{"id":17918,"date":"2023-01-02T09:49:05","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T14:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/?p=17918"},"modified":"2025-10-16T13:14:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T18:14:48","slug":"how-to-write-a-love-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/how-to-write-a-love-song\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Love Song"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-discover-how-to-write-romantic-lyrics-that-feel-authentic-avoid-cliches-and-tell-real-stories\">Discover How to Write Romantic Lyrics That Feel Authentic, Avoid Clich\u00e9s, and Tell Real Stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The expression, \u201cAnd suddenly, all of the love songs were about you,\u201d sums up what a well-written love song should achieve: a specific yet universal message that feels like it\u2019s about you and your special someone. This is easier said than done, and <a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/instructors\/bonnie-hayes?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bonnie Hayes<\/a>, chair of the Songwriting department at Berklee College of Music, and director of the <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/music-degrees\/graduate\/songwriting?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Songwriting Master\u2019s program<\/a> at Berklee Online, thinks you should go easy on yourself as you\u2019re writing your first love song. There\u2019s a good chance it\u2019ll be sappy, and that\u2019s okay.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"C\u00e9line Dion - My Heart Will Go On (Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IAuRoAUV19o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bonnie Hayes deems C\u00e9line Dion\u2019s \u201cMy Heart Will Go On\u201d from Titanic the sappiest love song of all time. \u201cFrom the Irish flute at the beginning to the grammatically questionable title (\u201cyour heart will go on\u201d . . .  what?) this song feels like performing love by the book,\u201d she says.   <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI mean, love songs are sappy, right?\u201d she says. \u201cIt kinda goes with the territory of proclaiming feelings, especially universal and powerful feelings that lead to the biological imperative of procreation!\u201d&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leave it to the woman who wrote the Grammy-award winning <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/reviews\/albums\/bonnie-raitt-nick-of-time\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cLove Letter\u201d for Bonnie Raitt<\/a> to put it so accurately.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/courses\/arranging-for-songwriters-instrumentation-and-production-in-songwriting?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">TAKE THE \u2018ARRANGING FOR SONGWRITERS\u2019 COURSE WITH BONNIE<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now with that worry out of the way, it\u2019s time to go forth and just write a love song, whether it\u2019s good, bad, sappy, sweet, or everything in between. The most important thing is that it\u2019s from the heart. Fortunately, we have advice from more of the best songwriting scholars in the business: <a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/instructors\/rodney-alejandro?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rodney Alejandro<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/instructors\/jimmy-kachulis?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jimmy<\/a><a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/faculty\/jimmy-kachulis?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Kachulis<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/instructors\/pat-pattison?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pat Pattison<\/a>. They share their top tips for writing a love song this Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-stay-away-from-cliches\">1. Stay Away From Clich\u00e9s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While there is a case to be made for how easy it is to love sappy love songs, one thing you don\u2019t want to take from them are meaningless platitudes. Clich\u00e9s are going to come across as one-dimensional, and are not going to strike the listener like the vivid imagery that you can conjure up. You know what lyrics have been overused to the point where they\u2019re basically white noise: \u201cI can\u2019t take my eyes off of you,\u201d \u201cyou\u2019re the one for me,\u201d \u201cwe belong together.\u201d And please, try not to rhyme \u201clove\u201d with \u201cabove.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can still convey these sentiments, but by saying them in a different way. What about someone can\u2019t you take your eyes off of? How do you know that someone is the one for you, and that you belong together? When you look at your sheet of paper and see clich\u00e9s, dig for deeper meaning. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-keep-it-authentic\">2. Keep it Authentic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no rule that says you need to be in love to write a love song, but it certainly helps if you can recall a time that you\u2019ve been in love or have felt love. It\u2019s kind of like watching a romance movie and being able to tell if the actors have chemistry or not. Do they have to be in love with each other to convey to the audience that they love each other in the story? No, but they\u2019re able to convince you, surely because they\u2019re drawing upon authentic feelings of times they have felt in love.