08/31/2026
Your song can be technically great and still not connect ā¦ šØšš¶āš»
The rhyme works. The melody works.
The story makes sense. The emotion is clear.
But the listener understands what youāre feeling without actually FEELING it themselvesā¦
Thatās the difference š
Sometimes, as songwriters, weāre so close to our own story that we over-explain it.
We tell the listener:
Iām heartbroken. I miss you. Iām lonely.
Iām falling in love. Iāve moved on. Iām happy nowā¦
But connection often happens when we stop explaining the emotion and start giving the listener something they can experience.
Instead of:
āI still miss you every night.ā
Maybe itās:
āI still sleep on my side of the bed.ā
Suddenly, you didnāt have to tell us what youāre feeling.
We already know.
Because we can SEE it.
And more importantlyā¦
we can put our own person in that empty space.
(Inside Song Pros, we call this āSHOW DONT TELLā ā¦ and we teach you how to do just that as your coaches!)
And that is one of the beautiful paradoxes of songwriting:
The more honestly you tell YOUR story, the more opportunity someone else has to find theirs inside it.
Specific doesnāt have to mean exclusive.
Personal doesnāt have to mean inaccessible.
And universal doesnāt have to mean vague.
The goal isnāt to write a song that could belong to everybody.
Itās to write your song so truthfully that everybody can find a little piece of themselves inside it.
Write your story. Leave room for theirs š¶āš¼
Save this one for your next writing session AND donāt forget to follow us for more tips, tricks and mini songwriting challengesš¤
And if youāre serious about taking your songwriting to another level, check out our site for more information on what weāre doing and what people are saying šš
