KillerM’s Lyrics Guide
Intro
My aim with this guide is to get you to start writing your own lyrics instead of relying on AI, and show how you can easily surpass what it gives you. I too used ChatGPT at the start, and quickly grew out of it when I saw the limitations. We’ll go over rhyming, flow, and structure to hopefully get the complete picture.
Why write your own lyrics
While using AI can be a quick and easy way to get lyrics, I recommend putting in the work and writing your own:
AI tends to overuse certain words, like spark, ignite, align, unfold, neon, electric, etc.
You open up the possibility of rhyming schemes beyond the simple AABB and can use slant rhymes.
Your lyrics will have your own personal touch and can be distinguished from everyone else’s
People will see that you put in effort and will be more likely to give your song time. It’s easy to tell at a glance if the lyrics were written by AI or a human
What is the song about?
The first thing to decide is what the song is actually going to be about, and what role the lyrics have to play. Vocals are basically another instrument in your song and they can play a major or minor role. You can tell a story, pass on a message, convey an emotion, or just have the lyrics there to sound good. Each of these requires a different approach, and they are listed by the order of how coherent the lyrics need to be.
Telling a story: Your lyrics describe what happens in the story and they need to make sense and usually be in chronological order. Structurally you would have longer verses and have the turning point of the story come in the bridge.
Passing a message: This means political or controversial. If it wasn’t then you wouldn’t be making a song about it. You should tread carefully here, since you will alienate half the audience that don’t agree with you just from the subject choice, and since there are usually strong feelings involved you will most likely also over-focus on the message and not on making a good song. My suggestion here is to either make it satire and focus on the humor, or use metaphors like George Orwell did in “Animal Farm” substituting farm animals for the different classes in communism. A good Udio example of satire is from redsyrus, in the song XS:
Conveying a feeling or emotion: Here it’s all about vibes. The lyrics don’t have to fully make sense or be complete sentences. As long as the lyrics all give out the right feeling than you are fine. As an example I give my collab with Melanintoninman, where the song is about longing, and the lyrics aren’t the most sensical when closely analyzed:
Lyrics just for the sound: Using vocals as another instrument, this can range from made up gibberish words, to sentences with real words that don’t make much sense, to vocalizations such as chants or oohs and ahs. Examples:
Blur’s “Song 2”:
Woo-hoo (x4)
I got my head checked
By a jumbo jet
It wasn't easy
But nothing is, noThese lyrics weren’t made to make sense, but to emulate the sound of grunge music.
Eiffel 65’s “Blue”:
I'm blue, da-ba-dee, da-ba-diThe chorus keeps repeating the vocalizations, purely for how they sound.
For the final example is my Tropical Nonsense song, where there are no lyrics, just Udio gibberish that sounds musical:
Rhymes and rhyme structures
The simplest and most often ignored rhyme structure is no rhymes. Rhymes are not at all necessary for good sounding music, and Udio does a wonderful job with making things sound good. Here’s a silly little example for this:
More examples will be shown later in the lyrical deep dive at the end.
Try to do some experimenting with just writing what’s on your mind and seeing what comes out, this can be an eye-opening experience. If you see Udio have consistent issues with a part of your lyrics, make some changes and try again.
The next structure is AABB, meaning two lines that rhyme with each other, followed by two lines that rhyme with each other but not with the first lines. This can be used, but it tends to be boring and it’s the option that most AI lyrics go for.
There are plenty of other rhyming options such as AA-A or A-AA, where three lines all rhyme but one line doesn’t; ABAB where rhymes alternate; and more complicated structures like in rap, where a single line will have several rhymes inside it, or starting a line with a rhyme for the previous line and ending in a rhyme for the next. Try to make a conscious choice of where you’re placing your rhymes, and play around with different structures. It’s OK to switch up in the middle of a song, especially in rap where it’s even expected.
Finally there are slant rhymes, where words can rhyme depending on how they are pronounced, for the classic example of this, see Eminem’s take on what rhymes with orange:
“If you enunciate it and make it more than one syllable, or-ange,
you can say, like, I put my or-ange, four inch,
door hinge in stor-age and ate porr-idge with Geo-rge."Here’s an example using the first verse from “Wrath of Algorath” by Niddy, PORK, and myself :
Yo it's dark and it's epic
Got me feeling poetic
Got me ready for war
Got me all energeticFirst 4 lines follow an AA-A rhyme, and have a bit of repetition to build structure.
