How to cook up great country lyrics

Where there is light, there is darkness. Some people love country music, some hate it. There´s little space in between both ends! If you are among those, who love country music, you will have noticed that most country songs playfully eleborate on very figurative lyrics. Today´s pop-inspired country songs stress certain words by singing them against traditional rythmic patterns, just so to underline the actual meaning , and making the song sound more interesting  at the same time.

Writing country lyrics calls for storytelling at its best! People should get pulled into a storyline, making a connection to the hero or heroine and comparing the oulines of the story to their own lives. The saying goes “the simpler the better”. In order to reach a large audience, the actual story needs to be adaptable to various life situations. You gotta make sure to incorporate a lot of daily life happenings. E.g. talk about how you start the day off with a coffee gone cold, before hopping on your truck, driving your kids to school and then listening to the radio on your way back. That´s when a song comes up and takes you back to your old lover, who is always gonna know you best etc….
Make sure to describe the scenery as good as it could get, but not overloading the song with unnecessary chitchat. Remember, you only have an average 3 to 5 minutes to convince your audience of what you gotta say.  I recommend examining every single word in order to find out, whether they are crucial for the story, the scenery or the overall feeling you want to transport.

Let´s take a closer look at that.
Here´s a verse I wrote for a song called “Burry our love”:

“Love grew old, as the years went by,
He drowned his hardship in a bottle of wine most every night.
She´d crie her heart out after midnight
when he´d have fallen asleep underneath the kitchen light.”

How does this verse make you feel? What do you see happening before your eyes? Let me tell you what I had in mind. I was hoping to stress a certain silence between the two lovers. He drinks his pain away, instead of talking to her. He won´t go to bed at night, snuggling up to her despite his problems. Instead he falls asleep in the kitchen. She stays awake at night, crying her heart out, once he has fallen asleep. She won´t show him how much she is hurting.
Have you had this same idea? Have you felt the distance and the pain while reading those few lines?
I´m excited for your feedback! Write me a comment below.

Bottom line: If you wanna write good country lyrics, make sure to use easy language, figurative speech and do not overload the lines. Try to bring up daily life symbols (e.g. the cup of coffee, the morning drive etc). Try adressing the listener instead of being all whiney about your own emotions. This is not mandatory though.
Last not least, try to be authentic. Drawing stories from daily life, will add credibility to your songwriting! I hope you liked these tips. Make sure to check out my music section: http://katie-wellenberg.com/music/

Love,
Katie