I wrote a set of lyrics, or a poem, or something, and I wanted to see if I could translate it into an actual song, at which point, of course, I forgot everything I’d ever known about music or writing. I went to Google to ask how to write a song and found page after page that boiled down to: set up the story in verse one, state the basic emotion of the song in the chorus, advance the story in verse two, and good luck. But shockingly, I still felt clueless about how to proceed. In general, when I write I just write, and the rhythm comes from the words themselves and from how often I need to stop and breathe. In order to write a song, though, I needed a more deliberate structure and I was still at a loss.
So then I collected a YouTube list of songs that seemed well-structured (to me) and started listening to them to see if I could figure out how they worked. I listened to a lot of Mumford and Sons songs, like Awake My Soul and I Will Wait, and My Church and The Bones by Maren Morris, and Falling and Sweet Creature from Harry Styles, and songs from Regina Spektor and Van Morrison and Sarah Mclachlan and James Taylor and Nat King Cole. And what I noticed, after listening to dozens of songs and reminding myself to listen for rhyme and meter each time, wasn’t rhyme and meter. Instead, it was how I felt. Even when a song didn’t bother to finish telling its story, as long as there was one moment where I felt something or saw something or maybe even smelled something, the song felt successful.
I also noticed that I really wanted to rewrite other people’s songs. I’d be singing along, feeling like this is my song, until a word or two would ring false and break the spell. For example, Kelly Clarkson’s song Mine is beautiful and heartbreaking and almost perfect, until she gets to the line “eternal sunshine of the spotless mind,” which feels like a foreign substance dropped in from popular culture rather than part of an organic whole. (I blame my rabbi for this tendency of mine to want to edit. He “adapts” poems and essays from established writers to fit his purposes throughout the year, and especially on the high holidays, when we need as much help from English as possible to try to understand the endless Hebrew liturgy. I mean, I was always like this, but now I have, like, God’s permission.)
Anyway, with all of that in mind, I was even more uncertain about how to proceed. I was especially flummoxed by the need to rhyme, because it reminded me of having to buy a thesaurus in graduate school and being told there was always a “right” word for each purpose. But one of the things I learned from my long listening experiment was that rhyme schemes can help create a sense of anticipation, or inevitability, in a song, taking something that otherwise feels humdrum and making it almost magic. So, bravely, I looked through my existing lyrics and made a list of words I thought I could find rhymes for, and then I asked Google for rhymes (no more stupid thesaurus for me!)) and wrote down every possible word that resonated for me. At this point I was lost in a sea of words and even more overwhelmed than before, but I reminded myself that there’s always a way forward and I started freewriting every image I could think of for each word on my list.
If this is starting to sound like a ridiculous amount of work, especially with no guarantee that it would lead anywhere productive, I agree. But I can’t think of any other way forward. The gulf between “I want to write a song” and “I know how to write a song” feels so vast, it’s like trying to fly over an ocean without a plane, or a life preserver. And I’m still somewhere over the Atlantic at the moment, desperately flapping my wings. Wish me luck!
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my novel, Yeshiva Girl, on Amazon. And if you feel called to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
Yeshiva Girl is about a Jewish teenager on Long Island, named Isabel, though her father calls her Jezebel. Her father has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with one of his students, which he denies, but Izzy implicitly believes it’s true. As a result of his problems, her father sends her to a co-ed Orthodox yeshiva for tenth grade, out of the blue, and Izzy and her mother can’t figure out how to prevent it. At Yeshiva, though, Izzy finds that religious people are much more complicated than she had expected. Some, like her father, may use religion as a place to hide, but others search for and find comfort, and community, and even enlightenment. The question is, what will Izzy find?
rachelmankowitz 
A late friend of mine wrote songs for his live performances. He wrote the main hook first, then worked out a melody around it. Variations on the melody filled in the gaps. He then composed verses that jibed with the hook. He rarely composed songs without first roughing out the main hook. He wrote progressive rock and folk style tunes, so keep that in mind. He claims his technique would work for any genre. It’s just a thought. Good luck with however you decide to create your songs.
Thank you so much! Very helpful!
You’re welcome. Good luck with your creations.
I like the method described by swabby429.
Me too!
I wish you every success. I’ve never thought about writing a song.
Thank you!
You’ll get there! I write songs, and I usually start with only one line, then write words that have to do with that, then words that rhyme with those words, and suddenly inspiration strikes. Or not. Many times, I have to sleep on it, and something comes to me the next day, or the next. It takes time for the creative juices to flow.
The rhythm of the words does often suggest a feeling.
I have the most difficulty with melody.
Keep us posted on how it goes!
I will!
I think if you keep trying you’ll find that gulf shrinks. I’d like to write a song and I’m drawn to all types of music but it’s the storyteller songwriters that really interest me. Do you ever listen to rap? Some of those songs have amazing rhymes and meter.
So many possibilities!
I believe you are making it too difficult. Once you have the poem, you need to look at the stanzas and the syllable counts in each line. Generally, 8 syllables per line fit well into an 8-count rhythm. And usually, 4 to 8 lines per verse. The chorus should be repeatable, and then you usually have a bridge that can be in a different key, rhythm, or speed to give the song variation and interest. You can download Suno, an AI music app, paste in your lyrics, give it some basic parameters like style, key, tempo, etc., and see what it does with your lyrics. That’s a really good way to start.
That’s really helpful. Thank you!
I like writing lyrics too, sometimes more like a poem that would work with music, I play around, I dont follow rules at all.
