How to Turn Your Poems into Lyrics

There’s a reason why poetry doesn’t pay the bills. I may not be in my early twenties anymore, but I’m pretty sure Robert Frost never wrote a “banger.” A sacred and beautiful, moving expression of personal grief, joy, and humanity and a companion through the troubling times exposing life’s true meaning, sure. But a banger? My apologies if you live alone in a cabin in the woods.

Poetry is the gateway drug of lyric-writing. That is to say that people who consider themselves poets find their interest and skills translate well into lyric writing. If you’ve wanted to write lyrics and identify as a closet poet, read on my friend, read on.

Poetry and lyrics are not the same. They share many of the same characteristics with a few important differences. One of the biggest differences is that lyrics, unlike poetry, benefit from existing as an extension of the song’s musical mood. 

Imagine you could trigger a soundtrack to play behind all your interactions throughout your day. Wake me up and before I go go and my shower and teeth brushing become a scintillating montage. On the way to work I drive past your house and Olivia Rodrigo reminds me I’m still raw about the way we broke up. I’m not living, I’m just killing time while I shuffle papers with Radiohead at work. Each mundane moment of my life becomes a truly cinematic experience. That’s the power music infuses into our iambic tetrameter. It’s also the reason we lyric-writers are sometimes full of crap. As someone completely unmemorable on Reddit once said, “there’s a fine line between art and…not art.” I could not agree more.

So outside of music, how do we turn our poetry into lyrics, or in the words of no-one, ‘not-lyric’ into ‘lyric?’ I’ll list what I believe are the three main ways. If you’re more studious or just a people-pleaser, you’ll want to try applying the tips after each point to practice your lyric writing.

Write a Chorus or A Refrain

If you don’t know what a chorus is, welcome to this century and please take me to your time machine. What you may not be familiar with is the refrain. The refrain, like the chorus, serves as the anchor to the song. It’s the single word, phrase, or line that summarizes the main point. Where a chorus is multiple lines, a refrain is just one. Both choruses and refrains repeat several times in a song, ensuring above all, the listener knows the main point. Poetry is not devoid of structural tools like repetition, but rarely repeats entire sections to ensure the point is driven home.

Tip: Try digging into a poem you’ve written and lifting one to three lines that could capture a main idea. Practice using repetition, first as a single line repeated four times, then as two lines alternating, and finally stacking three or more lines for less balance, rhyme, and predictability. The purpose is to train our ears to become ‘comfortable’ with the sound of repetition in lyric writing.

Say what you need to say

(repeat ad nauseam)

-“Say,” John Mayer -

Im free falling

Yeah Im free, free falling

- “Free Fallin’,” Tom Petty

Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone

It’s not warm when she’s away

ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone

and she’s always gone too long

anytime she goes away

-“Ain’t No Sunshine,” Bill Withers

Killing me softly with his song

Telling my whole life with his words

Killing me softly with his song

-“Killing Me Softly, ”Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel

Match Lyric Rhythm and Line Length to Melody

The way we write a lyric on a page reflects the rhythm and length of the melodic phrasing. The rhyme scheme of the section is also created by the melodic cadence, as a result of the chord progression. The point here is that while both poetry and lyric exist across time as we read it, speak it, or sing it, the rhythms and lengths of our lyric lines are defined by the music, not only the words. John Prine’s words might read like this:

Sam Stone came home to a wife and family
after serving in the conflict overseas

But John Prine’s lyrics sing like this:

Sam Stone

Came home

To a wife and family
After serving in

Conflict overseas

-“Sam Stone,” John Prine

Tip: Poems begin to sound like lyrics when rhythmic patterns and rhyme schemes emerge. Try taking a poem you’ve written and splitting the lines to create the potential for rhythmic repetition and rhyme. Two foundational rhyme schemes used all over in lyric writing are XAXA, and XXAXXA. Let the two A lines rhyme, and make sure to match their rhythm closely. For the X lines, rhyme or don’t, but match their rhythms. The shorter the lines, the easier it is to match their rhythms.

A long time ago

I left my home

For a job in the fruit trees

But I missed those hills

With the windy pines

For their song seemed to suit me

-“One More Dollar,” Gillian Welch

Burn your finger playing with fire

But you never know until you try

Come on, let’s go, let’s jump right in

We will rope swing and river swim

-“Virginia in the Rain,” Carter Beauford, 

Dave Matthews, Doug McKean, Stefan Lessard,

Tim Reynolds

Keep the Imagery, but Don’t Overdo It

Go ahead and use sensory language, but in the words of Kenny Rogers, “know when to walk away.” Lyrics come to life when we bring the listener into our lived experience. This means that like poetry, showing is better than telling. But lyrics often pair verse imagery and metaphor with more direct chorus language that helps the listener make meaning of what we’re hearing. We first show the listener what ‘is,’ then we tell them ‘what it means.’

Verse (imagery)

The doctor said daddy wouldn't make it a year 

But the holidays are over and he's still here 

How long can they keep you in the ICU 

Veins through the skin like a faded tattoo

Verse (imagery)

Was a tough state trooper 'til a decade back 

When that girl who wasn't mama caused his heart attack 

He didn't care about us when he was walkin' around 

Just pullin' women over in a speed trap town

Chorus (direct language)

But it never did occur to me to leave 'til tonight 

When I realized he'll never be alright 

Sign my name and say my last goodbye, then decide 

But there's nothin' here that can't be left behind

-“Speed Trap Town,” Jason Isbell

If you’re wondering whether your poems might make good lyrics, rest assured you’re onto something. Persisting beyond the doubt, taking bold rewriting steps, and trying multiple versions of the same idea are actions we take in any art form as we live with our work. And in the end, only we decide whether our refrains should stand alone, or draped in music.

The air is dark, the night is sad,

I lie sleepless and I groan.

Nobody cares when a man goes mad:

He is sorry, God is glad.

Shadow changes into bone.

Every shadow has a name;

When I think of mine I moan,

I hear rumors of such fame.

Not for pride, but only shame,

Shadow changes into bone.

When I blush I weep for joy,

And laughter drops from me like a stone:

The aging laughter of the boy

To see the ageless dead so coy.

Shadow changes into bone.

- “Refrain" by Allen Ginsberg

If this resonates with you, there’s something meaningful about exploring it in real time, alongside other songwriters asking similar questions. At my songwriting retreats, we spend our days tuning our listening, getting closer to what feels true, and uncovering the unique voice that lives at the intersection of our taste, instincts, and experience. It’s a space to slow down, reconnect with what draws you to music in the first place, and give your songs room to grow into something honest and lasting.