Make a List.

Not all the rhymes are in the rhyming dictionary. You will want to make a list of other rhymes not usually used. For example: All and Lauren Bacall, Buddies and Fuddy-Duddies.

Not all rhymes are spelled the same. Eyes and Size, for example. When using the “ize” rhyme, words with a 'y' ending in the plural will work, such as Size and Flies, or Cries, or Spies.

Conversely, not all words spelled the same sound the same. Rain and Again do not rhyme in the proper sense.

Beware of words that are spelled differently, but sound the same. Size and Sighs are different words, but sound the same and can be confusing to the listener. They are not a rhyme, they are the same sound.

The trick is to hear how the word sounds and how it will sound to the listener. If you are writing in a dialect, accent or slang, the rhymes will be different according to the ethnic of the song you are writing. In the song “Makin' Whoopee,” there's a line, “They think they're hidden, who are they kiddin'” using a slang phrase and rhyming the accepted street usage, “kiddin'” with “hidden.”

Make a list of rhymes that would have to do with the subject or title of the song, especially if it is a particular subject. If the title or theme of the song is particular, you will need particular items in the song to give it that flavor. (Caution: this can be overdone. If you want comic effect, OK, but if you don't, it can be bad.)

Making a list of associated words is called “laundry list” writing. In a song called “Shot Full of Love,” the songwriter's list included: Bullet, gun, '45, '38, explode, trigger, smoking gun, bang, pow, zap, mortally wounded and quick-on-the-draw. All things associated with guns or being shot, and all will be related to love somehow.

If you are writing a Country, there is a trend towards near rhyme or imperfect rhyme; if it sounds close, it'll work. This opens up a myriad of possibilities to the songwriter who finds himself limited by perfect rhyme.

“There's a junk-yard dog a-barkin' in the valley down below.
He's wantin' me to stop an' gather up a heavy load.” (from A Ways to Go)

Of course, if you cannot rhyme a word you simply must have in the song, put it in the middle of a line or in a line that need not rhyme.

Internal rhyme can add color to a song and give you some interesting phrases. The word Fun or Sun in the middle of a line and Wonderful in the next line give you internal rhyme to pull your song together.

“Them windshield wipers clappin' time, and holding Bobbie's hand in mine, we sang ev'ry song that driver knew.” (From Bobbie McGee)

Or one of my favorites: “At a bar in Toledo, across from the depot, on a barstool she took off her ring.” (From Lucile)

All that said, there is much argument for a rhyming dictionary; I have seven at my desk. Looking over a list of rhymes can take you places in a song that you weren't originally intending to go. You could see a word and it will open up a whole new angle to your song. From a rhyming dictionary, I wrote:

“She was only a passing fiancé, the wedding went off without a hitch.
One of us jilted the other, but I could not, for the life of me, say which.
Just an afternoon's diversion, one of life's lessons to learn,
A round-trip, tourist-class excursion into the land of no return.”

So keep that rhyming dictionary handy, or see www.rhymezone.com, but don't let your imagination end there. You're the writer, write something unique. Remember, if it was easy, anybody could do it.


Jon Batson
www.jonbatson.com
Author of The Songwriter's Hook Book at www.cdbaby.com/jonbatson3.