Author of best selling Writing Better Lyrics, I teach Lyric Writing and Poetry at Berklee College of Music and give seminars across the globe.
Joined February 2011
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Use sense bound imagery to enhance a songs emotional impact on the listener. Show before you tell.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Take the songs that move you and go beyond what they are saying and see how they are put together.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Unmatched lines lengths get listeners to keep moving forward. They are off balance and seeking resolution.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Check your trigger lines (the last line of your verses) – they are power positions.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Line length is the traffic cop in your lyric. Equal length lines are balanced and tell the listener to stop.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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The point of view you choose controls the relationship between the singer and the audience. Is your lyric providing a consistent relationship?
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools
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Check the point of view you are writing from in every song you write. Sometimes it will turn a good lyric into a killer one.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips
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The way you say something either supports what you’re saying or gives signals to a different meaning. What is the structure in your songs?
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools
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Structure can sometimes support or even determine the attitude of the character.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Try separating the perspectives in your song into the verses – does the idea develop better?
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Unbalanced sections in a song make you want to move to find a stable spot. Balanced sections of a song stop motion and pause for a rest.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools
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Structure doesn’t happen to you. You can make interesting things happen in your songs. You have choice.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Your verses control the angle of entry into the repeated choruses. Focus each one on a separate idea.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
Don’t leave your dance of ideas without a partner: give them an interesting structure.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Statements can often be easy prey for productive repetition. Check out Joni’s Roses Blue: only with your laughter can you win. Can you win? Can you win?
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips
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Every section of every lyric you write has the same five elements of structure. Are you using them to support your ideas or do they just happen by accident?
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips
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"Verbs are the power amplifiers of language. They drive it - set it in motion.
If you go through some great poets work (Yeats, Frost, Sexton, Eliot) and circle their verbs, you will see why the poems crackle with power."
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Don’t be seduced by “perfect” rhymes - it doesn’t mean they are better. A family rhyme may be far more expressive.
#songwriting #songwriter #writing #writer #lyric #lyrics #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Don’t let your verses sit idle waiting for the hook to come rescue them – too often, there won’t be anyone around to witness the rescue.
#songwriting #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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Instead of asking “where do I go now”, it may help to ask “Where did I get here from” Get used to juggling and trying new things.
#songwriting #lyrictips #lyrictools #writingbetterlyrics #writingtips #writingtools #songwritingtips #songwritingtools
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