I’ve been thinking a lot about the art and craft of songwriting (as usual) and I keep circling back to a couple of obvious facts:
Every song begins with an idea in your mind.
Every song takes shape because something in you propels it forward, adding to it, sculpting it, changing, strengthening, and polishing it as it moves along.
It struck me that this process is something like the workings of a machine, a Machine for Making Beautiful Things. And like any machine, it needs a “User Manual.” So here’s my idea of what you might find in…
A MANUAL FOR THE PROPER USE AND CARE OF A MACHINE FOR MAKING BEAUTIFUL THINGS
Congratulations on being the owner of a marvelous Machine. You are in possession of something that is both universal (a creative mind) and yet totally unique to you. With proper care, it will give you a lifetime of remarkable service.
GET TO KNOW YOUR MACHINE
Your Machine for Making Beautiful Things is made of countless shining parts whose angles and planes reflect the world like mirrors in the moonlight. It has conveyor belts and cogs that make unexpected connections between ideas and images. Everyday objects, events, and words become intriguing, alluring, strange, or compelling when the Machine goes to work on them.
While the sights and sounds of the season are all around us, this is the time to write those holiday hits. Maybe you want to pitch to a Hallmark holiday special, approach a music publisher with a new Christmas classic, or just share a bit of seasonal cheer with friends and family.
If you’re like me, you’ve combed through YouTube looking for cool songs and videos to share in holiday emails. Don’t miss out on these listeners! Put a simple lyric video together and upload it to YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram.
There have been a few Christmas lyrics about getting home in time to celebrate with family and friends. There’s the classic “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and songs like Chris Rea’s “Driving Home for Christmas,” but it’s a theme that still has plenty of room for creativity.
In this song, writers John Legend, Amy Wadge, and Daniel Lafrombe have given it a personal touch that makes you feel you’re listening in as Legend calls home to say he’ll be late.
In the chorus he lists all the things he might do to make it back by Christmas Eve: “I’m gonna walk, if I have to run, I’ll stand on the highway and stop someone. I’ll cross the deserts and oceans, a river that’s frozen…” Give this idea some thought: If you were stuck a thousand miles away, how would you try to make it back home in time for the holiday?
A NOTE ON THE MELODY: This is a slow ballad with a strong melody. There are a few pauses between song sections (and one pause in the chorus after “You can count on me”) but the rest of the melody rolls forward line after line, creating plenty of momentum. That’s one of the essential tricks of good ballad writing—the melody is always in motion. Also notice the pattern of long and short phrases that keep the melody interesting… and keep listeners listening.
I got a real kick out of this lyric! Although the title sounds like another “make it back home in time” song, it’s definitely not! Here, the question is: Will the singer and her boyfriend stay together until the big day? She says:”Don’t know what I’ll say to Dad when he sees the empty chair. Don’t want to hear my Mom say, “Told you so.” Listeners will stay tuned in to find out how it all turns out.
There are lots of Motown overtones in the arrangement that add a nostalgic flavor. In a holiday song, a little nostalgia is a good thing.The melody rolls forward without stopping, carrying listeners along. There’s a strong post-chorus filled with retro-Pop background vocals and a solid hook/title line.
Give the songwriter in your life the gift of knowledge!
Check out this revamping of Freddy Fender’s Tex-Mex classic complete with pumping bass and accordion frills that evoke the genre and locale. How about taking your Christmas song to someplace like Paris? Try a sidewalk café vibe or Edith Piaf-style chanson. (Now there’s a thought!)
Choose your favorite spot and imagine a holiday with local color and sound. This might limit your film and TV pitches to scenes that take place in that particular locale, but it could be a great YouTube lyric video with a few stock photos. YouTubers will love your new holiday classic.
This is an Urban AC tune with a cool Reggae vibe and plenty of warm Jamaican holiday wishes. The lyric is simple but keeps the Jamaican feel throughout—”Though we celebrate it different where I’m from / Joy we keep it strong.” The melody is catchy, with just the right amount of syncopation to get your body swaying.
