Songwriters – 3 questions to ask yourself before writing lyrics
Writing lyrics can be tricky. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. I’ve always found that if you think about the big picture of what your songs are trying to say, you’ll have an easier time trying to get your message across. One way to do this is to answer a few questions before your pen hits the paper.
A while back, I took a lyric writing workshop with Pat Pattison, who is a professor of lyric writing at Berklee College of Music. She had some of the students play her songs and then go over the lyrics with them. Many times, when she felt the handwriting was getting confusing, she asked three rhetorical questions about the student’s work:
1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is he (or she) talking to? Y
3. Why?
Since that workshop, I have asked myself these questions before writing any song. The reason is that these questions help you think about the big picture of your song, similar to what I talked about in the previous paragraphs.
If you still don’t understand why asking yourself these three questions could make or break your lyrics, let’s look at a real world example, in the song (aka) “Forget You” by Cee Lo Green. I will argue that of the three questions posed above, two of them are clearly defined throughout the song. They are:
1. Who is speaking? In this song, he is a boy who lost his girl.
3. Why (he is talking to her)? He is jealous, angry, and still wants her back.
When we go through all the lyrics, you’ll see that those two answers ring true consistently throughout the entire song. But the answer to the second question is no:
2. Who are you talking to?
The answer to this question varies throughout the lyrics and keeps us from getting into the song as much as we can. You’ll notice that for most of the song, he’s talking to the girl. his ex. But there are two lines in the song that are directed directly at the girl’s new guy. These are two lines:
I see you driving around town with the girl I love and I’m like,
forget you
I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough, I’m like,
forget you and forget her too
If he wanted to get super technical, we could even argue that in the line “I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough”, he’s speaking to himself or the listener directly. But in the absence of further confusion, we’ll put that line together with the things he’s saying to the boyfriend.
You might say “okay, well, so what? It’s only two lines in the whole song. It’s barely noticeable.” Well, the problem is that these two lines appear in the chorus, so we constantly RETURN to them throughout the song. The perspective of who you are talking to changes, causing our minds to lose focus on what is happening and who you are talking to. On top of that, the song starts with these two lines, so we start listening to the song with the expectation that she’s talking to the girl’s new guy. But then, for most of the song, it’s not.
We’ll see.
Chorus
(talking to the new boyfriend)
I see you driving around town with the girl I love and I’m like,
forget you
I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough, I’m like,
forget you and forget her too
(talking to ex-girlfriend)
I said if I was richer I’d still be with you
ha, now isn’t that some sh-t?
And although my chest hurts, I still wish you the best with a…
Forget you!
pour 1
(Continues talking to the ex-girlfriend)
Yes, I’m sorry, I can’t afford a Ferrari,
But that doesn’t mean I can’t get you there.
I guess he’s an xbox and I’m more atari,
But the way you play your game isn’t fair.
I pity the fool who falls in love with you
I have some news for you.
Yeah go run and tell your little boyfriend
Chorus
(go back to talk to the new boyfriend)
I see you driving around town with the girl I love and I’m like,
forget you
I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough, I’m like,
forget you and forget her too
(to talk to the ex-girlfriend again)
I said if I was richer I’d still be with you
ha, now isn’t that some sh-t?
And although my chest hurts, I still wish you the best with a…
Forget you!
pour 2
(Still on ex girlfriend)
Now I know, that I had to borrow,
Beg and steal and lie and cheat.
Trying to keep you, trying to please you.
Because being in love with your ass is not cheap.
I pity the fool who falls in love with you
I have some news for you.
I really hate your ass right now
Chorus
(go back to talk to the new boyfriend)
I see you driving around town with the girl I love and I’m like,
forget you
I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough, I’m like,
forget you and forget her too
(to talk to the ex-girlfriend again)
I said if I was richer I’d still be with you
ha, now isn’t that some sh-t?
And although my chest hurts, I still wish you the best with a…
Forget you!
Bridge
(Still on ex girlfriend)
Now baby, baby, baby, why do you want to hurt me so bad?
I tried to tell my mom, but she told me this is for your dad.
Why? Why? Wow, lady?
Love you
I still love you
Chorus
(and once again to the new boyfriend)
I see you driving around town with the girl I love and I’m like,
forget you
I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough, I’m like,
forget you and forget her too
(to talk to the ex-girlfriend again)
I said if I was richer I’d still be with you
ha, now isn’t that some sh-t?
And although my chest hurts, I still wish you the best with a…
Forget you!
Wow, those two little lines sure made a lot of waves throughout the entire lyrics, didn’t they? I had the question “Who are you talking to?” asked before pen touches paper, all this confusion could have been avoided.
You may be saying… “What are you talking about? This song is a hit! A Grammy-winning smash hit! There’s a reason for that, right?” Yes there are. The reason is that in hit songs the melody rules. This song has a great, singable and memorable melody. No doubt about it. But the lyrics lose steam due to the confusion of who is being spoken to in the lyrics.
If you’re an unknown artist, you’ll want to increase your chances in any way you can. So ask yourself three simple questions before you write your next song. Then decide if it makes the focus of your new songs sharper.