5 Songwriting Tips From James Hetfield of Metallica

Formed in the early 1980s, Metallica has taken the heavy-metal genre to new heights of aggression and sophistication. Drummer Lars Ulrich and singer-guitarist James Hetfield started the band, which also includes guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. In the past four decades, the group has grossed more than $1.4 billion in concert tickets and sold over 125 million albums worldwide.

Early albums Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets shook the metal scene and locked in a rabid fan base. The acclaimed …And Justice For All arrived in 1988—followed three years later by a self-titled record that helped launch the band to worldwide superstardom. After a string of successful releases during the 1990s, including the blues-inspired Load and the live orchestra recording S&M, Metallica has continued turning out buzzy epics like St. Anger and Hardwired… To Self-Destruct.

A well-written song generally has five major elements, including:

1. 1. Harmony: In songwriting, harmony generally takes the form of a chord progression. A song’s melody and chords play off of each other, each supporting the other. A good songwriter knows how to balance both melody and harmony.
2. 2. Lyrics: Well-written song lyrics can turn a decent pop song into a smash hit. Some songwriters make lyric writing the focal point of their songwriting process. Others consider lyrics less integral to their own songs.
3. 3. Melody: A melody is a tune that defines a vocal line or instrumental riff. If you want a catchy song, then you need a memorable melody.
4. 4. Rhythm: Rhythm can be the most memorable part of a hit song. Rhythm isn’t just about drum patterns; each band member, from a lead singer to a guitarist to a saxophone player, must incorporate rhythm into their playing.
5. 5. Structure: Most song structures alternate between verses and choruses. One of the most common structures is intro / verse / chorus / verse / chorus / bridge / chorus, but you can write a great song using a variety of formats.

Whether you’re a singer-songwriter or a professional composer, you’ll benefit from a reliable songwriting process.

1. 1. Write your musical melodies first. Try writing your melodies before you turn your focus to themes, subjects, and specific words. Establish a distinct melody for the verses, then move on to the pre-chorus, chorus, and bridge. Work out an interesting chord progression under each of these melodies.
2. 2. Let your stream of consciousness guide you. Allow yourself to improvise nonsense lyrics, which may not make it into the final draft. A stream-of-consciousness style can help you understand what kind of lyrics your song should have. Once you have a feel for your song, begin improvising phrases and rhyming couplets that may later evolve into legitimately good lyrics.
3. 3. Settle on a theme and subject. You may end up with a song that’s too literal if you start by writing lyrics with a subject and a point of view. If you write lyrics with intuition and then refine with a specific theme, you can create a more poetic song.
4. 4. Finish the song. Once you’ve laid out the core phrases, lines, subject matter, and themes for your song, it’s time to fill in the blanks. Work your way through the whole song form. Keep working until you have an entire rough draft.
5. 5. Polish your work. Look at your rhyme schemes and determine if any seem forced. Use a rhyming dictionary if you’re struggling, though not every couplet needs to rhyme; some great songs contain no rhymes at all. Look for words and phrases you can punch up, but do so prudently. You’ll probably end up tweaking your lyrics before you consider the song finished.
6. 6. Pick a song title. Remember that the title should service the song, not the other way around.

Metallica’s lead vocalist and songwriter James Hetfield provides his tips for writing songs that will keep fans hooked to your music.

1. 1. Draw from your life. Whether you’re feeling disgusted, thrilled, or ambivalent, writing lyrics about your current station in life can be a surefire way to feel a little better and connect with your audience. James says songwriting has allowed him to work through issues related to addiction and his childhood; his art helps him gain insight into the motivations of his past selves. And while any criticism can sting, he believes that “if I’m writing from my heart, it really can’t be wrong.”
2. 2. Keep it vague(ish). While evocative art draws from particular experiences, James recommends you write with a diverse audience in mind. “If you get more specific, then it kind of closes [people's] minds,” he says. He wants to keep a wide-open door for listeners to walk through; accordingly, he tends to refrain from explicitly referencing historical events, books, films, or opinions.
3. 3. Keep notes. James recommends keeping a running list of lyrical ideas. He likes to jot them down in a notes app on his phone, or record them as a voice memo. (Before smartphones and apps existed, he would call his own phone number and leave a voicemail for later retrieval.)
4. 4. Stay open. Like any creative process, songwriting requires an open mind and artistic intuition. “There’s a point where the song tells me what it’s supposed to be instead of me telling it what it’s supposed to be,” James says. To access this inspiration, he adds, you’ve got to be willing to allow your ideas to evolve over time: “If I’m open to it, it will start morphing, and all of a sudden I’ve gone down a completely different way.”
5. 5. Use lyrics to propel the song. James, who describes his songwriting process as “unorthodox,” thinks of lyrics as another instrument in his musical arsenal. When he layers vocals on top of a riff, the words feel to him like another percussive force giving structure to his sound. Sometimes, he’ll even think through where he needs a consonant or vowel sound before matching lyrics to a section of his music.

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