In this lyric, writers Samantha Jade and Graeme Press chose a single object to represent the holiday season—a candle—and built their lyric around it. You can hear something similar in holiday classics lilke “Silver Bells” and “White Christmas.”
Instead of listing all the familiar sights and sounds of the holidays, choose just one and explore it.BONUS TIP: You can apply this idea to any holiday, from New Year’s to Hallowe’en. Choose one image and write a lyric around it, focusing on the feelings and meaning associated with it.
What kid hasn’t shouted “Finally!!! It’s Christmas!” as they rushed to the tree to tear open their presents? This song, written and performed by the Hanson brothers in 2017, is a wonderful rockin’ tribute to the excitement and anticipation in the build-up to the Big Holiday. I loved it for the fun and enthusiasm of the song, the performance, and the musical arrangement with it’s big nod to the Beach Boys and the Beatles. Check out the YouTube video just for the joy of it.
Writing holiday lyrics
The best way to get authenticity and emotion into your lyric is to put yourself into the situation you’re writing about. That’s why writing your holiday songs at this time of year is such a good idea.As you go through the holidays, be aware of your own emotions and those of the people around you. Or pick a stranger at random and imagine that person’s situation and what they’re feeling. Or watch a classic holiday movie and choose a scene that suggests a song idea.
Draw the listener into the situation with a lyric that features images, actions, and physical sensations. Express the emotion the singer is feeling in ways the listener can relate to. Use the physical senses to evoke sound, touch, smell, and taste. You’ll give your song a unique, believable vibe and guarantee that it won’t be just another holiday song by rote.
Try it now
Start, work on, rewrite, or finish a holiday song. You can write in just about any style from Contemporary Pop to Singer-Songwriter ballad to Reggae to 1950s Rock ‘n’ Roll. Choose a style that plays to your strengths. A simple guitar/vocal works great for the Singer-Songwriter, Folk, Reggae, and Americana styles. A piano/vocal is fine for Adult Contemporary ballads. You’ll need a more produced track for some of the Rock and orchestral styles.
If you don’t consider yourself the right singer for the song, call on a friend, a fellow songwriter, or someone in your family. Holiday songs are not about being polished and perfect; they’re all about a real feeling. Keep that in your mind and heart and you’ll do fine!
The new edition of Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting is finally a reality. All the Shortcuts from the first edition are expanded and updated with the latest hit song examples, plus new Shortcuts covering today’s must-have songwriting tools.
There’s so much information, I needed three e-books to cover all 178 song crafting techniques. Read a book from beginning to end or bounce around looking for just the tool you need to turn your new chorus into a hit. You can put every Shortcut to use the minute you start working on a song. Check out all three books on Amazon where you can see the complete Table of Contents and download a free sample.
At just $9.99 each, pick one up right now and get started. If you don’t have an eReader, no problem! Download the free Kindle app and read across all your devices. Print books are in the works for spring, 2020.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could write songs faster, start new songs that you always finish, and still express yourself in the way you want to? You’d have more songs to pitch, you could reach more listeners, and songwriting would be more exciting and fun to do. You bet it would.
We all want to be more creative, have more songs in our catalog, and feel satisfied that we’re getting things accomplished. It’s just that reality doesn’t always work out that way. More often than not, we run into problems.
We don’t have any good ideas for new songs.
We’re not sure what kinds of songs we should be writing and for what market.
We get stuck working on one song that’s in trouble.
We’re scared our songs aren’t good enough so we don’t finish them.
We all know that the quality has to be there, but I bet you could write more songs and keep the quality at the level you want or even improve it. Here’s a whole bunch of ideas for writing FASTER and BETTER.
Learn how pro songwriters use imagery in their lyrics.
Using images in your lyrics is a quick and powerful way to connect with listeners. Let’s take a look at a couple of strong image-based song lyrics. To find them, we need look no further than today’s successful singer-songwriters. This style relies heavily on the use of images to express personal experiences and emotions.
Song #1 “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room Writer: John Mayer
THE TITLE IMAGE: The title of this song is an intensely powerful visual image. Who can resist picturing this couple and the destruction happening around them?