My athletic genetics
Enhanced with cybernetics
There's no way to compare
Got you looking patheticThe next 4 lines also do AA-A, but it keeps the same rhyme as the lines before it, and the first line of these doubles up on the rhyme.
Ready to go to battle
Sentries up on the castle
Take 'em without a hassle
Leaving you as my vassalNext lines are AAAA, but notice the inner rhyming of the first 2 lines, with ready rhyming with sentries.
I'm the lord of the land
Coming with the master plan
I need you to understand
That we only just began
I can and I will
Rape pillage and steal
When I come you should kneel
Or get crushed under my heel
Got my sword and my shield
But all I need's my reputation
My enemies just hear me coming
And go on permanent vacationNext 8 lines are just AAAA, but notice the 9th line rhymes with the one right before it, and the lines that rhyme are the 10th and 12th.
Here's some education
You're far below my station
Bow down to the king
or face decapitationFinal lines in the verse are AA-A.
For more examples and in-depth analysis, see the lyrical deep dives at the end.
Flow
The flow, or cadence, of your lyrics is mostly dictated by the syllable count rather than the actual words. If you want to replace some words in your lyrics and maintain the flow, keeping the same syllable count will do that. Different languages have different flows as well due to this. For example English has a lot of common single syllable words, while Spanish has many common two syllable words. Love vs amor for example. If you are unsure how many syllables a word has, you can use a tool such as https://syllablecounter.io/, or count them yourself by only singing das.
For example encyclopedia is da-da-da-DA-da-da, so 6 syllables. The capitalized one is where the stress in the word goes, which also affects the flow.
If your lyrics feel like they are not flowing well, try adding or removing syllables. In English it’s easy to do with single syllable words that don’t carry much information, such as just, but, and.
Here’s an example: let’s say you had a line “Baby I love you too”, and realized that you never actually call her baby but babe instead. You want to keep the same flow so you need the same number of syllables, but baby is two syllables (bey-bi), while babe is only one. An easy fix is to add an oh right before it, to make it “Oh babe I love you too”. Let’s say now you wanna break up and need to change the entire line to “I’m no good for you”. Unfortunately the new line has 5 syllables while the old one has 6. To maintain the same flow, you can again add a single syllable word so it becomes “I’m just no good for you”, or “Oh I’m no good for you” or even extend the final word like “I’m no good for you-oo”.
Repetition
Repetition is not rhyming, since a word does not rhyme with itself. Repetition can be used to great effect in different forms:
Single syllable repetition: This can be a whole word repeating if that word is monosyllabic, can be used for stress or urgency, or just better flow. For instance: What do you say-say-say? Are you okay-kay-kay? It doesn’t have to be at the end of the line, such as: What do you need-need-need from me?
Call and response: This is when a few words repeat, but with the content between repetitions changing. This can be used for structure and for catchiness. Examples:
From Afroman’s “Because I Got High”:
I was gonna clean my room until I got high
I was gonna get up and find the broom, but then I got high
My room is still messed up, and I know why
'Cause I got high
Because I got high
Because I got highAnother example:
I’m a man on a mission
I’m a man with a vision
I’m a man with a plan
Talkin’ ‘bout repetitionHere I used I’m a man to build structure, and a rhyming scheme where lines 1,2,4 rhyme, and line 3 has an inner rhyme.
Buildup repetition: Where you repeat the previous line and add something. This can be as simple as building up anticipation with an incomplete sentence and then following it up with the complete one, preferably with a powerful ending. A good place for this is at the end of a chorus. Example:
I want to hear you say…
I want to hear you say “I love you”This can also be taken to the extreme with building up the sentence one word at a time, preferably with the meaning being altered with every added word. A good example for this is in Rammstein’s “Du Hast”:
Du, du hast, du hast mich, du hast mich
Du hast mich gefragt, du hast mich gefragt
Du hast mich gefragt und ich hab' nichts gesagtWhich in English would be:
You,
You have (also sounds like hate)
You have me (or you hate me)
You asked me
You asked me and I didn’t say anythingJust to sound good: Repetition can also be used just to sound good, have better flow, or just fill up lines when you don’t have many lyrics. Lady Gaga is the master of this, for example from “Bad Romance”:
Ra, ra, ah-ah-ah
Roma, roma-ma
Gaga, ooh, la, la
Want your bad romanceInformational Structure
Let’s look at how your lyrics develop over the course of a song from the perspective of a standard song structure of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-final chorus.
