The Reasons Why You Struggle To Come Up With Ideas For Song Lyrics

Are you having a hard time coming up with ideas for song lyrics? Do you try to think of good song lyrics, but end up with unsatisfying material or nothing at all? If so, you are in the company of MANY other musicians. In fact, most songwriters struggle at one time or another to think of lyrics for songs. In my experience with other musicians (and other types of artists), I’ve found that the biggest complaint for “writer’s block” is “I can’t think of things to write about.”

Now, it may seem obvious or redundant to point out that people who lack ideas for song lyrics “can’t think of ideas”; however, I am a firm supporter of the idea that there is ALWAYS something to write about. That said, I do not think that most musicians have a shortage of ideas. Instead, I believe that most musicians who struggle to think of song lyrics fall into one or both of the following categories:

1. They are unsure “how” one is supposed to write lyrics.

Many songwriters are confused about either the general process for how to write song lyrics or how to match up lyrics with the musical aspects of their songs. Fortunately, there are many approaches to solving these challenges. A lot of songwriters think that song lyrics must be created like poetry. The truth is, the majority of songwriters are not poets. If you want to learn poetry, it will help you improve your lyric writing abilities, but it is not required.

One way to go about writing song lyrics is to think about the emotion you want to express with your music. This will automatically bring up various words, phrases and ideas from your own personal experiences that you can draw upon. Then start by creating a simple structure or guideline for your lyrics. For example, allow yourself a maximum of 10 lyrical lines (sentences or phrases). Then use 4 lines for your first verse, 4 lines for the next verse and 2 lines for the chorus. This will make it much easier to come up with ideas for song lyrics because it gives you something to work toward. This will help to remove a lot of the uncertainty that comes with the mindset of “not knowing where to begin.”

2. They either doubt their abilities to write “good” or “expressive” lyrics or lack inspiration on a consistent basis.

A lot of musicians are not confident in their ability to write quality lyrics. This causes them to hesitate when thinking of ideas for song lyrics, because they feel as if others may disapprove or that their material will “not be good enough”. I totally understand this perspective. It is tough start something new from the beginning. However, the good news is that your ideas do not have to be “good enough” for others. Instead, I encourage you to just jump into lyric writing and enjoy the act of self expression during the learning process. It is rational to expect that your song lyrics will not be fully polished in the beginning, but as long as you enjoy the creative lyric writing process, you will have much more potential to quickly advance and improve your skills.

One way to approach the general lyric writing process is to simply think of the people, ideas and situations that inspire you most. Whether these things inspire you in a good way or bad way, they can all be used. These ideas are going to be your most influential sources for writing songs and coming up with ideas for song lyrics. Then search online to find the lyrics of your favorite musical artists. Observe their lyrics and take SPECIFIC notes about their writing styles. Here are just a few ideas to take note of when studying the lyrics of others:

  • How each lyrical line relates to another. Do the lyrics seem to be structured a certain way?
  • Rhyme. Do lyrics rhyme or contain some kind of rhyme scheme/pattern?
  • The topic(s) discussed. How does the artist discuss the topics of the song, what words do they use?
  • Which words are emphasized most? (you may need to listen to the music for this)
  • Does the musician write in 1st person or 3rd person?

By practicing the ideas discussed on this page, you will be able to think of ideas for song lyrics with less hesitation. The more consistently you practice lyric writing, the faster you improve your ability to express yourself!

Overcome songwriter's block and create music that is highly self-expressive.