“I write songs that make people feel and that touch people”
—Janis Ian
The biggest mistake that many new songwriters make is to write songs that are all about them, their life, and their world. Who cares?
By all means express yourself by writing about something you’re familiar with, but don’t be too insular. Always remember that your songs should be about your audience—not about you.
If you want your songs to be successful commercially (which is all that music publishers and A&R executives are interested in) you must be careful not to make your songs too narrow and personal. The same applies whether you’re a singer- songwriter, or writing for your own band or other artists.
Don’t be like the boring person at a party who only ever wants to talk about himself or herself. People don’t want to hear about your problems. They might, however, want to listen if your songs are about experiences, hardships and situations that everyone can relate to—such as a broken love affair, a personal tragedy, or a song about concern for the environment.
“I’m not looking to describe something that’s only true of my own circumstances,” Jackson Browne once said. “It’s all about reaching inside to something that you have in common with many.”
Diane Warren avoids making her songs too personal by putting herself in the shoes of the character she’s writing about. “I see pictures in my mind and become the character in the song as I’m writing,” she said. “It’s kind of method song- writing, where you’re the actor in the song.”
By writing about something that everyone experiences in his or her own life, you can touch people’s emotions. If you can make the listener feel something, it’s the sign of a good song.
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