3 Ways to Write Impactful Lyrics in Your Songs

It is crucial to know that much of lyric writing is technical.

Yes, read that again, even if you disagree!

I hate to break this fact to you, but if you want to create impactful lyrics in your songwriting, you must spend time understanding technical areas of lyric writing, which consists of rhymes, rhythm, contrast, balance, and repetition.

Many of us want to be creative and free, and magically come up with an amazing, breakthrough song without being boxed in by "rules".

However, without a foundation in your pocket, you may find yourself getting "stuck" a lot or falling short in your lyric writing;

Just as a ballerina cannot express her special dance moves without learning and practicing the techniques; just as any instrument player cannot grow their expression without doing the same.

It takes effort and discipline to study techniques, and when you couple that with consistent writing, and creative exploration, that's where the magic happens.

In this post, I will share with you 3 ways to write better lyrics in your songs:

Making Metaphors vs Using Cliché Phrases

There are too many good songs out there in the world.

There are also too many phrases that have been used many times in songs over the decades:

can't live without you

take my hand

aching heart

hold me tight

never let you go

kiss your lips

... the list goes on, and it is long.

A list long enough that could keep a herd of puppies asleep for decades.

Sure, clichés do work. But it isn't new.

It isn't startling.

It isn't emotional.

It isn't, "Wow, that was genius." or "Wow, that took me to a different place. I was imagining it."

Imagery. It is a huge part of lyric writing to any great song.

So how are you going to come up with new ways to bring your listener to the image you're going to paint with your words and music?

Try writing colliding metaphors!

Colliding metaphors are also called verbal metaphors where there is a conflict between the verb and its subject/object.

Excercise:

Let's list a few nouns and a few verbs.

Noun: strawberry, wheel, mattress, smoke, water

Verb: swims, vomits, celebrates, licks, sniffs

So, let's get writing! I'm going to randomly write a short blurb with any pair of noun and verb from the list above.

I picked "smoke" and "licks", and I wrote this:

"The incense is lit. Wisps of smoke licks the still air as it ascends to the sky."

See how I was able to expand the imagery with colliding the two words rather than just saying, "the smoke rises to the air", which is not as impactful?

You want to draw a listener in deeper, catch their attention better; and as much as music matters, you can do even more with impactful lyrics.

Wonderful accidents can happen in this writing approach. The trick is to jumble up nouns and verbs in your writing practice.

Remember, metaphors support lyrics like bones. The more you do it, the more you train yourself to build them effectively.

You can also try this with noun + noun, or adjective + noun. Play around and you'll be surprised what you can come up with!

Speak/Say Out Loud As You Write

When your songs are conversational, they become more relatable and easier for a listener to connect and sing.

That's why children's songs are simple, but catchy and attractive to the ear.

This also has a lot to do with how you balance the rhythm of the phrase, as well as how you flow into each stanza.

You will often find sometimes a phrase will not fit musically in some parts and you have to edit or scrap it so that it fits with the rest of your lyrics.

Without getting too technical in this aspect, I encourage you to speak or even sing your lyrics as you write.

This often can help steer your writing in the direction you want to go early on, rather than having to make big changes after.

Another important technique it addresses is knowing the stresses in the syllables of a word.

Speaking or singing a word has to fit comfortably, just like musical notes in a bar(s) of music.

If you get odd phrases and sentences that don't fit, it may be very difficult (and awkward) to sing it.

Learn Rhyme Structures and Families

It is important to realize that not everything has to be a perfect rhyme.

It is also important to realize where you are putting your rhymes and how you are controlling them to create tension and flow.

Perfect rhymes exist to bring stability. Anything outside of that provides tension (instability).

So depending on your intent in the section of the song, and musically how you are ending your phrase, it can all work together in harmony.

There are many rhyming structures depending on the lines you decide to use as well; couplets, 3-lines, 4-lines, 6-lines. etc.

There are five main types of rhymes that you can learn to help you brainstorm effectively your choice of words:

Perfect, Family, Additive, Subtractive, and Assonance

For example, let's look at some phrases below from my original song "Cheeky Wind".

While you may not yet have heard it in the context of the music, the following is the first verse:

With its perfect rhymes, it starts of strong and very stable with the word "waste" and "to-day" ending on the tonic; giving an air of confidence and excitement/joy in the kid character singing this section.

In the pre-chorus, I introduced tension with a subtractive rhyme, as the kid character realizes they've gotten into trouble.

When I wrote it, I knew it didn't have to be a perfect rhyme to provide a little instability; pairing it with an unresolved musical phrase:

Internal rhymes can be really fun too when used well.

They bring lots of stability, and when done playfully it can create a strong sense of the emotion you are conveying in that line:

Therefore, understanding the different types of rhymes and how they resolve is as important as understanding chord progressions in a song.

Not one is more superior than the other, they have to go hand in hand; that's where the magic happens.

Summary

In summary, writing lyrics to a song takes technique and while I agree the music is important, we cannot claim it is superior to the words.

There may be different types of music where lyrics don't really matter as much, but if you are working to improve your writing as a songwriter, I encourage you to keep practicing writing just as you would practice your music with your instrument.

When you practice writing lyrics, I hope these tips give you an idea on how to start taking it to the next level with your songwriting.

Winner of the 1st Annual Grande Prairie Boys Choir Songwriting Competition

Wow. What a great experience I had at the Finals Showcase Concert!

I am glad I mustered up the courage and gave it my best that night, despite still going through health challenges.

It was an amazing feeling to be back on stage, sharing music again, connecting with the audience and bringing laughter and nostalgia with this song.

I am so happy to contribute my original song, "Cheeky Wind", to the boys choir. I hope they will enjoy singing this song, and bring joy and giggles to their families and friends.

"Cheeky Wind" will be performed by the Junior Boys Choir at their "Youthful Energy and Dreams" concert on 15 March 2025 at 2.00 PM in Grande Prairie, AB.

I'm happy to announce the digital sheet music for "Cheeky Wind" is now available for purchase at my shop!

I'll be working on a full recording of the song to share in the near future, until then you can listen to or download a FREE SAMPLE of the song at the button below.