First verse is the setup, where you introduce what the song is about, not giving out too much information at first to keep the listener interested.
In the chorus, the lyrical content needs to be even more vague or general, since it will repeat and needs to fit after the second verse as well.
The second verse is where you can give out some more specific information, either building up on the first verse or continuing the story.
The bridge is where you can make a choice. It is the pivot point of the song. You can double down on the information in the verses making it more powerful; do a 180 turn, like a breakup song turning into acceptance of the situation; resolve the situation in some way or leave things open ended; the bridge is the place to add some variety. Using a different flow than the verses here is also recommended.
The final chorus can then be slightly altered lyrically depending on what happened in the bridge.
This is of course only one way to do this, and song structures can vary wildly. You can add an intro and/or outro, pre-chorus and/or post-chorus, extra verses, have varying lengths of these sections, or omit them entirely at different points. I suggest you study your favorite songs and see how they are structured if you need some inspiration. I also go into this later on in the deep dives.
Guidelines for lyrics in the different types of sections:
Intro:
This is where you introduce the track. It can be a sort of verse with different flow, a different rendition of the chorus, spoken word, TV/radio announcer, etc. Use it to set up a vibe or expectations for what the listener is about to hear.
Outro:
A mirror image of the intro, this time you give out your closing thoughts, summarizing or subverting the lyrics that came before.
Verse:
The meat of your song. This is where you go into specifics, story points or concepts. Subsequent verses tend to keep the same flow but further the story. If there is no progression in the lyrical content of the verses, it may make the song feel like it’s not going anywhere. You can play around with the length of the verses. I prefer to have the first one shorter so the listener reaches the chorus faster, and once they are hooked they are more willing to accept a longer second verse.
Chorus:
These are the repeating parts of your song which the listener will hear the most of. Lyrically they need to be more vague so the chorus fits after each verse. The chorus contains your main point, and is usually the catchy part of the song that sticks in your head. This is where you can utilize the various forms of repetition to their full effect.
Bridge:
As mentioned before, this is the pivot point of the song. The bridge should have a different flow and different energy from the rest of the song to give the listener a little break before returning to what they got used to. Lyrically you can use the bridge to strengthen, subvert, or pivot from the previous lyrical content.
Pre-Chorus:
A part that goes between the verse and chorus, and is used as a transition between them, especially when the energy levels between them are quite different. Another place to switch up the flow and melody. The lyrics tend to repeat in pre-choruses, but less than in the chorus. You can make slight adjustments to the lyrics, or have different lengths of pre-chorus. Typically you wouldn’t use the pre-chorus between the bridge and the chorus.
Post-Chorus:
Less common than the pre-chorus, this part serves a similar purpose, just between the chorus and the next verse or instrumental break.
Remember that these are just general guidelines, and there is a lot of room to play here depending on your needs and what sounds good to you.
How to get started
The best thing is to just start writing whatever comes to mind, and having a sort of “conversation” with Udio. See what sounds good and what doesn’t and adjust accordingly. Remember you can always go back and inpaint different lyrics, as long as you keep the syllable count the same.
Another trick is to take the flow from a song you like, count the syllables and try to make new lyrics to the same flow.
Study your favorite songs, whether from the radio or fellow Udio creators, and see what choices they made. Try to think analytically about why you like these songs, and what lessons you can take from them to your own work.
Final Thoughts
Writing your own lyrics can be challenging at first, but it is a skill that improves with use. Keep at it and you will see how quickly you get better. Hopefully you found the information in this guide helpful on your journey.
Following are deep dives on some songs that I made, where I discuss the thought process behind them.
Deep dive 1: Crazy in Love
[Intro]
Whoa oh oh
Whoa oh
I'm not crazy
Just in loveThe intro sets up the song as the point of view of someone who believes their behavior may seem crazy but is only because of being in love. The vocalizations are used to set it up as a fun song, and perhaps paint the singer as an unreliable narrator.
