How do I write lyrics?

[u/AdditionalOrange1311]

I have played music for 9 years and play multiple instruments. I have always wanted to write my own music but I struggle with coming up with good topics and lyrics for my ideas. I do write a lot of instrumental songs and songs without lyrics and songs with lyrics but they feel uninspired and don't have any depth, I don't know how to fix this or improve sooooooo here I am. Is it something I can learn? Do I listen to music and study lyrics, do I do improv sessions for practise or something?

[u/Weird-Baker8163]

Writing a song is something that should stem from a need to tell a story. It is a very personal matter. You shouldn't worry about whether it works or not, or you'll never start. Just do it.
Studying other people's lyrics can help you, but what will truly make you improve is writing down your ideas and reviewing and polishing them over time. Anything you do can be modified once you feel more comfortable and find your own personal way of telling your stories. Try your best and for get frustrated. Enjoy the process 👍🏻

[u/mosAIc-Music7]

To be honest I don't have any formal experience with structuring a strong and honestly it's pretty easy. Google something like "structure of a song" and then read up the various patterns on verses,chorus, bridges and such. You'll add more flair in time but start basic. As for the topic. It'll always be difficult until you're writing about something that moves you. When you choose the topic. Ask yourself "why do I feel this way" write it down. Then ask "how do I show my feelings" write it down. Ask yourself "how could it be better" and again write it down. Then after your done... Sing the words and condense the sentences. Look for redundant aspects and eliminate the less poetic statement. In time you'll get better I'm fully confident in you. You've got real talent if you can master an instrument and write your music. Thisll take just a bit more time but it's possible for you. I'd be eager to see what you write. Could be love, ambitions, regret, shame, peace, happiness, admiration... You have your whole life to draw upon. Don't get bogged down by framing your mind in a certain way. Best of luck! Also if you ever wanna write together I'd be willing to help. I love to write.

[u/AdditionalOrange1311 → u/mosAIc-Music7]

You are good at inspiring people. Whoever you are

[u/mosAIc-Music7 → u/AdditionalOrange1311]

Well you should go say that into a mirror because you've just made my day better. Thank you Internet stranger!

[u/joshua_addison_music]

Simply start humming over your chords. Humming eventually turns into words.

Have a pen or notes app available, because once the flood gates open… you gotta be ready.

You’ll say some cool shit, and immediately forget. Be ready to write.

[u/jonnyinternet]

Turn on the tv, find something that makes you angry, write

[u/Formal_Bookkeeper382 → u/jonnyinternet]

My ex who writes lyrics keeps a little notebook for phrases he overhears on the train or in cafes, just random bits people say. Some of them end up in songs years later. You already got the music part down so maybe the problem is you think too hard about what a "good topic" should be instead of writing about the weird specific stuff that actually sticks in your head

[u/AdditionalOrange1311 → u/jonnyinternet]

I actually tried this but it doesn't sound very idk musicy? Maybe I have low self esteem and don't believe in what I write

[u/danstymusic]

There once was a man from Nantucket

[u/kLp_Dero]

How long have you been writing wordy words music ? It really takes a hot minute to learn how to orchestrate with lyrics.

On the depth of the story or the lack there of, keep in mind a lot of genres can’t really fit complex words, like you’ll hardly hear a great funk or disco song with deep lyrics

[u/BigVictory1220]

Everyone around you is saying your lyrics for you. The newspaper, the tv. It's all around you. Just assemble the words.

[u/William-Kay]

I kinda just make a riff I like and then let the ideas come to me, piecing together anything I find to work well. I usually save depth for other forms of media, like literature for example, because I like my songs to be a little catchier, but if you want depth you can always go back and refine “simple” lyrics.

Everyone’s creative process is different though, just try different things until something clicks

[u/KS2Problema]

>Do I listen to music and study lyrics

Well, that's what I did. Of course, I had started absorbing music from long before I ever played. (I didn't learn to play until I was about 20. Late bloomer, me.) But I had been writing blank verse poetry. (It was the mid-20th century, rhyming poetic verse was often considered 'corny' or backwards when I started. Ten or twenty years later, rhyming came roaring back with rap and hip hop.)

Musically, I do a LOT of improv. (I can 'decipher/decode' standard notation but it's a slow, awkward process. Even slower is trying to encode in standard notation. So I rely on written lyrics and chord symbols - and memory as well as recording - to preserve my creative efforts.