Have you ever heard (or written) a song that sounds like it could be part of a textbook? There may be a lot of information you want to get across, but it’s not going to connect with people if it’s all information. It’s difficult to get ideas across in the short time-span of most songs, and a song needs an emotional connection for people to really be engaged. So how can you improve that informational song? Here are a few steps you can take:

Get to the Point

Take all the information in your song and consolidate it into one main idea. What one thing do you want people to remember? Use that as your main idea. Write down any words or phrases that contribute to that idea. If you can’t decide on one main idea, consider making two or more songs from the ideas.

Connect

Is there a way to make an emotional connection with that idea? If not, is there a different way to present the main idea that would connect? If you can’t, you may need to go back to the previous step and work on a different main idea. How do you want people to walk away feeling? Write words and phrases that make that happen.

Clean Up

Look at all the information you have from the original version. Determine if any of it contributes to the main idea. Keep any contributing information and get rid of the rest.

Tie It All Together

Take the informational words and phrases you wrote down and use them to create the verses. Then take the emotional words and phrases and use those to create a chorus.

Taking these steps should results in a song that has more impact.