Why Words Really Matter
The difficulty of writing lyrics well only highlights their potential power.
I remember standing side stage at a small acoustic gig years ago. The artist, just one person and a guitar, had the room absolutely captivated. They weren't doing anything particularly flashy musically; the chords were simple, the melody gentle. But as they sang, you could see it on people's faces – nods of recognition, a few tears, a shared intake of breath at a particularly poignant line.
It wasn't just the melody carrying the feeling; it was the words. They painted vivid pictures, told a story that resonated deeply with everyone there, somehow making a specific personal experience feel universal. In that moment, any debate about whether lyrics 'really' matter just evaporated. The connection was undeniable, forged word by carefully chosen words.
We live in a world where the music industry is constantly shifting, and sometimes the focus seems to be entirely on beats, hooks, and vibes. You might even hear the idea floating around that the average music consumer doesn't really care about lyrics, or doesn't even listen to them anymore. With so many songs finding popularity despite their lyrical obscurity, it certainly calls into question the value of spending loads of time crafting substantial lyrics.
But here’s the thing: while that might be true for some listeners, focusing solely on that misses the point for us as songwriters. The power of words, even if not consciously processed by every listener, is immense. And for the artist, the act of writing lyrics is integral to the craft and expression.
Let's dive into why, even now, lyrics not only matter but are often the heartwood of a truly impactful song.
1. Artistic Expression to Find Your Unique Voice
Your songs are a fundamental way you express who you are as an artist. They are your canvas, your diary, your soapbox, your whispered secret. While melody and rhythm contribute massively, lyrics often carry the direct weight of your perspective, your thoughts, and your unique way of seeing the world.
Think about the range of lyrical styles out there:
You have artists who lean heavily into reality, writing like Kris Kristofferson or Johnny Cash. Their words are grounded, specific, and often narrative.
Then you have writers who venture far into the abstract, like Radiohead, whose music allows for concepts like "fake plastic trees" and alien landings. They convey truth, but with a wealth of metaphor and often without a clear sense of specific time or place.
Choosing your lyrical approach – whether more literal or figurative – is a crucial part of determining what kind of lyric writing best expresses your artistry. It’s not about forcing yourself into a market trend; it’s about finding where your unique skillset intersects with the genre and style that allows your songs to soar the highest.
Trying to write solely for a perceived market doesn't often result in authentic musical expression. What makes a song special, unique, and valuable comes from the artist themselves. Your lyrical voice is a core part of that special something. It's how you convey your truth, whether through vivid, grounded detail or far-reaching, abstract concepts. Ignoring lyrics is ignoring a huge part of your potential artistic identity.
See more about Show, Don’t Tell, here.
2. Painting Pictures and Engaging the Listener's Imagination
One of the most powerful things lyrics do is paint pictures. They transport the listener to a place, introduce them to a character, or immerse them in an emotion. This is the power of "showing instead of telling". Instead of saying "I was sad," a lyric might describe the rain outside, the grey light in the room, or the taste of cold coffee. These details, these pictures, tug at our emotions and help envelop the listener in the world of the song.
Consider the difference between a vague statement and a concrete image. A line like "I felt lonely" is understandable, but a line like "The swing set sat still in the backyard rust, a silent sentinel of happier days" evokes a much stronger feeling and visual. Great lyrics make characters vivid and believable, even if they are abstract concepts rather than literal people.
Song painting is able to work independently of musical style. Whether it's a country ballad, a rock anthem, an electronic track, or a pop song, lyrics that engage the imagination create a deeper, more memorable experience for the listener. Even in abstract lyrics, the power lies in the evoked imagery and feeling, rather than a literal narrative. The words create a world for the listener to step into.
See five things about song painting here.
3. The Essential Synergy with Music
Lyrics don't exist in a vacuum. They are intertwined with the music – the melody, harmony, rhythm, and arrangement. The strength of any song often lies in its alignment between music and message. When music and lyrics are working together, each element is strengthened. This is all about prosody (more here).
Think about how a minor chord progression can underscore a feeling of sadness conveyed in the words, or how a driving rhythm can amplify the urgency of a lyric. The music can provide context, emotional weight, and even subtly alter the meaning of the words. Conversely, the lyrics can give structure and specific emotional focus to the musical ideas.
This connection isn't always something you can logically map out; it often needs to be 'intuited' while writing. It's about feeling how the melody supports the message, how the rhythm enhances the mood, how the harmony adds emotional colour to the words. Getting each line to carry its weight, while also being understood, while also agreeing with and supporting the musical moment, is hard. Really hard. But it's this synergy, this agreement between word and sound, that elevates a song from a pleasant tune with some words attached to a cohesive, powerful piece of art. Ignoring the lyrics means you can't achieve this alignment, robbing both the music and the potential message of their full power.
4. The Craft and the Challenge: Why It's Worth the Effort
If lyrics didn't matter, they wouldn't be so incredibly difficult to write well. We're told that song ideas are everywhere, but anyone who has sat down with a blank page knows the experience of feeling their judgment narrow and ideas fail to materialise. It can feel like trying to squeeze something big through a narrow opening.
Getting each line to carry its weight is a skill. Ensuring it's understood is another. Making it support the musical moment is yet another layer of complexity. As a lover of lyric-laden tunes myself, I've roamed for years in the weeds of unfinished songs precisely because getting all these elements to work together is hard.
The challenge of lyric writing isn't a reason to discard it; it's a testament to its potential power. Mastering the craft of using language effectively – choosing the right words, creating compelling images, structuring your thoughts, and making them sing – is a significant part of becoming a songwriter. Like practising an instrument, some activities encourage growth more than others. Just running over the easy lyrical ideas won't lead to growth; tackling the tough parts —the lines that don't quite land —is where you push past old limitations.
The effort involved in crafting lyrics underscores their importance. If they were just filler, this level of difficulty wouldn't exist. The struggle is real because the potential impact is profound.
5. Potential Power for Personal Artistic Expression
Even if the average music consumer doesn't dissect every line, the act of writing meaningful lyrics holds immense value for the songwriter. As mentioned, it's a core part of your personal artistic expression. It's how you make sense of the world, process emotions, tell your story, or explore concepts that matter to you.
The question of whether songs "should make sense" or whether lyrics "matter" in the grand scheme of consumption is one thing, but what we songwriters can take away from the potential power of words for the purpose of our personal artistic expression is quite another. The process of wrestling with words, of trying to articulate something true, is often deeply rewarding and clarifying for the artist.
Furthermore, while not every listener might focus on lyrics consciously, the cumulative effect of well-crafted words alongside fitting music creates a feeling, a depth, and a connection that even a casual listener can register on an emotional level. The pictures painted, the alignment with the music, the authenticity of the expression – these all contribute to the overall impact, even if the listener can't recite the lines verbatim. To hear more about writing for yourself, click here.
In Summary
While debates about listener behaviour in the streaming age are valid, I’d suggest that lyrics matter fundamentally for the songwriter's craft, artistic expression, and the potential depth and impact of the song itself. They are a primary tool for conveying truth, painting pictures that engage the listener, achieving synergy with the music, and expressing your unique voice. The difficulty of writing lyrics well only highlights their potential power.
Questions
Here are a few questions -
When you listen back to your own songs, what do the lyrics teach you about your current artistic focus or tendencies?
Are you using 'showing' instead of 'telling' to paint pictures in your lyrics, and if not, what's one image you could add to your current work-in-progress?
How well do the music and lyrics in your latest idea align? Can you 'intuit' the connection and strengthen either element to serve the other?
Hope this helps!
Simon.