[Verse]
Electroshock
Every time that you talk
Lobotomy
When you're smiling at me
The look in your eyes
Will make me institutionalized
I've been diagnosed with a bad case of loving youThe first verse compares the feeling the singer gets from his lover’s attention to outdated psychiatric medical procedures. Using multi-syllabic words is a nice way to have a single word take up a line. The rhymes are AABBCC, followed by a single line that has no rhyme. For the first lines the flow is 4-6-4-6 (syllables in the line). The next lines have more syllables (5-9) changing up the flow to be a bit faster. Fun fact: I meant for this to be the chorus, but Udio genned it as a verse and I just had to go with it.
[Pre Chorus]
Don't need a nurse to bring me some pills
The voices, they all tell me that our love is realThe short pre-chorus serves as a build up for the more high energy chorus. Here it becomes even less clear whether the singer is indeed crazy, mentioning a nurse bringing him pills and voices in his head.
[Chorus]
My heart is fine
I don't need a cure
My heart is fine
I'm 100% sure
That I love youThe chorus follows a call and response repetitive structure, with the responses rhyming, followed by a single non rhyming line that concludes it. In the chorus the singer reassures himself that he is indeed fine and not crazy. Whether we believe him or not is a different question.
[Verse]
They said I could see you
Once I leave this place
That won't work for me
I'm not a man who waits
I don't have the patience
To be a patient
To be locked up inside a padded room
Take off this jacket
And let me go
I might go crazy
If I don't see you soonThe second verse is quite different in terms of flow and rhyming, showing the switch in the framing. There is a bit of wordplay with patience and patient. He is describing an actual account of being in a mental hospital, still claiming that he isn’t crazy but that it might happen if he doesn’t leave. I took a more free form approach to writing this verse, relying more on Udio to make whatever I wrote sound good.
[Pre Chorus]
Don't need a nurse to bring me some pills
The visions, they all show me that our love is realThe second pre-chorus reuses most of the words from the previous one, but the voices are replaced with visions, giving more insight into his condition and also adding a bit of variety to the song.
[Chorus]
My heart is fine
I don't need a cure
My heart is fine
I'm 100% sure
That my heart is fine
I don't need a cure
My heart is fine
I couldn't be more sure
That I love youThe second chorus is an extended version of the first, again to add a bit more variety to the song, and also show that the singer is convinced in his beliefs.
[Bridge]
Oh yeah!
All the tests say that
There's nothing wrong with me
But I'm just a man
And I
Can't help the way I feel for you
I know you feel the same
I know our love is true
Check my charts and see thatThe bridge was written entirely as a stream of consciousness, knowing that Udio would most likely be able to make it work. It features only one rhyme in you and true. On paper it may seem like this wouldn’t work, but it does. The last line of the bridge is a lead up to the final chorus.
[Final Chorus]
My heart is fine
I don't need a cure
My heart is fine
I'm 100% sure
That my heart is fine
I don't need a cure
My heart is fine
I couldn't be more sure
That I love youThe final chorus is a repeat of the previous extended chorus, cementing the singer’s conviction in his words.
Deep dive 2: Guilty as Charged
For this song I will focus more on the structure, since the lyrics stick to a more simple flow and rhyming scheme.
[Announcer: Shouting]
Order in the court!
I demand order in the court!This intro serves as a way to set up that we are in a courtroom situation, and a rowdy one at that.
[Verse]
I was strolling along innocently
When I saw their lights were off on the balcony
I climbed up to make sure their power was on
I'm telling you judge, you got it all wrongThe verses on this one are simple AABB rhymes. We start with our singer describing committing minor crime with a ridiculous excuse.
[Chorus]
Your Honor
Your Honor
I'm telling you nothing
But the whole truth
Even if I'm not
You don't have any proof
Your Honor
Your Honor
I'm not guilty as charged
Don't make me waste my life
Behind barsThe first chorus utilizes repetition to show urgency in the plea to the judge. The first half of the chorus emphasizes that the singer is not a trustworthy wholesome individual. The second half is a bit ridiculous and comical (for now), in that he is begging not to go away for life for the very minor crime that he just described.
[Verse]
This little old lady was crossing the street
I had to help her out, she was slow on her feet
She was so grateful that she gave me a hug
And my hand must have slipped right into her bag
I thought that I heard a little dog bark
Trapped nearby in a car that was parked
Broke in the window, let the poor puppy out
Then drove it to get fixed, that's reasonable doubtThe second verse is longer and now describes two more crimes, getting more severe as we go along. The ridiculous excuses keep on coming for each of them. I made this one longer since getting back to the chorus again too quickly felt like it would be too repetitive.