I rewrite well known songs- I did Twelve Days of Christmas for a local hardware store. It happened so out if the blue. Walking around the store, hearing a customer say I want five of them.. three of them and two if them. I added “and a partridge in a pear tree!”
The manager was within earshot and thought it was funny.
Next thing, we’re constructing 12 items for the song..
I set to it straight away and emailed her the song.
She turned it into a fabulous post in their Facebook page.
I was so humbled and happy how an innocent fun comment turned into a collaboration that all the staff ended up singing!
I did one for The International Hotel Killarney, Ireland too. We stayed there in 2019. I posted it to them but I never heard back so I don’t know how that went 🤷♀️ but on a hardware level, it totally rocked!
So from my experience, just write it and see where it goes. 🤷♀️🙏✍️🎵🎶
That’s awesome!
Really enjoyed this, and funny too. Don’t worry the lists you’ve made will be very useful if (and when) you carry on with this. Do it, go , go go.
You know, I didn’t know the song structure before this.
I kind of like the crazy and wrenched rhyming of Bob Dylan’s Desire songs, and bringing in details from the ordinary world.
Rhyming forces you to expand your meanings, and bring in directions you hadn’t thought of.
Nothing is lost.
Thank you!
It’s amazing what makes a song today. Hang in there.
Really enjoyed this blog and look forward to reaching the other side of the Atlantic! I love to write poems that rhyme but never even attempted to write lyrics! Enjoy the musical journey!!! 💖🎼
I will try! Thank you!
Writing music is difficult. I took one year of Music Theory my senior year of high school (I had dreams of being a conductor one day) and was quite intimidated. We had to write songs, but since I played cello, mine was instrumental. I say give yourself a large break and do what you can do, which is probably much more and better than you give yourself credit for.
I will try!
This post resonated with me. I’ve written and self-published many poems and always wanted to put them to music. A little over a year ago I stumbled across Suno, an AI music generator. With Suno, you enter your lyrics into a window, describe the style of music you want to generate (for example, Post Punk, New Wave with Jangly Guitars and Dreamy Female Vocals) and click “Create” — Suno generates two polished / highly produced songs in about a minute. Then I listen to the music to see how my lyrics flow — I usually end up tweaking the cadence / rhyme / and narrative arc a few times — I would also have to come up with a catchy chorus to help drive the song. I was stunned at the quality of the sound and production value of songs and the speed at which Suno generates music and vocals. You can also record your own instruments and vocals (I have no talent in those areas).
I’ve had a lot of fun with Suno — might be worth looking into!
Wow! Sounds a little bit scary, but amazing at the same time.
Hey, another novelist. I wish your novel all good things. Your novel’s blurb hits on the things that fascinate me, things like Long Island, Jewish culture, and the struggle to survive corrupt school principals. I know of a superintendent who was recently fired for not reporting suspected abuse in a timely manner. Glad that person is out of the mix. I could go on, but I’ll save it.
Thank you!
It’s honestly surprising what counts as a song nowadays. Stay strong
AS usual, Rachel, that was an amazing write. I noticed you never mentioned an instrument? Do you play any? The comments were also very interesting regarding the process. I love music! Most people do, I think. It’s a universal binding agent. Military generals love it!. (See Custer.) However, I’m like you in that I can write poetry but not music. My mother taught me to play piano; but it didn’t stick. Wife (#3) bought me a banjo for my birthday one year and I gave it to my brother. Who plays guitar and writes songs. He has written songs about me! Wife got angry at me. Was hurt. I saw (on YouTube) an interview with Eminem. He said he studied the dictionary, read it over and over again, and put to memory ever word! AND, he bends the pronunciation. sometimes. Thus his amazing ability to rhyme. Then there’s just the beat/pace. Anyway – good luck.
Wow! I tried piano and guitar, but voice is my main instrument.
It takes time. As a picture book writer, I am often laboring over different phrases over and over for months.
I can believe it!
Write your songs in Spanish, Rachel. Almost everything ends in -o or a.
This will be much easier than English or Hebrew.
Buena Suerte!
You’re probably right!
We all have our own methodology, of course. But I fear you are overthinking and interfering w/ your own creativity, in the process.
There have been many successful composers and lyricists who worked together because one was better at melody the other at words: George and Ira Gershwin (“I Got Rhythm”, “Someone to Watch Over Me”), Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II (“Ol’ Man River”), Burt Bacharach and Hal David (“The Look of Love”), Gerry Goffin and Carole King (“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman”), Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (“Reelin’ In the Years”), and Alan and Marilyn Bergman (“The Windmills of Your Mind”).
Have you written many songs before? Do you find that the music comes as easily to your as the lyrics (or vice versa)? Perhaps you are more inclined in one direction than another. There is no shame in that.
The creative process is, of course, something of a mystery. While we must all educate ourselves in the craft we choose to pursue, creativity, itself, cannot be forced.
You may have more success, if you can find a way to be less critical of your own efforts. You are NOT under an obligation to write the best, most beautiful, most profound song ever written — guaranteed to move everyone who hears it. That does not exist and never will.
In any case, you will not be graded on your efforts. Much as we may love music, most of us have no talent along these lines, so will be greatly impressed by anything you produce (LOL).
Wishing you the best,
A. ❤
Thank you!
I read the comments, and such wonderful, helpful advice! The only thing I’ll add is when I hear at the end of one of the sentences, and it feels like it was ONLY used so as to rhyme. I’d rather not hear what feels like an obviously placed rhymn; no rhym at all is better than that.
That’s helpful. Thank you!