LYRIC REWRITES are an important part of most successful songs. Most
songwriting employs one-forth of the time in writing the main song format construction and then about three-fourths of the
time in rewriting various section parts. Re-writing is an art of finalizing the
marriage of lyric and melody into the finished song. Rewrites include the polishing,
the sizzle and the finalizing of the signature song. As in most songwriting processes, the majority of time is spent fine tuning the song into
final development. This is the creative critique stage where all the elements
of lyrical content are weighed heavily and carefully reviewed in the following tool sets:
Form: reviewing the essence
of the song section parts and determining how many sections and how many bars in each section are needed to properly convey
the song's message, hook and final draft
Mood: how well does the
song introduce the theme and emotion; how does the lyrical content build the emotion in relation to the message or storyline
Lyric Density: is there
enough contrast in the verse and chorus sections with regard to the density of vocal phrasing
Inversion: is a form of rhyme relocation, reversing part of the line
so that a new rhyme word emerges from the interior to the end position
Insertion: is when you
fill in the blanks when the desired meter, number of syllables and lyrical content are known in verse or chorus. So when meter
is already established, insertion is the process of fixing and replacing a weak line.
Reduction: is the shortening
of lines to make fewer syllables and fewer metric feet; ensuring that there are not too many words together in a short musical
space
Image Substitution: amend,
add, substitute images, action, dialogue lines that will heighten songs impact with better visuals while condensing.
Accents: Make sure that
accents are places on the right syllables
Stronger Lines: is every
word and line important or necessary; omit likes or words and replace with stronger words that
create better meaning and lyrical flow
Rhyme Scheme: how well does the rhyme scheme of verse and chorus work
with the melody, emotion, building of tension or release, pay-off lines
Melodic Mode: how well
does the short melodic lyrical phrasing repeat and contrast to the main hook section; is there enough contrast, variation
and repetition to keep the listener interested.
Chord Progression: lyrics
and chord progression are integrated in many creative designs; reviewing the number of chords per each section enables more
creative possibilities
Rhythmic Elements: does the lyrical pulse, lyrical tempo and lyrial meter of the song work with the emotional
impact of the song
Pulse:
the regular, recurring beat
Tempo:
the speed of the beats per minute (BPM)
Meter:
the way the pulses are grouped into measures-- known as time signature
Music Key: is the song
lyrics written with a music key in mind; the music key is an important consideration for creating lyrics that are being composed
in a specific music style that will be sung with male and/or female vocalists will affect the vocal range and vocal abilities
. 
