FACT: Focusing too much or too early on rhyming your lyric lines can get your song into a heap of trouble. And yet, that’s what many songwriters, especially those who are new to the craft, end of doing. They sweat over perfect rhymes on every line, while losing the emotional feel that launched their song idea in the first place.
Honestly, rhyming is not the most important aspect of your lyric writing. You’ll never hear a listener say, “I’ve just got to hear that song again. I LOVE that rhyme!” Granted, a fresh rhyme can be ear-catching but it won’t evoke the feeling you want listener to experience.
When you’re working on an early draft of a song don’t even worry about rhyming. Forcing a rhyme can twist your song out of shape, send your thoughts in a different direction, or make a lyric sound awkward. Worse, it can make you say something you don’t mean. Instead…
1st: Say what you want to say.
Write out a verse and chorus that express the heart of your song before you even think about rhyming. You could even write it as a couple of paragraphs. Just keep your lines on the shorter side so they are easier to turn into a lyric.
