Five Things to Fix In Your Lyrics

So many elements go into writing great lyrics: rhythm, rhyme, placement in the bar, theme. It can be a bit overwhelming to know where to start when you want to improve. Here are five things you can fix in the lyrics to songs you've already written to make them even better- and by doing so, you'll maybe not even have to think about them in the future! For ease, the steps start with big picture things and zoom in from there.

#1: Check Your Song Sections

You may or may not have thought about the different sections in your song like the verse or the chorus. What I'd recommend you do is write out the structure and summarize what each section says. Then ask yourself a couple of questions: Are you telling the story in the right order? Does each verse/pre-chorus add more meaning? Does the chorus make sense every time you sing it? Is there anywhere you're being repetitive?

It may suck to realize your verses say the same thing twice and that maybe you need to rewrite one. Or to realize that the lyrics in your pre-choruses don't add anything and they probably need to go. The adage for writers that sometimes you need to kill your darlings applies here: if it's not serving the song, it doesn't matter how killer a line is. Cut it, set it aside to use in another song, and write something that better helps tell the story. I know, it's easier said than done.

#2: Make Every Line Count

In much the same vein, go through your song section by section and see if every line moves the song forward. Are you saying the same thing twice anywhere? Is there any line that feels like filler that you could replace with a line with more meaning? This might be another "kill your darlings" situation.

It might help to think of what you're trying to say in that section and check each line against that idea. For example, if you wrote a song about your ex and the first verse is about how they cheated on you and the second verse is about how good it felt to leave them, it might not make sense to have a lyric about infidelity in the second verse.

Fixing this improves your lyrics because it helps streamline your story so that more listeners can understand it on their first listen. It also helps your lyrics sound more polished and intentional.

#3: Have Consistent Language

If you're writing a song about fire and you use a metaphor comparing something to a horse, you might be missing an opportunity to stay on theme. In a song about how you're running like a river, including a line about how you're faster than the wind might feel out of place. Look through your lyrics and look for opportunities to tailor your lyrics to fit the theme.

This is also an opportunity to look for places where your language is inconsistent because of sound or feel. A word might sound out of place if it uses vowel sounds or consonants which aren't used elsewhere in that song section. For example: Pull the lever, hold the line/Call the doctor, hand in mine. It's subtle, but you might notice that the word "hand" feels out of place because the vowel sound isn't used elsewhere nor is the consonant sound "nd." It's not a rhyming word, so it's an easy fix: Pull the lever, hold the line/Call the doctor, hard to find. 

#4: Check Your Rhymes

There are two levels to this (at least, if you're looking for a quick way to improve your lyrics- let me know if you want a story just about rhyming!): section-wise and line-wise.

First, look at your sections: do your different sections have similar rhyme schemes? If so, you might consider changing some up to help listeners differentiate between sections and to prevent your lyrics from becoming predictable.

Then, look at each section and the rhymes you are using. Are they all perfect rhymes (day and say, you and two, hot and not) or do you use imperfect rhymes, too (day and page, you and choose, hot and dog)? Do you have any rhymes that feel forced that you thought you'd fix later and forgot to do (not that I've ever done this)? Are any of your rhymes cliche (fire and desire, funny and money)? Of course, none of these are hard and fast rules- as long as you can argue why using a cliche rhyme or having a lot of perfect rhymes is effective for your song, then you do you!

#5: Check Your Emphasis

This is, admittedly, my songwriting Roman Empire. My biggest pet peeve, if you will, is miss-stressed lyrics or emphasis on the wrong word. This is important to fix in your lyrics so that the listener's ear doesn't pick up on it, which can distract them from what you're singing about. It also sounds more professional and polished.

When you miss-stress a lyric, you stress the wrong part of the word, usually so that the lyric fits into your melody/rhythm. A popular song that does this is "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo when she sings "I lost my mind/I spent the night/ on the floor of my bathroom" in the chorus. If you listen to the song, she stresses "room" in "bathroom" even though the natural emphasis is on "bath."

Sing through your song line by line and check for anywhere you have emphasized the wrong part of the word. It might be easier for you to speak the line in rhythm.

Now, check for places where you're emphasizing the wrong word in the line. This could mean putting too much emphasis on a "filler" word like a conjunction (and, but, or), a pronoun (you, I, they), or an article (a, the, an). There are times when you want to draw attention to the pronoun or to what might seem like an insignificant word, but when done without intention, you're wasting an opportunity to highlight an important word.

An example of this in a popular song is "Traitor" by Olivia Rodrigo (please note that these are just the examples that came to mind because I absolutely love these songs and Olivia Rodrigo is a great writer) in the chorus when she sings "you'll never feel sorry/for the way I hurt" when she stresses "the" even though it's not an important word in the line. Obviously not something that ruins the song or keeps me from screaming this song when I'm driving, but it's something that I notice every time I listen.

This isn't make or break, but it's a finishing touch you can easily fix in your lyrics to sound even more professional and polished.

Let me know if you try any of theses techniques and how it goes!