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.
Who are the characters in your song?
THE CHARACTER OF THE SINGER
There’s at least one character in every song: the singer. Someone has to be singing and listeners want to get to know who that someone is.
For example…
Bruce Springsteen is a poet-rebel with dirt on his hands and torn jeans who wants a forever love and a better life (“The Promised Land” “Born to Run”).
Dua Lipa’s character jumps into relationships (“One Kiss”) and then learns from her mistakes (“New Rules” “Don’t Start Now”).
Bruno Mars has established his character as a guy who loves to party and wants everyone else to have a good time, too (“That’s What I Like” “24K Magic”).
These are just a few of the successful characters in modern music. Many artists have created a character for themselves with the songs they write or choose to sing.
TIP: If you’re writing to pitch to an established artist—or co-writing with an artist—be clear about the character they want to convey to their fans. Look for the themes, situations, and emotions they like to sing about. How do they see themselves? How do they want their fans to see them? If you’re writing for yourself, ask the same questions.
THE CHARACTER OF “YOU”
There’s often another character in your song—”you.” Often, the singer is talking to or about “you.” It’s important for the listener to have an idea who the other person is so they can understand the interaction between the characters.
WHO ARE “WE” OR “US”?
We don’t often see characters other than “I” and “you.” However, there are songs that refer to “we” or “us” as a group. In songs of social commentary like “We Shall Overcome” you’ll find the group character of “we” or “us” opposing an injustice or righting a wrong. “They” are are often a group that opposes “us.”
Here’s a list of 8 ways you can use your lyrics to communicate character to your listeners.
1. Show us the character’s actions
THE SINGER’S CHARACTER
In many of her songs, Adele expresses regret for lost love and failed relationships (“Hello” “Someone Like You” “Rolling In the Deep” “Set Fire to the Rain”). It’s a very identifiable part of her character. In Adele’s lyrics, we see her doing things that express those feelings—showing up at a former lover’s house, calling them on the phone, accusing them of betrayal.
Now contrast that with Taylor Swift’s character. She sings “shake it off” as she welcomes the risk that comes with new lovers in songs like “Delicate” and this lyric in “Blank Space”…
Oh my God, look at that face
You look like my next mistake
Love’s a game, wanna play?
It’s impossible to imagine Adele singing the Taylor Swift lyric. It would sound inauthentic if she tried because it’s not in character for her. But it’s perfect for the playful, risk-taking character Taylor Swift has created.
THE CHARACTER OF “YOU”
When introducing “you” to listeners, again, show them how the character acts. If the singer loves “you” then listeners will need to know why. For example, in “Tequila,” a Country hit for Dan+Shay, they sing:
But when I taste tequila, baby I still see ya
Cutting up the floor in a sorority t-shirt
The same one you wore when we were
Sky high in Colorado, your lips pressed against the bottle
Swearing on a Bible, baby, I’d never leave ya
“You” comes to life in this lyric. Listeners get a picture of the kind of wild, party-loving person she is, and why the singer is still crazy about her.
2. Show us what the character looks like
You can tell a lot about a character from their physical appearance, habits, or dress. Does your character have worn, calloused hands? This suggests a life of manual labor for low pay. You’ll want to put this character into the kinds of situations they’re likely to experience. “Daddy’s Hands” by Holly Dunn is a great lyric example.
I remember daddy’s hands folded silently in prayer
And reachin’ out to hold me, when I had a nightmare
You could read quite a story in the callouses and lines
Years of work and worry had left their mark behind
Or maybe your character wears the latest styles to the trendiest nightclubs. Paint a picture of that character for listeners by describing their clothing, appearance, and lifestyle. In “That’s What I Like,” Bruno Mars portrays a character who is happy to share with us the joys of being rich and indulgent.
I’ll rent a beach house in Miami
Wake up with no jammies
Lobster tail for dinner
Julio, serve that scampi
You got it if you want it, got, got it if you want it.
In contrast, Lorde paints the rich in “Royals” in a darker light: Gold teeth, ball gowns, tigers on a gold leash, bloodstains, and trashed hotel rooms. Bruno’s wealthy celebrity and Lorde’s superstars are described very differently and each reflects the singer’s own opinion and character. Read my Song Guide to “Royals” by Lorde.
3. Describe facial expressions
A false smile, luscious lips, a sneer, eyes filled with tears: these descriptions are a shorthand way to tell us who a character is and what they’re feeling. Humans are very good at interpreting facial expressions so don’t hesitate to use that to your advantage.
