How to Write Song Titles

Although sometimes arbitrary, song titles often convey the mood, feeling and tenor of the piece itself. Song titles may embody the general purpose of the song while serving to catch the attention of potential listeners as well. Whether you are a professional songwriter or an amateur musician, writing song titles is an integral part of the artist's creative process.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Song lyrics and music track (optional)
• Highlighter pen

How to Write Song Titles

1. Decide what the purpose of your song title will be: if it will serve as a general summation of the song, an eye-catcher for other artists who may want to purchase the song from you, or a reflection of the overall feel of the song itself.

2. Brainstorm words, phrases and even stream-of-consciousness thoughts. List them on a piece of paper regardless of whether you really like all of them or not.

3. Narrow your list by focusing on specific words and phrases that stand out to you and best align with your vision of how you want your song to be viewed or understood. You can either strike out ones that don't make the cut or highlight the words/phrases that do.

4. Re-read the lyrics of your song, keeping every potential title in your mind while doing so. Think about how well each possible title fits within the context of the song's words, and perform this step again while listening to the song's music track for a fuller effect.

5. Refine the song title you have determined fits your song the best. This may involve adding or subtracting a word, or changing the word order a bit for the most natural flow.

Tips & Warnings

• You may also do the opposite of these steps by writing song titles before composing the music and/or lyrics to the song itself. This decision will depend on the chronology of your individual creative process.

• Do not rely too heavily on the opinion of others when writing song titles if it means your thoughts and opinions won't be reflected in the final product.

Resources

• Communicating meaning through song titles