Song Lyric Generators: Do They Help Songwriters?

Whether owing to creative pride or general doubt regarding their efficacy, a lot songwriters tend to eschew lyric generators, but for those artists looking for inspiration and new ideas, lyric generators can be valuable for a few reasons.

Guest post by Alper Tuzcu of Berklee Online’s TakeNote

One of the nice things about music technology is the new tools it provides for songwriters. Song lyrics generators are one of these tools that can be useful for inspiration and for coming up with new ideas.

At the moment, there are three kinds of song lyrics generator websites: The websites that generate lyrics based on words you input, the ones that generate lyrics based on multiple choice answers, and the ones that will generate lyrics about a random subject matter at the click of a button. 

As a professional songwriter, I was highly suspicious that song lyrics generators would be sophisticated enough to generate complete songs. However, this does not render their services completely useless. Song lyrics generators can be useful for two reasons:

First, if you want to write a song but you don’t have a concept, you can use these lyric generators to brainstorm some initial song ideas. Perhaps you will catch a line that will spark an idea to write more. Or perhaps a theme will inspire you to write something based on it. Some of these song lyrics generator websites also have song title generators. So if you prefer to write songs starting with a title, you could benefit from that component.

Second, song lyrics generators can help you familiarize yourself with musical styles that you have never written in before. Most of these services are Artificial-Intelligence-based, which means the sites generate lyrics based on algorithms that are specialized for different musical genres, such as country, rap, rock, or pop. If you would like to write a country song, but you don’t know where to start, you can take a look at how the AI algorithm interprets country music in a song lyrics generator. Then you can try to find out which song or group of songs that algorithm is based on, and you can continue to venture off to listen to more songs in that style to do your research.

I went through a few different song lyrics generator websites and compared the results. It was quite a ride, so get ready to read some interesting lyric choices by AI! Disclaimer: these should all be used as learning exercises; at no point you should use these lyrics! Not because they belong to me, but because a few of them belong to other people!

1. Song-Lyrics-Generator.org.uk 

This song lyrics generator site generates lyrics based on different genres and the songwriting styles of different artists. In order to generate song lyrics, it will ask you to fill in some information like: “An adjective that describes you well” or “Something you might say to a lover.” Based on these answers, it will generate song lyrics for you. 

I tried the “Taylor Swift song generator” and this is what I got:

So this is me standing,
Standing in front of you saying, “Hello!“
And I go back to November all the time.

As you might have noticed, this is based on her song “Back to December.” The original lyrics are:

So this is me swallowing my pride
Standing in front of you, saying “I’m sorry for that night”
And I go back to December all the time

This song lyrics generator basically takes various songs of Taylor Swift and recreates the verses and choruses using different verbs, nouns, adverbs, and adjectives. Since the algorithm copies her style, this could be a method to learn about the signature moves of songwriters. Then, based on these exercises, you can develop your own songs. But like I said, it’s not a good idea to just take these lyrics, wholesale: you’re likely to get called out for plagiarism. Remember, this is a songwriter who has copyrighted phrases like “this sick beat,” not just songs! So be extra careful here!

Another useful feature on this website is its “song title generator.” A lot of songwriters have trouble coming up with a catchy title for their song, even after they finish all of the other components. I have a song I’ve been working on that I tried it out for, and this website provided some interesting results to consider after I input some information about my song. 

For the song title, the prompt asks you to input information such as “a singular noun featured in your song,” “a plural noun,” “an adjective,” and  “a verb in present tense.” I had written a song about progress in society that I used for this one, and here are the song title suggestions I got:

“Four Deep Seeds”
“Grow, Grow, Grow”
“Rhythm of the Progress” 
“Smells Like a Deep Progress”
“I Can’t Get No (Progress)”

Not exactly titles I would use, but going through this exercise and thinking this way could inspire you to think of your own winning title when you’re running out of ideas.

Listen to Alper Tuzcu on Spotify

2. SongLyricsGenerator.com

This website, which has the clearest URL for its purposes, comes with a variety of prompts such as: “break up song,” “love song,” “a song expressing nostalgia for a time,” and “a song expressing nostalgia for a place.” 