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cKeep the lyrics authentic to your experience with love and shape the melody to enhance the emotions,\u201d says Alejando, a Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated songwriter. \u201cLove songs resonate most when the experience and emotion being conveyed are felt in the performance.\u201d&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alejando admires the love song \u201cNothing\u201d by Bruno Major, for its vivid imagery of ordinary moments and paired down guitar playing that matches that sentiment.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bruno Major - Nothing (Lyrics)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HQfWtrSbvh0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cNothing\u201d by Bruno Major<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe lyric of this song paints the perfect picture of existing with your person in the simplest of&nbsp;moments,\u201d he says. \u201cThe verse\/refrain and 3\/4 meter emit a sweet nostalgic emotional quality that causes me to smile as I recall my memories.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-borrow-a-lyrical-theme-nbsp\"><strong>3. Borrow a Lyrical Theme&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Love is such an abstract concept, that it can be difficult to know where to begin to write a song about it. One way that Jimmy Kachulis encourages his students to know where to start is to pair another song to its lyrical theme, and then make it their own.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery well-written, focused lyric can be summarized in one sentence,\u201d he says. \u201cOne of the things I ask lyric writers to do is to find a song where the theme is very clear, and very expressible in one sentence. And then what you do is you take that theme and you flesh it out with your own scenario.\u201d&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s take for example the song \u201cMy Girl\u201d by the Temptations.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">I\u2019ve got sunshine <br>\non a cloudy day<br>\nwhen it\u2019s cold outside<br>\nI\u2019ve got the month of May<br>\nI guess you\u2019d say <br>\nwhat could make me feel this way? <br>\nMy girl<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"My Girl - The Temptations (1964) (HD Quality)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8Ff2Z0Dq2sg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cMy Girl\u201d by the Temptations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, this is a song about <strong>a person who makes the hard times bearable<\/strong>, and there are a lot of other love songs that you can condense down to this sentiment, like \u201c<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/DtKhFaW2Z1E\" target=\"_blank\">Hey Julie<\/a>\u201d by Fountains of Wayne or \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8jCFzreP1ng\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman<\/a>\u201d written by Carole King and made famous by Aretha Franklin.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re going to take this theme about someone who helps you through the hard times and write your own version. This will put some parameters into place so that you\u2019re not working with infinite possibilities.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re expressing the same theme from a well-written love song, but your creativity is in inventing new characters,\u201d says Kachulis. \u201cThen ask yourself, \u2018Who is singing to whom, where, and when?\u2019\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/courses\/songwriting-writing-hit-songs?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">LEARN HOW TO WRITE HIT SONGS WITH JIMMY KACHULIS<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-create-characters\"><strong>4. Create Characters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A lot of beginner lyric writers write autobiographically and have a hard time separating themselves from their songs, says Kachulis. As mentioned earlier, you want to draw from authentic feelings and emotions, but you don\u2019t necessarily need to be the main character.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMost of us can tap into a time when we really felt loved,\u201d says Kachulis. \u201cBut then we can also say, \u2018okay, can I write a song about a middle-aged couple?\u2019 Or \u2018can I write a song about an older couple?\u2019\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He encourages his students to think like playwrights or screenwriters. You could pull from a personal experience, or you could imagine what it\u2019s like.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a middle-aged woman who is struggling with her career and household and children to imagine what that\u2019s like,\u201d he says. \u201cI encourage lyric writers to combine their personal autobiographical experience with an imaginary experience.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going back to the previous point about a person who helps you through the hard times, you can tell many different stories with this theme: the story of a teenage couple who are dating long distance in their first year of college, a middle-aged couple that\u2019s going through hard economic times, or an elderly couple that\u2019s dealing with health issues.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCan you write that love song?\u201d says Kachulis. \u201cOf course you can write that love song. You don\u2019t have to be 80 years old and sick to write that song. That\u2019s one of the beautiful things about being a creative lyric writer. You can imagine. The great writers imagine what it\u2019s like to be those characters.