Good lyrics sound a little dumb
There’s a fine line between spontaneity and stupidity. Many of the genre’s best lines live on it.
Some lines are embarrassing to show anyone before you record them. On paper, they look almost ridiculous. Then the vocal hits the right note, the band comes in, and you realize making them more complicated would have ruined them.
Directness is a risk
“I want you to come over” looks simpler than “I miss your presence.” But the first phrase isn’t hiding. It’s easy to sing loud and easy to feel if it lands in your own situation.
Where simplicity becomes stupidity
When a phrase has no detail of its own. “I’m miserable without you” belongs to everyone. “I bought two Cokes out of habit” already has an author.
Smart simplicity is almost invisible
A simple line can contain a character, a past, an action in the present, and self-mockery. It just doesn’t list them. That makes lyrics like these harder than they look: the writer has to know more than they tell.
Don’t mean a simple thought.
Doesn’t mean there’s no subtext.
Doesn’t cancel out a serious emotion.
Isn’t lazy if the meaning changes.
A line has the right to look stupid. The problem is when it knows nothing beyond its own simplicity.
How to edit
Don’t automatically swap a simple word for a “beautiful” one. First find out what isn’t working: rhythm, imagery, precision, cliché. Sometimes one object is enough. Sometimes you need to cut the explanation.
After the tenth edit, lyrics often become more correct and worse. Keep the early version.