Writing an Original Song

Year 9 HEAP • Singalong • Writing

A song begins with a reason to sing. Before you write a line, decide who is singing, who is listening and what you want the listener to feel or understand. Then build the lyric with the same techniques you have been analysing: voice, image, rhythm, rhyme and refrain.

Start with purpose

Question	Why it matters	Example
Who is singing?	Creates the persona and perspective.	A student leaving a town; a grandparent; a river.
Who is listening?	Shapes the tone and the level of detail.	A friend, a crowd, a younger sibling, no one.
What is the song for?	Gives the lyric a job.	To remember, to complain, to celebrate, to warn, to say goodbye.
What changes?	Creates movement.	A departure, a recognition, a refusal, a return.
What should the listener remember?	Helps you design the hook.	A phrase, an image, a question, a name.

Write the answers in one sentence each. If you cannot answer a question, you are not ready to draft. A song with a clear purpose is easier to revise than a song that is only a mood.

Find a voice

Decide whether your song is first person (“I”), second person (“you”), third person (“he”, “she”, “they”) or collective (“we”). Each creates a different relationship with the listener.

Voice	Effect	Best for
First person	Intimacy, testimony, confession.	A personal story or a character's account.
Second person	Address, challenge, intimacy.	A song to a person, a place or a future self.
Third person	Distance, story, myth.	A ballad about someone else.
Collective “we”	Belonging, solidarity, shared identity.	A chorus for a group or a community.

You can shift voice between verse and chorus. A third-person verse with a first-person chorus can make the listener feel invited into the story. A first-person verse with a collective chorus can turn a private feeling into a shared one.

Build an image bank

Concrete images are more memorable than abstract feelings. Instead of writing “I was sad”, collect objects, places and actions: a chipped mug, a bus timetable, a gate that will not latch, a shirt left on the line. Then choose the images that carry the feeling without naming it.

Abstract idea	Concrete images	Question
Loneliness	One plate in the drying rack; a phone face-down; a light left on.	Which image is most surprising?
Belonging	A spare key; a name on a door; a seat kept empty.	Which image suggests welcome?
Anger	A kettle boiling dry; a door that slams before it is touched.	Which image avoids cliché?
Memory	A receipt in a coat pocket; a song half-remembered.	Which image implies time?
Hope	A seed in a cracked cup; a light on a hill.	Which image is too familiar?

Choose a structure

Structure	Shape	Use it when
Strophic ballad	Verse, verse, verse, verse; same tune each time.	You have a story with a clear sequence of events.
Verse–chorus	Verse, chorus, verse, chorus.	You want a repeated hook and a developing story.
Verse–chorus–bridge	Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus.	You need a turn or a new perspective before the end.
Call-and-response	Leader's line, group answer, repeated.	You want participation and a strong group feel.

For a first song, two verses and a chorus are enough. A short song that is complete is better than a long song that loses its way.

Rhythm and rhyme

Clap the beat while you write. A lyric that looks fine on the page can stumble when it is sung. Keep the line lengths roughly consistent within a section, and use rhyme to mark the ends of phrases.

Choice	Effect	Caution
Perfect rhyme	Closure and memorability.	Too much can sound predictable.
Slant rhyme	A softer or uneasy ending.	It can sound like an accident if it is too distant.
Internal rhyme	Energy and wordplay.	It can crowd the line.
Repetition	Emphasis and ritual.	It can become filler.
No rhyme	Conversational freedom.	Needs rhythm and image to hold attention.

Design the refrain

A refrain should be easy to remember, meaningful on its own and open to change as the song proceeds. The strongest refrains often contain a small tension: a question, a contradiction or a promise. Test yours by saying it without the rest of the song. Does it still work?

Keep it short: one to four lines.
Use a concrete image or a direct address.
Leave one word or idea that can shift in meaning.
Make sure the vowel sounds are comfortable to sing.
Do not explain the refrain in the refrain.

Drafting sequence

Notebook: collect ten images and five phrases without judging them.
Purpose: write the one-sentence reason for the song.
Structure: sketch the sections and what happens in each.
Chorus: draft the refrain first; it is the song's centre.
Verses: draft each verse to do one job: set the scene, raise the problem, show a change.
Bridge: add a contrasting idea only if the song needs one.
Read aloud: mark where you stumble or run out of breath.
Revise: cut one line from each verse and see what the song loses.
Rehearse: sing or speak it with the intended tempo and dynamics.

Model original lyric

The Last Bus Home

Verse 1
The last bus home is running late,
The driver's coffee's cold.
The window holds a faded map
Of streets I used to know.
The shopfronts shut, the traffic lights
Blink amber in the rain,
And every seat is empty but
I ride it home again.

Chorus
The last bus home, the last bus home,
It takes the long way round,
Past the closed garage, the weatherboard house,
The corner where we found
A stray dog no one ever claimed
And a sign someone had made.
The last bus home, the last bus home,
Still stops where we once stayed.

Verse 2
The driver knows my stop by heart,
He never has to ask.
The years have changed the council signs
But not the broken glass.
I fold my ticket into squares
And put it in my coat,
And watch the houses slip away
Like letters in a boat.

Original teaching example written for this packet. It is not a published song.

The model uses a first-person voice, a repeated place, concrete images and a chorus that changes slightly in the final line. It does not imitate a particular published song. Use it as a model of craft, not as a template to copy.

Peer feedback protocol

Step	What to do	What to avoid
Read aloud	The writer reads the lyric without explaining it.	Apologising or prefacing.
Say back	Listeners say what they heard: story, voice, mood.	Judging whether they liked it.
Ask	Listeners ask two questions about meaning or craft.	Rewriting the lyric for the writer.
Name one strength	Point to a specific line or choice.	Generic praise.
Name one next step	Suggest one revision, not ten.	Overwhelming the writer.

Originality and copyright

Write your own lyrics. Do not copy lines from a published song, poem or film.
You may use a public-domain song as a model for form, but your words must be new.
Do not use a commercial recording as a backing track unless you have permission.
If you sample or quote someone else's work, credit it and check the licence.
Your lyric belongs to you. Do not publish a classmate's work without consent.
Parody can still raise copyright issues; ask before sharing outside the classroom.

Make the chorus earn its repetition. A chorus is not a break from the song; it is the song's argument in miniature. If the chorus could be removed without changing anything, it is not doing enough work.

Success criteria

Element	Strong lyric	Weaker lyric
Purpose	The song has a clear reason to exist.	It drifts between unrelated ideas.
Voice	The speaker is consistent and distinct.	The voice changes without purpose.
Imagery	Concrete details carry the feeling.	Abstract adjectives do the work.
Structure	Sections have clear jobs and the order matters.	Verses repeat the same information.
Refrain	The chorus is memorable and changes in context.	The chorus is generic or interchangeable.
Rhythm	The lines are comfortable to sing or speak.	The stress falls awkwardly.
Originality	The words and images are the writer's own.	The lyric relies on borrowed lines or clichés.

Common errors

Starting with a title and forcing the song to fit it. Let the title emerge from the chorus.
Writing a message instead of a song. Show the idea through a situation and images.
Rhyming at the expense of sense. A forced rhyme is more noticeable than no rhyme.
Repeating the chorus too often too early. Earn the repetition with the verses.
Overwriting. Cut adjectives and let the nouns and verbs work.
Copying a published song's melody and words. Use public-domain models or write something new.

Next, read rehearsing and performing to turn your draft into a performance. The sources and provenance page records which songs in this packet are public domain.