One way of coming up with lyrics is to write bits and pieces of ideas down which have a central "theme", which is related to your song idea. These can be words, sentences, or phrases which just sound great and express your thoughts. For example water/ice is a good metaphor which can be used to represent many things. Here's a few words and ideas connected to it...

"Snowbound", "Cold as Ice", "Slip Away", "Melted Heart", "Tears", "Drowned in your Love"...

To hear a dreamy and timeless example of subconscious imagery, you could check out U2's first album Boy. It's full of simple but effectively wonderful words and pictures, about growing up, and growing pains and ...

For a great example of what I suppose you could call a more cerebral approach, try analyzing some of Sting's lyrics. He's an incredibly strong storyteller and my personal fave of his among many, is his debut solo album "The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Some fantastic stories here of spooky Victorian full-moons, Europe, Russia, America, walled cities, freedom...and a string of hit singles to boot.

Pick the best in the field and take 'em apart and put 'em back together again. Find out what's behind them. Take command and control of words and become a tune-smith. Immerse yourself in writing how to's, poetry and other peoples work. Learn and absorb this info and keep jotting down original ideas. This is a vital step: use these ideas as a springboard for your own original and creative ideas. I would thoroughly recommend to study of a good "lyric-writing" book, to cut years off the learning curve, and give you the edge on many "unschooled" writers. You can use these techniques and still keep it original!

The key to writing is to experiment until you find a way that suits you. There is no hard and fast rule or method to follow. The most important thing is to get into the habit of writing, write REGULARLY, and don't forget to write everything down! Collaboration with other writers or members in the band can be a good approach too. Mix techniques around, subconscious imagery, metaphors, experience and so on. Before you know it your "songbook" will be full of ideas and finished tunes.

See our Song-writing Recommendations for a book I believe to be absolutely brilliant for learning all of these techniques and many more.

'best

David