Learning How to Write Lyrics: Exploring Metaphors and Similes

One example is the use of metaphors or similes. In their simplest form, metaphors are just comparisons, and similes are comparisons that use the words “like” or “as.”

The word “metaphor” comes from a Greek word meaning “to transfer.” In a metaphor the lyricist is equating one thing with another, or “transferring” it, if you will. Such as the following example: “Love is a knife that cuts deep.” Love = knife.

A simile, on the other hand, comes from the same root word as similar. The lyrist is comparing two things by pointing out their similarity -- similar, but not necessarily equal. “Love is like a knife that cuts deep.”

The metaphor has more punch or strength by equating love with the knife, whereas the simile is merely describing one aspect of love.

There are various ways to phrase a metaphor or simile. Becoming adept at rearranging the phrase is especially important as you learn how to write lyrics, more so than a prose writer, for example. As a lyricist we are concerned with meter and rhyme as well as message.

Below are some examples of rearranging both metaphors and similes.

Metaphors:

• Love is a knife that cuts deep
• The knife of love cuts deep
• Love’s knife cuts deep
• Deep is the cut of Love’s knife

Similes:

• Like a knife, love cuts deep
• The cut love makes is deep like a knife
• Like a knife’s deep cut, so is love

As you can see, the various phrases, although the same in message, each offer a different meter (or syllable count) and different rhyme possibilities.

Now look at the lyrics of a particular song you’ve been working on. Is there a place (or places) where using a metaphor or simile might make the lyric more powerful? Or help the meter or rhyme come alive?

When learning how to write lyrics you have to play around with ideas. Choose a phrase or word, search for a new juxtaposition or comparison that helps the lyric produce a powerful punch.

And just remember –- to use a simile -- lyric writing is like making a great dessert; the better the ingredients the more delicious the final product.


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