Lyric writing resources?

Music Makers
#1

Do any of you know of some good sites or resources for getting better at lyric writing? I know AI is becoming a widely used tool, but I’d love to learn a bit about the art for myself.

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#2

I guess every songwriter is different but I think every song needs a starting point, could be a lyric or a riff or a painting or almost anything really. One approach is to do exercises, like I’ll write a line and then you (or anybody else) write another line and see where it goes. My line (can’t promise it’s original but so what) is:

I wish I was an action star.

If you don’t like my line pick another one.

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#3

I’ll play along.

…an actor on the screen.

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#4

…but not the kind in skintight suits,

some things can’t be unseen

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#5

GOLD!!

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#6

I may already have the chords for this song.

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#7

Great stuff here, now what about form? What we have could be a short verse or we could extend it or maybe write a second verse and then a chorus?

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#8

Let me look at the “song” I wrote tonight and I’ll lay out the chords and structure I gave it. We can use it if you like or take the song in a different direction. I’m good either way.

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#9

That sounds great @BigAlRocks . I guess @holster 's point here was to look at different ways of songwriting, particularly the lyrics. But of course lyrics have to work with harmony and melody so it’s cool that you’re giving us that! And one beauty of songwriting is you can always make adjustments later on if you want.

Here’s a line that could start a second verse?

Some say I’m just a dreamer

#10

Key of D Major

Intro: Bm, G, A, D
Verse: G, D, Bm, A
Chorus: Bm, G, A, D
Bridge: (Bm, D, G, A [2x]) G, D, Bm, A

I was feeling the standard intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus pop/rock style song layout but am open to other ideas.

Disclaimer: I’ve only ever written lyrics. If you all think this musical structure sucks, it won’t hurt my feelings.

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#11

I think what you have here will work fine Al. The chords sound good and the form is standard and you can’t go wrong with that. Of course my name is neither Lennon nor McCartney but IMHO this is good stuff. So what we have so far is:

I wish I was an action star
An actor on the screen
But not the kind in skintight suits
Some things can’t be unseen

Some say I’m just a dreamer

If you take and hum or speak the lyrics while strumming the chords it will fall into a pattern. You’ll probably want to space the chords evenly, say either two, four or eight beats on each one, there’s probably one pattern that will sound better to you. You’ll probably run out of chords before you run out of lyrics so you can either repeat or add more chords, whatever sounds right.

Again, just my suggestion here!