Every line you write will have some length to it. An obvious statement but very true. Take the time to look at your line length and feel how it affects what you are saying. Motion of your lines gives the emotion of your song.
Long flowing lines gives long motion and a flowing feel. You have time to create different feels with your line length. You can make them flow dance around smoothly and make your lines long and flowing.
Long lines feel relaxed and conversational.
Not only can you add a lot more content with long lines but you can create romantic, flowing feel to your song. Take the time to experiment with this technique. Grow your lines longer and longer to see just how far you can take that feeling of flow and movement.
Short lines feel Preston and Tight. You can add a hash purposeful stop like feel to your song with short lines. Rather than having a long flow they now have a short hard straight to the point feel about them. This is a great technique to use when you want to make your point and stop the flow quickly. Play around with this idea when you want to say something that will stick in the mind of the listener. Try running lots of short lines with hard endings to create a staccato effect to your song. Try taking this technique to the limits, this could be done by maybe writing “one word” lines. Im sure you have heard of songs that use this technique. One word lines are the shortest you can get and they are very hard and straight to the point. Obviously you are going to have to be careful which words you use as they have to encapsulate everything you are trying to say.
When two lines have the same length they feel stable. This is a great way of creating balance in your song. Keep your word count/syllables the same in each line. The important thing here is to make the feel the same. Don’t get too bogged down with counting words but it’s a great place to start. Just make sure the feel of each line is the same. When you do this you create a very stable, safe feeling song. The meaning feels believable and the listener builds trust in what’s being said. Look out for songs that use this technique and see if you have that same feeling. This is great if you want to give the character in you song credibility and trust. When two lines are unequal in length the have an offset motion and feel unbalanced. There are so many ways you can use this technique. Spend some time thinking about this and try different approaches to you song. Write a song using a good character and a not so good character. Give even lines to the one you are making good and uneven lines to the one you are making not so good. These are tips you can use to just add a little more weight to what you are doing with your song. Spend more time listening to music and see where others use this and work out why others are using these techniques in their songs. The best way I do this is get a copy of the lyrics and with different colour pens highlight which are the good and not so good characters and see which type of line lengths they give to them. Remember the Number of lines and the length of lines help to create stability or instability in your song so use it where you want it. Regardless if you parody them against each other or use them to reinforce what it is your saying, use them how YOU want them and take control of the forces they provide.
Let me know what you think of these tips and feel free to leave a comment if it helps you.
Cheers Darren
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