You’ve got the song written—amazing! But you know there are a couple of things that are a little off. Maybe you’ve gotten some feedback that there are some points you could improve on, and that would make your song that much better. Here are some suggestions on making the process a bit easier.
1. Look for the easy things to clean up
This is a great way to get started if you’re stuck. Cleaning up your lines gets the wheels rolling, and suddenly we’re looking at other lines that we’ve been deliberating over. Just be sure to come back and do this again at the end once you’ve re-written some lines!
Ask yourself:
- Do the syllables in this line match the others? If you want more/fewer syllables in this line, does it sound deliberate?
- Can you get rid of any pre-fixes to lines that don’t need to be there? Examples: “I”, “But”, “And”, “Oh”, “‘Cause”
- Similarly, are there any words or phrases that repeat too much? Examples: “I know”, “All”, “Always”, “Just”
- Or, are there any extra words in the middle of any lines that you could remove?
- Do any lines run into each other too much, making it difficult to sing?
- Is everything in the right tense (past, present or future)?
2. Think about what the “point” of the song is
How would you describe your song to a friend, if they asked what it was about? What is the song really about? Does your hook or Chorus reflect that description? Do each of your lines stay on topic towards that description?
3. Say the lines aloud (don’t sing them)
Sometimes, we need to change the medium to actually process what the lines say. Say them aloud: do they actually make sense, as sentences? If you wrote fragments on purpose, do they sound deliberate? Are there some tweaks you could make to make things clearer?
4. Does the song follow a storyline?
There are usually two kinds of songs: songs that tell a story, or songs that convey a vibe. If your song tells a story, is it following a storyline? Does the story progress as the song goes along?
And conversely, if there is no storyline, do you need to add one? Or could you refine your lines until each one conveys the vibe expressed in the hook?
5. Check your rhymes
Check your rhyme scheme. If you’re not sure what a rhyme scheme is, check out this post here. Simply put, your rhyme schemes are likely stronger if all of them match for each section (i.e. all your Verses are the same rhyme scheme).
Then, see if all your rhymes really rhyme. Are they slant rhymes, or do you need to tighten up some of the lines so they sing better? Are your rhymes sounding too simple, and you want to try writing some more interesting rhymes?
6. Are you communicating the emotion of the song?
First ask yourself: what is the emotion of the song? Can it be described in a few adjectives? If not, maybe you’re trying to do too much (unless you’re trying to be ambiguous on purpose). Sometimes, less is more, and it’s completely fine if the emotion is just “sad”.
Once you’ve identified the emotion, try going over your lines and seeing if that emotion comes across. It’s okay if a line is telling the story more than it is describing the emotion, but if you can write it in such a way that the emotion comes through, that makes your lines much stronger.
7. Don’t overdo it
Tweaking a song to death is absolutely possible. I’ve done it, and I’m not sure if it was worth it at all. It only made me feel less sure of the song, less connected to do. Don’t overdo the editing. Set a deadline or a three-draft rule. Get a friend to keep you accountable to calling the song done.
Remember… at the end of the day, a finished song is better than a perfect song. It can sometimes feel like a song is never finished. But at some point, we have to put away that strive for perfection and move on. Good enough is good enough!
Write the Next Song 