A Holiday Songwriting Tool Kit

Unlike radio hits that burst on the scene then fade away, holiday songs have a long, long lifespan. Every major artist records at least one album of holiday songs. Plus there’s an avalanche of holiday movies and TV shows that need these songs, too. Sure they include the classics that everyone knows and loves, but they need to sprinkle in a few potential new holiday hits, too.

The Power of the Kick-Off Line

Annnnnd there’s the kick-off! The ball is in motion. The players explode into action. The fans are on their feet. It’s the moment they’ve all been waiting for! That’s the power of the kick off.

Now think about launching a verse or chorus with that kind of energy!

A kick-off line can add a big shot of excitement to any section of your song. It can be the attention-grabbing opening of Verse 1. It can be the boost that gives your chorus a chance to really soar.

An effective kick-off line is a combination of strong melody and lyric writing. So, let’s check out some examples from a few big, contemporary hit songs to see how it’s done.

Should I Write Or Should I Listen?

Probably every songwriter reading this would answer: WRITE! We all want to spend as much time as we can writing our songs: moving lyrics and melody forward, getting them finished, and starting new ones. Writing feels productive. It feels like you’re accomplishing something.

But listening to songs is just… well, it’s just something you enjoy, something you do when you’re driving, or studying. In other words, something you do while you’re actually doing something else.

But what if I said that listening to songs is as important to your success as writing songs? What if I told you that you should spend as much time listening as you do writing?

8 Ways to Add Character to Your Songs

Have you ever started reading a novel or watching a movie and instantly found the characters so intriguing that you couldn’t stop? While we wouldn’t dream of reading a novel that didn’t have interesting characters in it, we don’t often think about the characters in our songs. Yet a character is often the first thing that a listener reacts to. Do they like your characters? Identify with a character? If so, they’ll stick around and listen to your song, maybe more than once.

So let’s take a deeper look at how you can create characters that capture the listener’s interest.

Great Song Lyrics: Using Clichés

Have you ever noticed how some people can describe a simple, everyday event and make it sound hilarious or tragic or just plain interesting, while another person can tell the same story and have you snoring with boredom in an instant?

If the language you use to tell a story is vivid and fresh even a familiar experience or idea can come to life, but if you’re talking in overused, predictable phrases—in other words, if you’re using clichés—the most exciting story can become dull. It’s all in the words you choose.

People often speak in clichés

Time flies!


Clichés are familiar phrases that have become an acceptable shorthand way of expressing an idea: “Time flies!” “Love is blind.” “He’s full of hot air.” “You can count on me.” On the plus side, everyone understands what you mean. But these phrases are so familiar and overused they’ve lost their emotional impact. The result is bland, forgettable language. For example, here’s a description of a workday that’s filled with clichés.

  • I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. My cup of coffee tasted like mud. On the bus, people were packed like sardines. My boss was hopping mad when I got to work late. The day seemed to drag on and on. I thought six o’clock would never come!

While this paragraph gives you an idea of what the speaker’s day was like, it doesn’t make you feel the boredom and frustration. Familiar phrases such as “packed like sardines,” “hopping mad” and “seemed to drag on and on” have been used so many times listeners no longer picture the images, experience the sensation, or notice the comparison; they don’t feel the crush of bodies on the bus or picture the boss hopping up and down in anger. In fact, listeners barely even hear clichés at all. They’re wasted space in your song unless you do something to change that.

Give your clichés new life. 

1. Use a fresh or unexpected comparison

Comparisons are a great way to add energy to a description. There was a time when “packed like sardines” was vivid, fresh, and funny. Listeners really pictured it when they heard it and it made them react. Eventually, so many people liked it and used it that the idea became stale and listeners stopped reacting.