Writing a song is easy.

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How to write a song

by Phil Houseal
Jan 18, 2012

How do you write a song?

It’s not that hard. I’ve written hundreds. I know musicians working at pizza joints who have written thousands of songs.

There are books about how to construct the perfect song. But here is all you really need to know:

First, you must have some music. A song without a tune is a poem. And for some reason, no one will listen to your poem on the radio. Or anywhere else, if we’re being honest.

I’ll save you time on the melody part. All you need to learn are three chords. Fully 92% of every rock, country, and gospel song ever written only uses the chords G, C, and D.

Now to move on to the next most important thing - the title. You must come up with a catchy title that will look good on iTunes. It’s better if it starts with the letter “A” so it will show up first in an alphabetical listing. The most popular words are love, baby, blue, heart, and night (hmmm... string those together and you’ve got a title right there). Or, you can simply call your song I Love You. That is the name of about 40,000 songs, so it must be effective.

OK. Now for the lyrics. A lot of people recommend writing the chorus first. This is sound advice, because that is where the songwriter “hooks” listeners with a memorable phrase that sticks in their brains like gluten in the large intestine. If you listen to country music, you can tell that most songs use a cliche, with a slight twist added. Examples: I’m as Good Once as I Ever Was; If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me; I’ve Got a Thinkin’ Problem.

Don’t panic here. The chorus is really easy. While it is normally four lines, you really only need three, since the lyrics always repeat. Find the repeating phrase in this famous tune:

Waltz across Texas with you in my arms
Waltz across Texas with you
Like a story-book ending, I'm lost in your charms
And I could Waltz across Texas with you

So when old Ernest Tubb wrote the words Waltz across Texas, he not only had his title, he was three-fourths finished with his chorus. (As a bonus, this song only uses two chords - G and D - so you don’t even have to learn how to play C, which is kind of difficult anyway.)

Finally, you need to write the verses. These little stories add background and build up to the chorus. I’ve found that it helps if you put yourself in the right mood first. Think of the saddest or most depressing moment in your life. It’s even more helpful if that moment includes being dumped by your fiance or the death of a pet. The more painful, the more prolific the inspiration. No one wants to hear you sing about how smart your kids are or paying off your mortgage. Music fans only relate to your failures - divorce, drunkenness, adultery, murder, parental neglect, or standing behind someone who takes 24 items into the express checkout line - because they can relate this to their own lives. The best bad thing of all is if you’ve served actual jail time - that’s a great source of inspiration and adds authenticity to your liner notes.

You can add little embellishments, like throwing in a key change midway (you’d need to learn three more chords, though), singing a verse in another language, or co-writing with Willie Nelson. You get the idea. Of course this is a simplified explanation. To really teach you how to write a hit song would take another entire column.

The last thing you need to do - after copyrighting your song, publishing it, getting it in front of an agent, having it recorded by a major artist, who will select it as the single on their next release, and having it played on major radio stations around the world - is to figure out how to spend all those royalties that will come pouring in.

I suggest you not forget the person who gave you the inspiration and advice to jumpstart your songwriting career.

His contact information is at the end of this column.