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of great writers, in the past few years, we\u2019ve seen Taylor Swift move away from autobiographical songwriting, and move into more of a storyteller role. At the start of her career, she was known for writing songs about real people and real experiences. Her albums <em>folklore<\/em> and <em>evermore<\/em> are a departure from her usual style of songwriting because she\u2019s taking on the role of a storyteller, writing songs about characters and not necessarily herself.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Taylor Swift - dorothea (Official Lyric Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zI4DS5GmQWE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cdorothea\u201d from Taylor Swift\u2019s album <em>evermore<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-think-about-perspective\"><strong>5. Think About Perspective<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To write a love song that feels like the listener could drop themselves into it, you must think about the perspective that it is written in. Kachulis says that the majority of pop songs today are written in what\u2019s called <strong>direct address<\/strong>. Direct address is the writer or the writer\u2019s character speaking in first-person directly to another person (you), who could even be the listener.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLove songs need to feel intimate,\u201d says Pat Pattison. \u201cThe most intimacy you can create lives in direct address (I, you) and present tense (carried by your verbs).\u201d&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/courses\/lyric-writing-tools-and-strategies?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">TAKE A LYRIC WRITING COURSE WITH PAT PATTISON<\/a><\/em><\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Virtually every pop song is written in direct address, but Kachulis says it\u2019s not the only perspective you could write a love song in. He says that using a narrator could be a good tool for someone who wants to break out of writing autobiographically.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe narrator is outside the song, and the great thing about the narrator is they can see inside people and tell the audience what the character is thinking and feeling,\u201d says Kachulis. \u201cThe narrator can change timeframes and change scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is called <strong>third-person narrative<\/strong>, which can feel less intimate than direct address, but can be effective in telling a story from a bird\u2019s eye view. The song \u201cMary May &amp; Bobby\u201d by Joe Purdy is an example of a love song written in third-person narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mary May &amp; Bobby\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/34hVmz8dJE0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cMary May &amp; Bobby\u201d by Joe Purdy, written in third-person narrative<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One way that Purdy makes third-person narrative feel more intimate is by adding dialogue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">He said, \u201cMary, marry me<br>We could live out by the sea<br>Oh, like they do on the movie screens<br>Oh, marry me, Mary May,<br>Before you are fly away\u201d<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Whichever perspective you choose, just be sure to keep it consistent. In <a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/best-and-worst-love-song-lyrics\/?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">this piece by Pattison<\/a>, he dissects the lyrics to Ed Sheeran\u2019s \u201cPerfect,\u201d which becomes quite confusing because the listener doesn\u2019t have a good understanding of who is talking to whom.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope you enjoyed these tips from Berklee Online\u2019s songwriting faculty! Good luck writing your love song, and if you\u2019d like to learn how to hone your songwriting skills even further, check out Berklee Online\u2019s songwriting offerings, including <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/songwriting#block-courses?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\">courses<\/a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/songwriting#block-certificates?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\">certificates<\/a>, and a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/music-degrees\/undergraduate\/songwriting?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\">bachelor\u2019s degree<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/music-degrees\/graduate\/songwriting?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">master\u2019s degree<\/a> program.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/songwriting?campaign_id=7010Z000001ZkQgQAK&amp;pid=&amp;utm_source=takenote&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bol-gen-takenote-link-from-article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">STUDY SONGWRITING ONLINE WITH BERKLEE<\/a><\/em><\/strong><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The key to a great love song is a specific yet universal message that feels like it\u2019s about you and your special someone. This is how you achieve that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":17951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9564,9566],"tags":[6309,219,6855,735,8728,8727,7350,7887,1318,1319,7449],"class_list":["post-17918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-features-articles","category-songwriting-articles","tag-bonnie-hayes","tag-bonnie-raitt","tag-celine-dion","tag-jimmy-kachulis","tag-joe-purdy","tag-love-song","tag-pat-pattison","tag-rodney-alejandro","tag-songwriting","tag-songwriting-tips","tag-the-temptations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Write a Love Song - Berklee Online Take Note<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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