2015
Writing Your Own Lyrics
June 2015

“Writing Your Own Lyrics,” New Era, June 2015, 10

Writing Your Own Lyrics

Anyone can write song lyrics. This tip makes it easy.

young woman with guitar

When you look closely at the lyrics to a hymn, you’ll discover great beauty in these poems set to music. There’s rhyme. There’s meter. There’s style and rhythm. There’s deep meaning. And when poetry is set to music, it gains even deeper meaning.

If you’ve ever thought about writing poetry, you could write a hymn yourself. After all, stringing words together is something you’ve been doing ever since you learned to talk. If you like to write, you can do this!

Here are a couple of ideas you can try:

  • Take your favorite hymn and ask yourself: “What if the composer had written another verse. What would it be?” Then write down your thoughts and see what you think.

  • Write words for a completely new topic using the tune of an existing hymn.

  • Write gospel-centered lyrics and ask a musician friend to put them to music.

Now that you have your hymn, it’s a great way to share a gospel message with others. Consider sharing with your family, friends, or online. (Can we say music video, anyone?)1

Note

  1. Keep in mind that some hymns are protected by copyright laws, so you’ll need to be careful about which ones you post online. For example, see the note at the bottom of hymn 219, “Because I Have Been Given Much.”