rhythm - What are some techniques used to increase the melodicality of a lyric?

Is there any trick, rule, principle for increasing the melodicality of a lyric?

I want to write a lyric, but I don't really have a melody in mind and wish to just write a lyric that can fit a lot of different melodies? Is there a way to insure that?

Answer

Lyrics are essentially a specialized form of poetry, and usually have a regular rhyme scheme. The trickiest part IS the rhythm. You really need to have a musician's sense of rhythm to be a great lyricist. If the rhythm is too regular, your lyrics will be "sing-songy" and trite or monotonous sounding. But without rhythm, they will be awkward to sing. You might try writing along to a beat to see if that helps. I would also highly recommend reading the lyrics of great lyricists as if they were poetry, and seeing if you can get the feel. Oscar Hammerstein, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Tupac Shakur, James Mercer and Frank Ocean are just a few of my own favorites (in contrasting styles and genres).

The other thing to look out for is overall song structure. The most common song structure is verse, chorus, bridge. In this structure, the verse is usually longer, and more complex, both rhythmically and thematically. There are usually between two and four different verses, and each one should have roughly the same rhythm and rhyme scheme (because it will be sung to the same melody each time). The chorus is usually much simpler (because everyone sings along here), and contains the main theme (and usually the title) of the song. Generally there is only one chorus, which is repeated several times. The bridge is a (usually short) portion that contrasts to the other sections, and usually only comes in once. Not every song has all those parts, but they have been relatively standard over a long range of time, and across genres.

I would actually recommend NOT trying to write lyrics that will fit generic melodies. The best lyrics inspire their own unique melodies. All-purpose lyrics make for generic songs. On the other hand, your lyrics can be quite short and simple (and even repetitive) --sometimes that makes for the most powerful songs.