Essential Tools for Lyric-Leaning Artists and Songwriters
All songs, and musical genres, are not created equal. This is to say that the same qualities and characteristics we value about one song style won’t necessarily match those of another.
Let me explain.
When our musical tastes are diverse, it can become challenging to see, and hear, what elements are really essential to the kind of songs we’re writing. Notice I’m not talking in terms of genre, here, but intent. Country, pop, and rock may be categorized as different genres, but share many of the same characteristics musically and lyrically. It isn’t in the way that genres are different that make it difficult for artists, and songwriters, to see who they are, but rather what makes genres the same. This is why we struggle to understand exactly who our listening audience is, or the musical and lyrical choices that distinctly and most fully express who we are.
There are far too many musical and lyrical decisions to keep at our fingertips when we’re writing a song. Most of us approach songwriting from our strengths, and those strengths choose the song style we’re making, serving as the dominant character trait over which we lay the other elements of the song. But not every style of music emphasizes lyric as much as melody, or melody as much as rhythm and groove, or rhythm and groove as much as the interest within the chord progression. Our strengths may lead and define the character of song we’re writing, but what do we do when there is a mismatch between our skillset and the style we believe we are writing? When this happens, as it often does in many of the songs we write, it’s like thinking we’re painting red, when actually, we’re coloring electric blue.
Our inner artist responds by assuming we’ve got to write better lyrics, find better chord progressions, play better harmonic rhythms, and sing better melodies. But these beliefs lead us to run in all directions at once. In each direction we eventually bump into the same wall, scrawled with the writing “What would better sound like, anyway?” Without definitions around what makes the song style we’re aiming for tick, we will spin endlessly, searching for the perfect elements, and wondering why we’re not as good today as we thought we were yesterday.
I’d like to share with you my thoughts around the style of songwriting that places lyric in the limelight, which I’m calling “Lyric-Forward.” These thoughts are not based on research and data points, and are certainly not comprehensive or ‘true’ without exception. They are merely tendencies I’ve observed and found helpful to keep in mind while writing my own songs and collaborating with others.
Lyric-Forward Song Styles
From folk and singer-songwriter, to indie, traditional and new country, several songwriting styles position the lyric as a central piece of our listening experience. Though the lyric of ‘lyric-forward’ mainstream music seems to be the obvious place to improve our songwriting skills, the lyric is only part of our focus. It’s the music that is the ‘container’ for our lyrics and what gives the lyric content its ability “lean forward.” The music makes space for the lyric to shine.
Characteristics and tendencies of the ‘lyric-forward’ songwriting style are:
The harmonic progression provides plenty of space for the lyric to shine. In country styles of songwriting, this can mean a simple and diatonic chord progression, and a familiar harmonic rhythm/feel establishing a clear and potent character of the song.
The melody of the song can remain static in pitch, traversing a small vocal range. When the melody remains static, it’s the rhythm that takes over as a defining characteristic of the melody. Small melodic ranges means we can say more words with fewer jumps or intervals between pitches that make words harder to sing.
The lyric character stems from culture. Where pop music styles of lyric content may contain metaphor, abstract ideas and textures, country as well as folk, Americana, and Indie styles of lyric content tend to reflect the more single-minded, grounded, or simple approach to living. Intellectualization can often appear inauthentic and distancing. Country lyric content draws directly from culture, reflecting the views and background of the singer/character consistent with the listening audience. Country music pointing at the traditional country, country/rock, and country/blues sound will embody more traditional messages, and it’s imperative the artist is seen as belonging to the listening culture, grown of the environment rather than observing it from the outside. Newer artists with a bent towards pop will embody more progressive views and internal thought/feeling that reflect a younger listening audience, while maintaining a pride in their roots as well. Contrastingly, singer-songwriter styles that are lyric-forward may express characters who view themselves as islands within their culture, or outside a particularly bonding cultural experience, sharing specific stories and personal experiences of struggle, longing, loss, or love.
The lyric tends to involve imagery. Lyric content tends to involve more imagery, and less internal thought/feeling language. This is due to the grounded character who expresses themselves conversationally and concretely, rather than abstractly and metaphorically. Female artists within country are generally more known to express lyric content more abstractly than male artists, looking inward towards thoughts, feelings, and considerations, rather than outward towards viewpoints, opinions and conclusions.
Are these tendencies true all of the time? Definitely not. The tendencies are stronger within highly mainstream music, and weaker as the artists become less commercial and more fringe. The character of the artist and the music they express must align in message and intent. Our songs are our chance to express, in as much fullness as possible, our particular viewpoints, experiences, and world view, musically and lyrically. When these elements align, in character and musical sound, we become the potent, strongly-branded artist we have the potential to be to connect most quickly and strongly with our listeners.
Stay creative,
