Lyrics can make or break a song. When writing lyrics, you want them to sound natural and conversational. That’s where these 5 tips for writing conversational lyrics come in handy!
Whether you’re writing about love or heartbreak, here are some tips for making your lyrics more personal and impactful
What are conversational lyrics?
Conversational lyrics are lyrics that sound the way you talk in everyday normal conversations.
They are a lyric that is sung as if one was talking to a friend or loved one.
A conversational lyric lets the singer come across in a more personal way. In turn, this can create an emotional connection between the singer and the audience.
#1. Give it to them straight
The best rule of thumb is “Write it as you’d say it”. When we say ‘conversational’, this is what we want to aim for.
I want to talk about the difference between small talk, general conversations, and close, personal, real talk conversations.
Those up close and personal types of conversations can make for powerful lyrics.
Conversations happen in the moment with everyday language.
You’re not at a renaissance fair, you wouldn’t normally say “quench thy thirst with sweet libations of the god’s nectar”, Unless you were trying to be funny you would just say “grab a beer”.
But we tend to think a good lyric should be poetic.
While technically not poetry, I think there is a certain poetry in conversation.
Especially an emotionally charged conversation where we have to search for the words to express ourselves when it really matters.
A good lyric is authentic and relatable. When we are emotional our language tends to get very basic.
Have you ever been so frustrated that you can’t get a full sentence out?
We all have. And that’s the point, we all have. So that’s relatable, right?
But why do we think that kind of fragmented sentence won’t make a good lyric? It’s authentic, emotional, and relatable.
How to make your song lyrics conversational.
Making your lyrics conversational is a surefire way to engage with listeners.
In order to do this, you’ll need to consider the type of language that is being used and how it’s being used.
It is also important not to dumb down your song as it needs to be relatable for listeners as well as catchy enough for them to enjoy.
#2. Don’t try to sound clever
So there are two ways to look at it.
Write a lyric that sounds like a conversation, direct and personal.
As in…
And secondly, write lyrics in conversational language, even if the ideas are complex.
As in “Desolation Row” by Bob Dylan…
“They’re selling postcards of the hanging,
they’re painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors,
the circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner,
they’ve got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker,
the other is in his pants
And the riot squad they’re restless,
they need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight, from Desolation Row”
A very poetic stream of consciousness, vague, and full of imagery and double meaning.
But the language is straightforward. You don’t need a dictionary to listen to the song,
you just sit back and let all that imagery flow into your ears and enjoy the word pictures.
Even when using metaphors, similes, talking about complex ideas, clever word play, you can still be conversational.
Why you want your song lyrics to be conversational.
The musical elements of our songs do a great job at communicating, body language, tone, attitude, emotional subtext.
This is really important to consider when it comes to writing lyrics.
It can be hard to feel we have written something meaningful, poetic, and singable.
We tend to over write our lyrics. I think the biggest challenge the lyricist has is to do all that and make it sound simple.
The best compliment I ever got as a lyricist was, ‘that’s so obvious, why didn’t I think of that’.
#3. keep it simple
Most lyrics read at a third-grade level, that’s not because popular songwriters are idiots.
It’s a fine line to balance between poetic and convoluted language.
The whole point here is to be able to tell if your lyrics are enhancing the song or overloading the song.
that is to say, are they adding to or taking away from the emotional experience.
Lyrics are the thing the listener has to pay most attention to.
So if the rest of the song is doing its job, i.e. causing that emotion, the last thing we want to do is pull them out of that by making them think too much.
Think of it in terms of a conversation, if someone is talking over your head you switch off, all facts and numbers, nothing to excite us.
If the way someone is talking is distracting you, you can’t pay attention to what they are saying.
#4. Listen
Keep your ears open to conversations.
John Lennon often mentioned how he would write songs based on things Ringo would say in conversation, like “it’s been a hard day’s night.”
Just because it’s a funny turn of phrase doesn’t mean it’s not conversational.
Again, a clever and unique way of stating how he feels, but no one needs to reach for a dictionary.
It’s clever, unique, unusual, but it’s also immediately understandable and relatable.
Songs are ultimately a conversation between you and the listener anyway.
And we want to create that connection to them. Don’t we? I mean if you don’t you can stop reading now.
Think of your intended audience. Who are you singing FOR?
If dua lipa came out singing a Dylan-style lyric, that would just be confusing.
I’m not saying write a dissertation on your demographic, but at least be aware of what type of people listen to the type of music you write.
But if you want to make your English teacher a rap fan…Boom, a niche audience no one has tapped.
#5. use the element of surprise.
Contrasting poetic delivery with a straightforward delivery can have a huge impact.
We can switch from talking about someone or something conversationally to a more poetic style and really grab the listener’s attention.
Whatever way we choose to do it, in the verse or in the chorus, it’s your creative choice.
But we can use this idea to move from far to close, from impersonal to intimate.
Clever and poetic language is great for talking in general, skimming over a lot of ideas while still creating word pictures to anchor our lyrics.
Conversational lyrics are great for that intimate close-up personal feel.
We all have conversations everyday. We express our thoughts and emotions with everyday language all the time.
So what’s the difference. Well, we don’t judge it the same way we judge our lyrics. We don’t feel that, in a conversation, someone will think ‘I’ve heard that sentence before.
So why are we so quick to do it with our lyrics?
If you enjoyed that you should check out these 5 lyric writing tips for the pros.
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