I thought this last one was interesting, so I decided to give it a go. The prompt asks you for information such as: “Describe the best trip you’ve ever been on” and “Describe the scenery outside.” This is what I got:

Verse One:
Fly
Don’t ask them why
Spain
For amber waves of grain

Chorus:
It was magical
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I usually fly and then take a bus
And the rain came hard

This was certainly much better than the Taylor Swift song prompt, so I also tried the “love song” prompt.

Verse One:
I don’t like to be vigilant
A world with no more night
Learning experiences
Through the days and nights

Chorus:
Cooking
In connection to the sun
Italian food
I can feel how much you love me

Verse Two:
The beach
But all I know is everything’s going to be alright
Until it lasts
I’ve never been this close to anyone or anything

This one was not as convincing as the nostalgia prompt—“cooking, in connection to the sun, Italian food”?—but perhaps it could work nicely as a brainstorming exercise. You might get a line or a word that catches your attention, which might inspire you to write something original.

3. Lyrics.com

The song lyrics generator on this site—which also serves as a database for existing lyrics—features prompts that come in the format of multiple choice questions, rather than asking you to type your own answer. You can pick from a variety of genres, so the multiple choice format can be a suitable way to learn about a genre in which you’ve never written before. For instance, if you pick “country,” you get a storyline like this one:

I grew up overshadowed by flat plains
Where the mountains, spoke wisdom
Scenes of wild horses running untamed
Oh how I wished it were me

Got myself together and built a still
In good weather I worked the mill
But come the snow the woods called me
Down the long rows, how I wished I were free

Since Lucy left me, got no place to go
No one waiting, No one home

The choices are for instance:

I grew up overshadowed by flat plains
Where the mountains, spoke wisdom
Scenes of wild horses running untamed
Oh how I wished it were me

This can be rewritten with another selection of words, such as:

I grew up overshadowed by oak trees
Where the books, spoke of the sun
Scenes of wild wind running fearlessly
Oh how I wished it were the bumble bee

The song lyrics generator on Lyrics.com could be useful to get an initial idea of country songwriting. Also, it is helpful to see how a storyline progresses in a country song, in an “introduction,” “development,” and “ending” structure. But seeing it all laid out like this makes songwriting seem almost like Mad Libs.

4. DeepBeat.org

This one is a rap lyric generator and it works differently than most. If you don’t have a song idea, the generator can suggest a line for you and you can keep going from there. 

You can actually type in as many lines as you like and then ask for a recommendation for the next line. The lines that are generated on this website are focused on maintaining an internal rhythm and a rhyme scheme.

5. BoredHumans.com

This website generates songs randomly every time you click on the Generate Lyrics button. The lyrics range in a variety of different topics and styles. If you would like to write a song and are not sure where to start, this could be a tool to try to get some ideas for your brainstorming session.

I got a song called “Don’t Blame Me” on this website:

Verse 1:
Don’t blame me
You know you got what you need
‘Cause you deserve the best
You know there’s something missing
For you to be searching for
When nothing’s gonna bring you back

Chorus:
Will sing songs about you
So if you know what’s good for you
Then you might get what you need
Don’t blame me you

This one feels too generic and not very specific, probably because it’s generated for anyone who visits the website at the click of a button. Perhaps you could catch a word or a phrase that could inspire you to write about something though!

The Final Verdict

Song lyrics generators could be most useful for brainstorming ideas at the initial stage of the lyric writing process. If you have a concept and some keywords that you want to start with, but you don’t know where to go next, the generators could be useful in suggesting more ideas to develop your concept. 

However, most of the songs generated have no genuine storyline and they do not sound very convincing. They can actually sound a little generic. So, keep in mind that they cannot replace the actual craft of writing lyrics. You should also be careful if you are taking direct lines from any generators, as they could potentially get you in trouble if they resemble some famous songs.

“Writing lyrics is a hefty task that needs constant development . . . Using song lyrics generators can be a fun and quick exercise, but it cannot replace the real art and craft of lyric writing.” —@alpertuzcu CLICK TO TWEET

Writing lyrics is a hefty task that needs constant development and editing in order to work best with music. Using song lyrics generators can be a fun and quick exercise, but it cannot replace the real art and craft of lyric writing. This only comes with spending time studying the work of great composers and songwriters and, of course, practice your own writing.