Hi, my name is Joy Frost. I am a singer-songwriter and audio engineer.
In today’s episode, I am going to give you 50 things to write a song about.
So, writer’s block can happen to the best of us.
Sometimes our idea tree just kind of shrivels up and does not bear any fruit.
And so we need to break through that.
And so, sometimes I struggle with this as well.
Sometimes I go a few dry months.
But lately, I’ve broken through that.
And so I want to share 50 of the common songwriting themes that I have found that can help you get writing again.
So, of course, the most obvious two things you could write about are love and sex.
These are the predominant topics and most of the music that we hear today.
But you are not limited to only writing about these things.
You can also write about platonic relationships.
Or you can write about how frustrated you are. They don’t have any real friends. You can write a song about your mom, your dad, your siblings, or your child if you’re a parent.
And depending on the relationship that you had with them, that could be either a positive, happy song or a sad song.
Reading about families in general is always a possibility.
Or you could even write about your enemies.
And you can write about money.
This is also a very, very dominant theme in the music that we hear today. You can write about what it feels like to be rich. There are some songs about balling and just making it rain, blah, blah, blah, or what it feels like to be poor, or wish you were rich, like that there was a rich man that had edited it.
Next, and this might even be the most important thing to write about this weekend, is music. A lot of times, people listen to music to enjoy themselves, to change their mood, to shift their internal paradigm.
not sound like a nerd.
You can also write about the spectrum of emotions. You can write about happiness, if you write about sadness, you write about fear.
You’re gon na write about anger, disgust, jealousy, loneliness. There are so many, so many things that we feel and everything is worthy of its own satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Or you can write about nature and the beautiful things that we have on another planet, or about time, whether it’s the passage of time, or how you perceive the passage of time, that being the past, present, and future.
And my favorite word to use after time is travel.
So you can write about traveling, seeing the world, you can write an anthem for your hometown, but your home state has God’s Sweet Home Alabama, New York, New York, and not every state has an awesome anthem yet.
So if you’re from a state that is missing a really cool song, why not write one about where you’re from?
You could write a song about life, what it feels like to be alive, what it feels like to be young, or what it feels like to get older.
Are you enjoying your life?
And why?
Are you not enjoying your life?
Are you changing your life?
Or did you learn an important life lesson that you want to share?
You could write about honesty, or dishonesty.
What about rebelling?
Good old-fashioned rebellion?
Whether you’re rebelling against your parents or the man, somebody’s expectations of who you should be?
There are so many options here.
Rebellion is fun.
Oh, it’s kind of bright now.
Okay, lower the ISO.
So you can also write about partying and dancing, if that’s something that you enjoy.
Come on, the sun keeps changing.
You’re killing me.
That’ll do.
So, Oh, yeah.
You could write a song about partying and dancing.
This is a very time-tested topic.
When that has done well over and over and over.
I think it’s also important to only write about things that you personally feel connected to.
So if you don’t enjoy partying or dancing, don’t write something that’s not true to who you are.
So you’ll you’ll not really see me writing songs for parties, because it’s not something that I enjoy doing.
I prefer small groups or just staying home and living.
So that’s what I like to write about instead.
So write about that.
Oh, of course.
Those songwriting topic lists could be complete without writing about drinking or drugs.
That’s been a part of rock and roll since the beginning of time.
This is my favorite one, number 38.
But I like big butts when they come out. Why?
And the conda booty is delicious.
That hunka donk donk donk.
There are so many songs about butts.
Because it is awesome.
So right What about yours?
The sun keeps changing.
You can also write a song about technology where everything goes good or bad.
Or you can write about God and religion.
There are, of course, hymns and worship music, but there are also songs about losing your religion and letting go of your faith.
So there are a lot of options here, and whatever resonates with your spirit is what you write about.
I’m number 41.
School Education teacher students.
We don’t need education, my Pink Floyd or laughter teacher, oh, man, it’s getting too dark.
So write about school, things that you learned, things he wishes he learned in school, or what it’s like to be a kid in school.
Like, I wish I could be like the cool kids.
There are a lot of options here because it’s an experience all of us share. Who could forget writing songs about critiquing society?
If you are dissatisfied with the world and the way it is, then you can express that through your music.
One of the most powerful songs in history was about critiquing society, and that was imagined by John Lennon.
There’s so much powerful raw emotion that can go into expressing your deepest wishes for the world that we live in.
Along the same vein, you can write about politics and what you believe, or you can also speak out against tragic events and ugliness in the world.
For example, zombies by the cranberries rest in peace, Dolores.
She wrote that song, speaking out against a bombing, when a mother lost her child in a terrorist attack.
And sadly, these things are happening all over the world.
And if you want to cast a spotlight on the ugliness and say something about it, you can do that.
Why can’t music be?
So the next thing, like Altieri, you can also write about death and dying, depending on the genre that you’re writing in.
And that can really influence the direction that you take, whether you’re writing a more dark song about how you feel like you’re dead inside, or you could write a song about someone that you loved that died, or, for example, live like you were dying by Tim McGraw, is about a man who was diagnosed with cancer, and then he finally learns how to live his life to the fullest.
That song just breaks my heart every time I hear it.
Or was it Kenny Chesney, who you’d be today? If you have not listened to that song, get a box of tissues and go listen to it, because it is just so beautifully, beautifully sad.
Regarding history, you got health, whether that’s your physical health, or your mental health. You can write about any sickness that you deal with.
Or if you have depression or anxiety, or struggle with anything like that.
Three more, three more.
So for the next one, you could write about your goals and your aspirations and your dreams, and all these things that you want to become and the things you want to have.
manifest themselves in your life.
That’s maybe part of the energy put out into the world to help make it come true for you as well.
And who can forget songs about empowerment?
It’s too dark now.
Girl Power songs make your listener feel like they can do or be anything or that they’re good enough.
Beautiful by Christina Aguilera, firework by Katy Perry.
There are so many wonderful songs.
And these are really important.
If somebody listens, it can make a real difference in their life.
I mean, I’m sure you’ve listened to a song that made you feel like everything was going to be okay.
At a time when everything was just crumbling around you,
Music is so important.
It’s a lifeline.
So if you want to create something powerful and important to help somebody, you can write a song.
And last but not least, you can write a song about yourself.
Of course, that is limitless.
And I can make another video about all the different ways you can write a song from your personal experience.
But of course, if you are an expert on yourself, who you are, and what you’ve been through, then you can write your story through music.
So I hope this list of 50 things to write a song about helps inspire you and gives you some ideas to get you back writing.
Writer’s block is no fun.
But if you just work hard and power through, you can overcome it.
That’s really the case with anything.
So thanks so much for watching.
If you enjoyed this, please be sure to subscribe to my channel, hit like and come listen to my original music as well.
I release new original songs every Sunday on this channel.
And just thanks so much for watching and I hope you have a great day.
I’ll talk to you soon.
Take care
