How to Upgrade a First Line?
10 tools to craft a great song from the beginning
I recently talked about the importance of the first line - How to Use Drama in Lyrics, the New Song Map: Questions/ Answers, and How to Write Hooks. These are all important approaches to help make your songs more commercial and more grabbing of your listeners. But there is more than one way of grabbing your listeners into your songs right from the first line. Here are some more ideas.
How to write a killer first line?
Having drafted your very first lyric, it’s never a bad idea to ask yourself this question:
Is my first line strong enough?
Very often, from my own songwriting, there are ways to upgrade the first lines to make it grab the listeners into your song more powerfully. Here are 10 ideas that might work for you, with a few examples.
Greetings - "Hello" by Lionel Richie, "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's
Pronouns - “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul, “When I Kissed the Teacher” by ABBA (Everybody screamed!), "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones, “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
Occupations - "Doctor" by The Who, “I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Paperback Writer” by The Beatles
Provocative statements - "I'm not a girl, not yet a woman" by Britney Spears, “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, “Long live” by Taylor Swift (I said, “Remember this moment”)
Questions - "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" from Frozen, "Am I Wrong?" by Nico & Vinz, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles, and, of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, widely considered to be one of the greatest songs of all time (even though I must admit, I’m not quite sure what it’s all about)
Feelings - “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, “Let It Be” by The Beatles
Settings - "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, “Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding, “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash
Situations - “Counting Starts” by OneRepublic, "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt, “Every Breath You Take” by The Police
Time frames - “You’re On Your Own” by Taylor Swift (Summer went away), “Time” by Pink Floyd, “Yesterday” by The Beatles
Visual images - "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles, “A Whole New World" by Aladdin, “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas & The Papas
So, hopefully, one of these might help jog your creativity to upgrade the first line, maybe.
Questions
Here’re some questions:
Looking at your latest lyric, could the first line be upgradeable?
From whatever library you have of listening, which songs have the most grabbing first lines you’ve heard?
Could a stronger start help set up the start of a specific Song Map?
Enjoy!
Simon.