I hate writing lyrics, yet I still feel the need to write them. So here is my general process, I keep a notebook of good phases, song titles along with what I call "song concepts". I'll explain "song concepts" that one is the hardest to get, it normally is a "what if" idea, like what would AC-DEVO sound like? what kind of lyrics would they write? What if James Brown wrote a punk song what would that sound like? I then use that to get a "feel" for the words. When I have the music done (or my band does and I call the song) I pull out the notebook and always start with what I feel is a good song title. This establishes at least a mood, and most times tells me what the song is about. I then end to try to nail a first line. Like I need a GREAT first line. This to me is almost always the hardest part, as the title already most likely gave me a idea for the chorus. I then plod through the rest, which is where I need the most help... hence the post.

PS: The song concept is a great idea for trying to get out of your comfort zone as a riff/music writer (or it at least works for my dumb music).

I record a demo of the song. Rough drum machine pattern, skeleton bassline, and my guitar part.

Then just yell/sing total gibberish over it just to get a feel for where I think things should go. I usually find a vocal melody by doing this and from the gibberish some sort of phrase comes out of it. Then I record that. Then I listen back to it and kinda find words that fit within the gibberish that evokes something that fits in the vibe of the song.

One demo the gibberish phrase was: "Arghhhah, a big garbage can. oh no." Which became "I lost the lottery again, oh no!"

Dah dah dah a tune, write to that cadence, finish with a title.

Poorly.

Which makes me very understanding of bands that have “nonsense” for lyrics.

If I get to sing in a band I'd hope that someone else takes on the lyrics writing duty. Or I'll be in a cover band.

I did however get into an inspiration burst two or three summers ago and wrote a bunch of rap lyrics. At that time I pretty much just started with some random thought and built from it. I could also let the rhyme and the rhythm do a lot of the work.

I hone in on a particular moment. Really think about it. The way of the light, the scents, the way it felt, being torn by a decision…go back in that moment and relive it, then put it on paper. Bonus if you can make it rhyme properly, double bonus if it doesn’t rhyme, but flows well.

I write lots of songs. Often the lyrics are the part I'm most proud of. I do everything listed above pretty often. Other things: if I have a theme or topic and can't get past the first chunk, I'll forget about the rhythm and cadence of the song, set the guitar down and do a fast, free association write on the topic. Like fill a page as fast as possible. I then immediately or later reread the free write and circle the interesting bits. It's usually a few lines, or seeds for lines with the rest garbage. Some of my favorite lines come out this way.

Or totally the opposite, I research. If I have a topic I read a book or wikipedia article related to it. Usually there is no direct language I can lift (although I'm not opposed and I have done it), but I can get a new dimension to aim a verse at.

I'll reiterate the value of collecting scraps of lines. I have a notepad on my phone to toss things in when they come up. Sometimes it's standing in line at the grocery store or something I read on a sign at the museum. 70% of these never get used but they can give me a starting point when I'm stuck, or more exciting slide perfectly into the middle of a song like they'd been waiting for that moment.

Great thread. I’m not currently in a situation where I’m writing many lyrics, although my last band was a situation where it was shared singing, and it was my first foray into lyrics. That was a very music-first situation and I had to fit phrasing into existing structure and was very constraining. If I could, I’d start with a chorus and start to backfill verses.

In the process, I’d try and build out a theme and an arc. I got a lot better at it as I went and it became a bit of a word puzzle in the way my mind wired: find the right words to fit a concept, get the phrasing right and also rhyme. I’m a rhymer and have no issues with using a rhyming dictionary to get out of a jam. It would often offer up a rhyming word that made the meaning click into place. Of course, many times it didn’t.

I think the big thing with lyrics is you have to be fucking ruthless and use whatever tools you can to have some words listeners can hang on to. Be willing to tear your shit down and rebuild it if you have to. When I started writing I went with more impressionistic stuff but as I understood process better and got a bit more confident I could, sometimes, bring in that 3-verse narrative in a more focused way. I don’t think either approach is better and the only “wrong” lyrics are ones that draw attention to themselves in a bad way.

Also, some people seem driven to write lyrics and are always writing. I’m not that kind of person, and have always felt a bit of imposter syndrome because I’m not some perpetual wordsmith. For me, it’s just really tiring to write lyrics… or more precisely, to get into a headspace where I can write.