As I’ve said before, our favorite songs actually contain much valuable information when it comes to learning the craft of songwriting, so the next method of creating powerful opening lines in your verses probably won’t come as a surprise.

An outstanding way to never run out of ideas is to take the first line or two of every song you’d like to analyze, and make a list, describing what the line is generally saying.

 
Here’s an example taking songs from the current top ten on the Billboard Pop Charts:

 <……………………………from Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl”

The two opening lines make reference to “What I didn’t expect,” because the lines say it wasn’t the way I planned it and it wasn’t my intention (it was totally unexpected).  So, using this idea, if I titled a song, “Leave Me In The Dust,” my opening line could be something like, “The shock of your disappearing act hasn’t sunk in yet.”     

Here’s another example:

<……………………………from Rihanna’s “Take A Bow”

You can categorize these two opening lines as “What does he, she, or they look like?” as it relates to the song’s idea or title.   Well in this song, the guy looks dumb as he’s standing outside her house.

As another example, in George Strait’s country song titled “You Look So Good In Love,”  the first lines are, “Oh how you sparkle, Oh how you shine, That flush on your checks is more than the wine.”   In both songs, the singer is setting up the plot of the song by painting a picture of “What that someone in their song looks like.”

3.  So now we’ve studied two opening lines of songs. 
On a lined sheet of paper, title it “Opening Line Ideas” and start listing the opening line ideas on the top line:

 Let’s continue building this list with the following song’s first two lines:

<…………………………….Miley Cyrus’s “7 Things”

Pretty simple two lines, right?  We can categorize this one as “What happens to me (or you, or them, etc.)” or “What kind of feeling do I get?”

 So, if we continue our Opening Lines Idea sheet it will now look like this:

******You can always substitute the pronouns with other pronouns.  I.e., in “What I didn’t expect” you can use the idea ,”What he didn’t expect, what you didn’t expect, what they didn’t expect, etc.  

 As you can see, the possibilities are endless.  Use this article as your starting point and keep building ideas by studying the first two lines of songs, and you’ll never run out of strong opening line ideas!

By the way, this method often generates great song titles, too!

There are some songwriters who seem to have an internal button that pushes itself to let them them know that “PING!”……that line needs work, the hook/chorus is lacking, or the song itself is just O.K., not very good at all, etc.  On the other hand, there are some songwriters who write a song and think it’s the greatest song since “Stairway To Heaven” only to get a cold reception and an “I don’t think so, dude,”  from an audience every time they play it.

A huge part of becoming a great songwriter is to learn how to be completely honest with your work so you can continually improve. 

To train yourself on how to guage your songwriting properly in order to benefit your songwriting tremendously, follow these tips: 

1.  You can start by listening to your favorite music and giving each song an honest opinion about the lyrics, melody, harmony, rhythm, etc.  Don’t fall into the envious trap of thinking, “Oh that song completely sucks, my songs are better,” without figuring out why you think the song is so bad.    It’s human nature to put down another songwriter’s work especially when you believe it’s true, even if you just say it to yourself, but why not dig deeper to see how correct you are and justify why you’re making this determination for your learning experience?   

If you approach it this way, you’ll probably find that many of those songs you don’t like are simply not your cup of tea!  You see, while there is some fluff out there, there’s usually some quality such as the recording artist to the infectious melody to the catchy rhythm that makes the song appealing and successful.

2.  After writing and rewriting your song, rehearse your song and record yourself if possible, even if it’s a mini-recorder.  If your song is more electronic-based and depends more on a groove such as  R&B, some types of Pop, Rap, and Dance, download the free The Hammerhead Rhythm Station for Windows or the orDrumbox for Mac, learn how to use the free software machine, and sing or rap to the beat.  If you have a recording studio of any size at home, or access to a studio through a friend, this is the ideal route to take.   By recording yourself, you will be able to hear good parts as well as flaws that need work.  

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sung in a recording studio thinking the song was excellent and the vocals O.K., only to come out of the vocal booth and find the song as well as the performance stunk!

3.  Run your song(s) through one of the many great songwriting checklists on the web to make sure it’s your best possible work.

4.  Test the song(s) out with family members and friends (when everyone’s sober!), look at their immediate reaction,  and ask what they like and/or dislike about the song.  This is by no means a perfectly accurate way to gauge your progress but it gives you a general idea of your song’s impact on people. 

5.    If you find your songwriting is lacking in some general area such as verse development, go back to the basics, review verse development techniques and rewrite your verse or verses once again.  With patience and persistence, you’ll eventually get it right and be pleased with your work! 

If anyone’s experienced a great way to be honest with their own songwriting or musicianship for that matter, I’d love to hear what you did and how you did it!