener uses its new information to amend their previous suppositions/guesses.
#A GUIDE TO LYRICAL WRITING SERIES#
It immediately goes to work to create meaning and order from anything it’s presented with – in this case, a series of a few words in a certain sequence.
That’s one of the things that a human brain does.
When a line is sung, the listener takes that handful of words and makes up a story, or a possible story, or even several potential stories, about what that line means. Music’s potential to add meaning to language is practically unlimited.īut looking at the narrower function of lyrics – telling a story, putting us into a situation, painting a picture – is where it’s important to remember that the listener is always doing most of the work. Offsetting that is the incomparable advantage of having music accompanying your words. This means you have to leave a tremendous amount of possible lines and words out… and put very little in. You usually get at most a few hundred words to say your entire piece, tell the whole story. It’s been said many times – creating lyrics is an extremely economical form of writing.
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