Talking songs: relatable emotional lyrics

Pro Songwriting Masterclass | Andrew Rollins (Emmy Award Winning | ABC, HBO | Randy Jackson, B.B. King, Chaka Khan, Billy Ray Cyrus, Blink 182, Dan Wilson, Dionne Warwick, Jose Feliciano, Carole King .... )

In writing. You know, I always look at Lyric. I mean, I am not a guy that sits down and fires off Lyric. I have friends that are, are like Lindy Robbins and, you know, people like that and Marcus that just fire off, you know, while you’re playing a melody. They’re writing those lyrics. I really, really take time with Lyric. I, how, I don’t know how many of you were in the beginning of, you know, when I was speaking 15 min minutes before we began, but the song I wrote yesterday, I had the melody for it Friday, and then I went into a write with a young songwriter, a young artist out here yesterday, and I played him the, the melody I had for it in the title, and he loved it.

And so then we just started really working on the lyric and the story and, and creating a story.

And the thing I always try to do when I’m writing, is make it something that, that someone can relate to that not someone anyone can relate to. you know, a lot of times, you know, little tricks and, you know, tools that I use is I’ll write a song and I’ll walk in the room where my wife is, you know, doing bills or talking, you know, or on her computer, and I’ll just, I’ll start talking the lyric, you know?

and, and if she looks at me like, what, what is wrong with you? then I know that it needs to be more conversational. Now, every song is not going to be conversational. there are message songs that, you know, you’re, you’re conveying your feelings, but you, those songs you make relatable, to people.

You know, you want the masses to, you’re writing to strike a chord with the masses. everybody knows heartbreak, everybody knows loss. everybody knows Joy.

everybody’s been in love. everybody’s had their heart broke. all all those things that we go through in life, we file them away and sometimes we don’t. not everyone, is able to Recall, you know, to pull the things up.

 Okay, well, I left you, I lost you guys for a minute, but anyway, the thing that I was saying is, you know, we, we file those things away in, in our memory, and not all of us, can recall them. So I al I write everything down. if I hear a title or I have a melody, a lot of times, I always say that, you know, you know, song write, being a, a songwriter is the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning.

It’s the last thing I think about when I go to sleep, and it haunts me in my sleep. And a lot of times I’ll wake up and I’ll have a melody, and what I’ll do is I’ll record that melody, I’ll grab my phone and just make a, a, a recording of it. you know, those, those are other tools that you can use, when you’re writing.

I think that, I see someone says, they they put theirs in a hook book. Yeah. Anything, you know, a lot of people like to have a physical, item. a friend of mine, Desmond Child, loves yellow legal pads. and he will have stacks of yellow Lego pads.

 I used to do that. but now I, I, I find what I do is I record when I started a writing session, I record everything. But anyway, I’m getting off subject. The the important thing when you sit down and, and I’m going to use a lyric here that I just wrote yesterday, and I had this idea for this song Friday. and, it, it was a, I had a melody and a little, you know, a chorus idea for it.

and I had to write yesterday with a, a, a young artist songwriter, a great guy. His name’s Jack Newsome. you should check him out. He’s really good. and, and I had this idea, and so, and this, and, and the title, and the title was, let Me Go, you know?

And, and Jack looked at me and he said, no, you’re gonna have to let me go, you know? because, and, and the way we broke it down is, the verse, if we get this right, nobody’s hurting. It’s my mess this time, but this time it ain’t worth it. Well, if it ain’t the consequences of my bad behavior, you couldn’t do it.

If you tried and I can’t be your savior, and then the course is, you’re gonna have to let me go. Don’t want to be around no more. You can make believe and dream in your dreams, but you’re gonna have to let me go. And so that’s really simple, you know, you get that idea. and I was talking to Randy about it, and I said, you know, those relationships that you get in and it’s toxic and you know, it’s bad for you, but there’s something that you can’t let, you can’t let go.

 And in order to let go, you need the other person to help you let go. You know? And so it’s like the thing that we’re conveying in this song is I’m not strong enough to do it myself, so you’re gonna have to let me go, otherwise I’ll just keep hanging on, you know, and regardless if it’s an abusive relationship or, or, you know, that kind of, that kind of situation.

I haven’t been in a relationship for 36 years now. I’ve been married for 36 years. And, and so I have to like, rely on other writers for me to, to really dive in and understand that side of it, because, you know, in all intents and purposes, I’ve been a happily married person for 36 years.

Of course, marriage is a rollercoaster. but you know, when you’re, you, you’ve got that comfort thing. You don’t look at the other side. So you have to bring in other people to help you with that. So, okay, let’s get back to making your lyric conversational.

 The other ways that you can do that is, you know, if you’re, if you’re in a room and you’re describing your surroundings, and you look at the wall, and the wall has outlines of where pictures used to hang and floor, a floor that’s worn because a dog has, has worn the varnish off the floor.

Those are all things that, that when you hear them in a lyric, it brings it to life. And that’s what we want to do. Thank You. That’s what we want to do when we’re writing. you know, it’s, about 12 years ago, I went through a, a situation, a a personal situation.

And, and, and being a songwriter, when you write with other writers, you become best friends. They know everything about you. they’re, it’s, it’s when you get in a great group of songwriters, it’s like therapy.

You can tell them anything. You bear your soul. You, you let your emotions go. I’ve written songs with people by the end of the, you know, the, the session. We’re all, we’re all in tears. and that’s a good thing, you know? if you can, if you can bring that out, you know, and, and when you find that nurture, that relationship, that songwriting relationship, it’s so important.

CTA Image

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee each week…

Here’s what you get as a Premium Member

24/7 Access to TSA TV

Saturday School

Monthly Songwriting Challenge

Playback and Feedback Live Session

Ask The Experts

LIVE Sunday Pro Masterclasses

Collaboration 101 | Online Course

Find Out More