[Chorus]
Your Honor
Your Honor
I'm telling you nothing
But the whole truth
Even if I'm not
You don't have any proofThe second chorus omits the second part, for two reasons. The first being that the plea in it no longer sounds as comical as the crimes pile up, and second is to get to the guitar solo quicker for the sake of variety.
[Final Verse]
I was out chopping wood in my backyard
My neighbor popped in told me I was being loud
I said I'd keep it down and he said "good talk"
Then laid his head down on my chopping blockInstead of a bridge I went with another verse here, since it felt like pivoting was not necessary. The crimes keep going up in severity, with the final verse depicting the ultimate crime of murder, again with a very silly and unbelievable excuse. This one was kept short since adding another less severe crime before it would have taken away the focus.
[Final Chorus]
Your Honor
Your Honor
Your Honor
YOUR HONOR!
I'm telling you nothing
But the whole truth
Even if I'm not
You don't have any proof
Your Honor
Your Honor
I'm not guilty as charged
Don't make me waste my life behind barsThe final chorus once again adds the second part, which takes on a completely different meaning after having heard all of the other lyrics.
Deep dive 3: Gone (JarCrate)
For this song I will focus more on the storytelling aspect.
[Intro]
(hey!)
Ohhhh
(hey!)The intro sets it up as a fun pop song, hiding the true intentions.
[Verse]
We didn't see it
I prayed that he'd wake up
and that the words I didn't mean...
huh, the heart ache (hey!)
Little mercy, at least now you can rest
My life made without fragile truths, mmmmm
Oooh waaaaaaay!The verse contains no rhymes, and is replete with vocalizations and adlibs for a more natural flow. The lyrics are very vague at this point, and seem to indicate a breakup situation.
[Chorus]
And you, weren't meant to go
Can't believe you're gone
And it's all my fault
(lonely lonely lonely)
you, weren't meant to go
and now I tell the lies
that won't bring you back!The chorus utilizes repetition both in you weren’t meant to go, as well as the lonely adlib. For now they seem to reinforce that the song is about a breakup. The first chorus is a bit short and is purposefully so to be a little tease.
[Verse 2]
That night, I saw you
talking to that girl,
Blonde hair, little red skirt
So different from me...
I got so jealous
Planning how to end it
Were you always just pretendin'?
I got so worked up(hey!)
Thinking back, it was so stupid
To get so mad about such a silly thing...
Oh-oh!
The choices we make, however small,
Can stay with us, mmmmm
Ooohh waaaaayy!Now that the listener has heard the catchy chorus, we can afford to make the second verse longer without losing their attention. Here we start getting into actual details and making the picture more clear. The singer describes the situation and getting introspective about how her emotions got the better of her.
[Chorus]
And you, weren't meant to go
Can't believe you're gone
And it's all my fault
(lonely lonely lonely)
you, weren't meant to go
and now I tell the lies
that won't bring you back!
(lonely lonely lonely)
You, weren't meant to go
I can't believe you're gone
And it's all my fault
You, weren't meant to go
And now I tell the lies
That won't bring you back!The second chorus is longer than the first, simply repeating twice. The repetition adds to the catchiness of it.
[Bridge]
I was so petty, jealous and mad
my words so cutting, and so unfair
I watched you drive off, late that night
They told me there'd been a wreck
and I'd never hear your voice
Never hear your voice
Hear your voice again...
Oooh waaaaay!Finally in the bridge we get the full picture, the twist comes that in fact this song is not about a breakup, but a death. The singer blames herself for this.
[Final Chorus]
And you, weren't meant to go
Can't believe you're gone
And it's all my fault
(lonely lonely lonely)
you, weren't meant to go
and now I tell the lies
that won't bring you back![Outro]
you, weren't meant to go
(oh you weren't meant to go!)
and now I tell the lies
that won't bring you back!
(lonely lonely lonely)
(Oooh waaaaaay!)
And you, weren't meant to go
Can't believe you're gone
And it's all my fault...
Oh I can't believe you're gone.…The final chorus/outro now repeat the same words, but they carry a different meaning now, after having learned the truth.
🧠 Contributor: KillerM
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