Guide · Songwriting

100 song ideas: things to write a song about, plus prompts that work

Stuck for something to write about? Here are 100 song ideas, sorted so you can pick a kind of song, not just a topic. Pick one, set a timer, and record a rough version before you think too hard. Then keep it somewhere you will find it again.

People

1. The friend you lost touch with and never meant to
2. Your first boss
3. A grandparent's hands
4. The person who taught you to drive
5. Someone you only knew for one night
6. A stranger you still think about
7. Your younger brother or sister growing up
8. The teacher who was right about you
9. An ex who is happy now
10. The person you pretend to be at parties

Places

11. The house you grew up in, now owned by strangers
12. A motorway services at 3am
13. Your first flat
14. The last train home
15. A hospital waiting room
16. A town you left and never went back to
17. The back seat of your parents' car
18. A festival field the morning after
19. Your kitchen at midnight
20. A beach out of season

Moments

21. The second you knew it was over
22. Getting the call
23. The last night before moving
24. A first kiss that went wrong
25. Waiting for test results
26. Hearing your song on someone else's speaker
27. The drive home after a funeral
28. Quitting a job
29. The first warm day of the year
30. Saying sorry too late

Feelings with a twist

31. Being happy and not trusting it
32. Missing someone you are glad is gone
33. Jealous of your own past
34. Homesick for a place that does not exist
35. Proud and lonely at the same time
36. Relief that feels like guilt
37. Love that is mostly habit now
38. Nostalgia for last year
39. Angry at someone you cannot tell
40. Calm after deciding

Objects

41. A voicemail you never deleted
42. A jacket that still smells like them
43. A broken watch
44. Keys to a place you do not live any more
45. A photo booth strip
46. A cracked phone screen
47. The guitar you learned on
48. A birthday card from years ago
49. A ticket stub
50. A car with 200,000 miles on it

Story songs

51. Two people who keep almost meeting
52. A band that never made it
53. Someone who wins the lottery and nothing changes
54. A letter that arrives ten years late
55. A small town after the factory closes
56. Someone leaving without saying why
57. A wedding from the point of view of the ex
58. The night shift
59. A ghost who does not know they are a ghost
60. Running into your old self

Turn a phrase

61. A saying your mum always used
62. Something a stranger said on the bus
63. A text you never sent
64. The last line of a book you love
65. A road sign
66. An argument, word for word
67. A phrase in another language you cannot translate
68. A thing you say to yourself in the mirror
69. The out-of-office reply
70. An overheard phone call

Big picture

71. Getting older faster than you expected
72. Being the first in your family to do something
73. Money, and what it did to a friendship
74. A country you love and argue with
75. Social media at 2am
76. Staying when everyone else left
77. Starting again at 30, 40 or 50
78. What you would tell your 16-year-old self
79. A world without your phone
80. Being good at something nobody pays for

Prompts and games

81. Write a chorus using only one-syllable words
82. Write a verse in exactly four lines about one room
83. Pick a colour and write the whole song without naming it
84. Take the last voice memo you recorded and write the second verse
85. Write a song as a list
86. Write the reply to a famous song
87. Write the same story from both sides
88. Use a title first, then write the song to fit it
89. Write about today in the past tense, as if it were years ago
90. Set a 20-minute timer and finish a rough song before it rings

From your own pile

91. Open your voice memos, play the oldest one, and finish it
92. Find two half ideas in the same key and join them
93. Take a riff with no words and say what it sounds like
94. Pick the memo with the best title and write the song the title promises
95. Take a chorus you love and write a new verse from a different person's view
96. Play a memo at half speed and see what it becomes
97. Put three memos side by side and keep the best line from each
98. Rewrite an old song for who you are now
99. Turn a voice note to a friend into a lyric
100. Finish the song you are most scared to finish

Turn an idea into a song

An idea is a starting line, not a song. Pick one and write the title first, then a chorus that says the title, then two verses that each show it from a different angle. Record a rough take on your phone the moment you have a melody.

Write more than you keep

Most ideas will go nowhere. That is normal. Writing ten rough songs to get one good one is how most songwriters work.

Keep your ideas where you can find them

The best idea you had last year is probably sitting in Voice Memos as "New Recording 212". Name each memo with what it is ("Chorus, sad, Am") and keep the words next to the recording, so an idea can grow into a song instead of getting lost.

Questions

What should I write a song about?
Write about something specific that happened to you or someone you know: a place, a moment, an object. Specific songs feel bigger than general ones.

How do I come up with song ideas?
Keep a running list of phrases, places and moments, use prompts like the ones above, and go back to your old voice memos: there are usually half-finished ideas waiting there.

What are good songwriting prompts for beginners?
Write a chorus using only one-syllable words, write four lines about one room, or take the last thing you recorded and write a second verse for it.