“Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.”
Love is such an important emotion. It’s hardly surprising how many songs are written on this wonderful topic. The oldest love song, "The Love Song for Shu-Sin," was written around 2000 B.C. and believed to have been recited by a bride of a Sumerian King Shu-Sin.
Many love songs focus entirely on enduring heartbreaks, soapy ballads, or fun and catchy lighthearted tunes. Knowing how to write a love song is a great thing because there is always an audience for this type of music.
Here are 5 tips to help you write the perfect love song for Valentine's Day.
1. Write from your experience
Great love songs sound believable and relatable. You can write a song that achieves that goal when you write from your personal experience. If you are writing about a love situation you have been in, or somebody is going through, find the closely associated words with the emotions you see and feel. Then form your lyrics accordingly.
2. Listen to other love songs and find a Song Structure
Paying attention to different love songs that are popular and that you also enjoy will help you to get started. And it will also help you become familiar with how songwriters construct lyrics and create structures.
Song structure refers to how a song is organized. Song structure uses a combination of different sections. A typical song structure includes a verse, chorus, and bridge in the following arrangement: intro, verse — chorus — verse — chorus —bridge — chorus — outro. This pattern is an ABABCB structure, where A is the verse, B is the chorus, and C is the bridge.
3. Find a catchy hook!
Focus on a few catchy lines that will sum up the main idea you want to bring across in the song. Next, think about the message you want to portray. Finally, fit all of that into two or three exciting words or phrases that will make for a good hook. Example: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles, or “Since U Been Gone,” by Kelly Clarkson.
4. Fill it with feeling
If listeners can connect with how you feel, they will likely enjoy the song and try to relate to it. Therefore, make sure to pour a lot of feeling into the lyrics and the musical composition so that your listeners can connect with your passionate delivery. This will make them want to listen to it over and over again.
5. Match the music to the mood
Whatever mood you are trying to bring across, you will want to make sure the music helps to enhance it, rather than compete with it. So, for example, if the mood of your lyrics is a ballad, the accompanying music would not fit very well if it's filled with blaring drums and horns.
There are no real hard and fast rules when learning how to write a love song. However, keep these 5 tips in mind because they can be helpful when trying to write a love song your audience or loved ones will appreciate and enjoy for a long time!