Is it auto-biographical? 1 st or 3 rd person? Is it a narrative or a statement? What themes are used?Ĭonsider a song like ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Dire Straits. How To Analyse Song Lyrics – Voice & Perspectiveįirst, you need to think about who is singing the song. In this article we will convey how to analyse song lyrics in a meaningful and constructive way, that will ultimately inform your own songwriting. Whole books on how to analyse song lyrics have been written, but here, we will summarise the main things to think about when examining lyrical content. Song lyric analysis is something of a dark art in itself. However, the musicality of a song is only part of the picture, and song lyrics are often the real soul of a track.

As musicians, we all recognize musical anchor points – tempo, harmony, melody, instrumentation, etc. Knowing how to analyze song lyrics is complex.