4. Show us how a character moves
Does a character in your song strut with confidence, tiptoe timidly, float into the room, or run with heart pounding intensity? Try people-watching for a while to see what a person’s gait or posture tells you about them and use that in a lyric.
5. Use language to express character
Should a character in your song say “ain’t” instead of “is not”? Does your character use double negatives? (“Now I ain’t got nowhere to go”) You hear this type of language frequently in the Americana, Country, and Rock genres. But you won’t hear it as much in the Dance and Pop genres. Instead you’ll hear more urban and teen idioms, like Dua Lipa’s character uses in “Don’t Start Now”:
Did a full 180, crazy…
I’m all good already.
So moved on it’s scary.
6. Compare a character to something else
One particularly effective way to convey character is to compare the person to something else. Here’s how Dierks Bentley describes himself in “Burning Man.”
I’m a little bit steady but still little bit rolling stone
I’m a little bit heaven but still a little bit flesh and bone
Little found, little don’t know where I am
I’m a little bit holy water but still a little bit burning man
By comparing himself to a rolling stone, a bit of heaven, and flesh and bone, the listener gets the idea that the character has many facets and some of them are in conflict. He’s a complicated guy.
You can characterize “we” or “us” with broad images that express the character of a group. The opening lines of P!nk’s “What About Us” introduces the group “we” in the very first lines.
We are searchlights, we can see in the dark
We are rockets pointed straight at the stars
Using these beautiful, upward trending images (searchlights, rockets pointed at the stars) she characterizes the group as hopeful, yearning, and committed to finding something better.
7. What has the character experienced?
A real person has had experiences that helped to shape who they are, what they, say, and how they act. To make your character believable, stick to the kinds of experiences they’re likely to have had.
For example, If the singer is a down-to-earth Country boy or a folksy sweetheart-of-the-rodeo type, they aren’t likely to sing a lyric like urbane, man-of-the-world Frank Sinatra does in “Come Fly With Me.”
Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away
If you can use some exotic booze
There’s a bar in far Bombay
Your character wouldn’t have a clue about that bar in Bombay and it will destroy the credibility you’ve built with the listener. But singer-songwriter Jacob Whitesides can sing about “cinnamon in Istanbul” and “drinking hot chocolate on a Soho floor” in his song “Let’s Be Birds” because his character is more sophisticated.
8. Express character with your music
Although lyrics are the primary way we create character, music has a big part to play as well. Have you ever heard Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”? If you have then you’ve heard an extreme example of character expressed in music. Each character is created by a single instrument dedicated to that character: the bird is a fluttering flute, the waddling duck is an oboe, etc.
I’m not suggesting that you be as specific as “Peter and the Wolf.” But there is a useful idea there: an instrument’s sound is likely to tell listeners something about the character who is singing over it. Pounding drums and distorted electric guitar are likely to accompany a character who is aggressive and pumped up with energy (“Stricken” by Disturbed), while the sound of a softly strummed acoustic guitar might accompany a singer who is working through emotion in a thoughtful way (Gregory Alan Isakov in “Second Chances).”
If you’re a singer-songwriter, you’ll need to decide what style of music represents you best. Listen to artists who are similar to you and make a note of the instrumentation they use. Then consider adding a few unique touches of your own. Are you crazy about harmonica? Do you play a few world instruments? Do you want to add electronica elements? It will all depend on which instruments best represent your personality and support the emotion in your songs.
CHARACTER IN FILM & TV SONGS
Character is extremely important in Film & TV songs. Does the scene need to convey the raw edge of a lost soul surviving in a harsh world? Or the aching of a brokenhearted youth? The soaring hopes of an optimist on the brink of a dream or the jaded blues of experience?
Comparisons (see above) will work best for you here because you don’t want to be too specific about a character’s physical looks or actions.
Here’s an example from ‘Poison & Wine” by the Civil Wars:
You only know what I want you to
I know everything you don’t want me to
Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine
You think your dreams are the same as mine
Oh I don’t love you but I always will
Oh I don’t love you but I always will
Both the singer and the character of “you” are described in this seemingly simple lyric. The comparison of the lover’s mouth to poison and wine is an effective shorthand way to convey the complicated characters and feelings in this relationship.
– Try It Now –
Choose a character you want to write about. It could be someone you know, a fictional character, or it could be yourself. Choose a situation for your character that includes another person. Using the tips I’ve given you for writing character, write a song lyric that will get your characters across to listeners.