Streets of gold, days of old, where we’ll never grow old, stories untold, hmmm… what else can we get to rhyme with that line?
Have you ever been stuck on a line that demanded you find a word that says what you want but also has to rhyme with the last word of the last line you’ve already written? You recite every word known to man that rhymes but you can’t find one that makes any sense! You not only need a rhyming word that makes sense but you also have to consider syllables AND you must make sure that the word you come up with will sing well.
My advice may be a bit simple but often we don’t think about it. Back up and change the line you’ve already written! Say it a different way! You may find that you want to go in an entirely different direction. Nothing is set in stone until you’ve stamped the tune done. This is going to open up a whole new set of options.
Another thing to think about when it comes to inner rhymes… They don’t have to be exact matches. For instance, lives would be a word that would serve as a rhyme for is or his. I used the word gold at the top of this post. One would think that the word chosen to serve as the match for gold would have to end with the letters “_old” and would also have to match in regards to syllables. That’s not accurate. For instance, the word soul would work as a match but you could also think about a two syllable word like ago.
Here’s something else to think about. The song may not need to rhyme. Take Bill Gaither’s classic, for example. Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives. Where is the rhyme scheme in that song???
Loosen up a little!!! If there’s one thing I’ve discovered, when it comes to music is… There aren’t really any rules. Yes things need to meter out correctly and we want our music to make sense to the listener but if you’re not careful you can get stuck in a rut by trying to play by unwritten rules. Have fun with this!!!
One last tip on rhymes. Google a rhyme tool. Rhymezone is one that I’ve used from time to time. Some people don’t like using tools like this but I don’t have a problem with it. I always find words that I wouldn’t have thought of. I don’t always use them but sometimes I do. I also love the Thesaurus. These are great tools that expand our options because they take us beyond our own capacity. If you know everything you won’t need to use such a tool but I guess I have to confess my ignorance… I don’t know it all.
Now… go pull that song you’d given up on and take a different approach at it! Happy writing!
The tyranny of rhyme can easily lead to a trite lyric. The suggestion to rewrite the troublesome line with the deadens rhyming word is great. Issac Watts often used sound alike.
Yes… It is painfully obvious when the writer has forced a word into a line just because it happened to rhyme.
I meant to say sound alike words in my previous post.
Another option I have used several times is a book I bought called “The Synonym Finder” by J. Rodale. If I can’t make a word rhyme and make sense, with this resource I have many times been able to change to a word with a similar meaning and find a rhyme for it that works in the lyric.
Thanks for the tip…
“Gold” and “ago.” Hmmmm… “gold” and “soul” I can kinda see, but I’m just not seeing “ago.” I would try to find something else that really did rhyme with “ago” and create a new rhyme pair instead of pretending it rhymes with “gold.”
I like to challenge myself to use the perfect rhyme wherever possible. There are certain rules for using an “assonance” (a soundalike), but you have to do it just right. I don’t even fully understand it myself. But I think a lot of the time people can fall back on the soundalikes just to get out of finding a “real” rhyme—not always, but sometimes. It is hard to rhyme perfectly everywhere! The old hymnwriters proved it could be done though! But that was a time when writers in general understood the language better and were more disciplined.
trust me… it works.
trust me… it works. I actually believe using exacts can be a bit mechanical.
Shoot, I had a long comment and lost it. Well, the gist of it was that I think using exacts is only mechanical if you have no talent or you’re just being lazy and not stretching yourself to think of ideas beyond the cliched. When used skillfully and cleverly, it’s elegant—far from mechanical! Just read Shakespeare, or any great rhymed poem, or as I mentioned before, old hymns. But I’d say it takes more skill to use fake rhymes and get away with it.
Allow me to rephrase… I meant to say it sounds mechanical when that’s all that’s used. You can listen my songs and realize that I use exact rhymes.
Of course…. I think we agree.
I use a variety of things in my songs, but one thing I like to do is change patterns. You can start with an abab group, then do cdc or something for a new section, throw in a couplet somewhere… or maybe only rhyme the last line of two sections. That keeps the listener from getting bored.
Thanks a bunch for RhymeZone. I’ve been looking for a tool like that! I just typed in “world” (which frequently gets rhymed with “girl” or something) to find exact rhymes, and this is what I came up with:
curled, hurled, swirled, twirled, whirled, unfurled
Interesting!
I really like http://www.wikirhymer.com. There are some squirrely rhymes at times because anyone can edit. But their near rhymes, mosaic rhymes, and phrases can be pretty helpful!