In the last installment on songwriting I wrote about how ‘Hooks & Phrases’ can be the foundation of making a great song. The next “You + 2” technique is, ‘Melody & Lyrics’.
Billy Joel once said, “I can’t sit at the piano and write a melody then fashion lyrics to fit. I have to write the words first.”
Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote in the same way. Bernie would sit in one room writing lyrics, Elton would get them later and write a melody to fit. They never wrote together.
But there’s no hard and fast rule about what should come first, no right or wrong. Most good writing is born out of emotion or a reaction to events that happen to you or you see or hear about.
Successful songwriters turn events into songs the public can absorb. If they personally experienced all the situations they write about they would be emotional train wrecks.
I once wrote a song called, “You’re Not Mine”, about lost love. But it was written in reaction to the loss of life in the 9/11 tragedy. The opening and closing phrase of,
“What you said this morning, I can’t get out of my head,” was in reference to the first news stories I heard on the radio while driving.
Whichever way you write, don’t judge it, just write out your emotions. Write it all down like you’re writing a story. Don’t try to make it rhyme. When you’re all done getting out what you need or want to say, then go back and make sense of what you’ve written and turn it into lyrics. Keep the lyrics short and simple—one concept, idea, or feeling at a time.
Songs can come at any time, the best come quick, and are emotionally relatable. Your songs are valid simply because they come from you. Who knows, maybe someday you’ll be able to say,
“I write the songs that make the whole world sing.”
