songwriting and metaphor use?

Question

How do you learn to use metaphors in songwriting? And get really good at it?

Any tips?

Answer 1

In my humble opinion, its not all that difficult to get good at it.

Like many, or any, thing, you really simply must practice.

The question is how to practice. I believe that using mental visualization is part of that. Example, just for practice, spend much of your day finding words that have very strong visual and/or action connotations or reference to describe things you would normally not. Example, if its frigid and windy outside, visualize the effects...use words such as icy, arctic, cutting...

Metaphors, for me, predominantly relate to something by putting it in the form of something someone can visualize, and perhaps more often than not also is an active something...something happening. Someone describes a person that tends to be argumentative and irrate but is ineffective or inept at causing any real action constructive or destructive as a tempest in a teacup. Visualizing the stormy nature of the person, but visualizing them in the delicate teacup, yet undamaged.

Or inverse of that metaphor might be the Bull in a China shop description. Where no matter how gentle the bull would care to be, the likelihood is that damage will be done, on a significant scale.

I am sure we could talk for hours on metaphors....but, to recap, my tip would be to visualize tangible things that could replace the subject. And try even harder to visualize things that are active...just as a matter of practice...

Answer 2

Metaphors are hard to do without being cheesey or strained. Remember they don't use "like" or "as" (those are similes) so they have to evoke imagery that tells a story about something else, or replace an obvious word/name/situation with an image that adds emotional or critical elements from a separate but similar context. Not easy to do without being totally opaque or totally obvious.

Study: Bob Dylan is especially good at using metaphor. And Don Mclean's American Pie is one of those songs that used an extended run of metaphors. Warrant's "Cherry Pie" was a nice obvious metaphor for the masses.

Otherwise I would read a lot of old Sylvia Plath, William Blake, and the Canterbury Tales.

Answer 3

get a writing teacher and ask them