If a song calls itself “Wait for Me,” I'd like to know which of the two people is making the worse bargain. Somebody gets to go and somebody has agreed to sit about. It's easy to hear the romance in that. Give the one left behind an early shift tomorrow and the request starts to sound rather selfish.
Titles such as “Secret Love” and “One Last Goodbye” put you in much the same position. Somebody has decided what to call the relationship. I keep wanting to hear what the other person calls it. In these writing exercises, let them have something to do while they disagree. They can be bringing down a suitcase or looking for the car keys.
LyricsKid original illustration: a songwriter’s notebook beside a storyboard for an imagined scene.
What a song title tells you
A title may give you a name, an object or a few words you'd say in a difficult conversation. I like a title that gets more complicated on a second listen. Here are two songs worth listening to twice.
Who gets to speak in “Jolene”?
Dolly Parton's “Jolene” gives us the appeal from the woman who fears losing her partner. It makes me wonder what Jolene would say if she got a verse. How much of the singer's account would she recognize? I’d be tempted to put the two of them at a table and let Jolene take her time before answering. You could find an entire scene in what the first woman does while she waits.
Where does “Fast Car” take you?
The narrator of Tracy Chapman's “Fast Car” has practical things in mind, including work and somewhere to live. Listen to the song a second time, knowing where it ends. The same car seems to promise much less. Chapman released it as the lead single from her 1988 debut album. The album joined the National Recording Registry in 2025. Library of Congress.
Give the feeling something to collide with
Regret gets awkward when you have to do something about it. Someone can admit they believed a lie and still find that the person they hurt won't answer the door. The apology may be one they've tried before. I'd start with one of them ringing and the other deciding whether to turn the light off.
Give a secret a cost
Pick one person who’d have a sensible reason to keep the relationship quiet. Now give the other an equally good reason to talk. Maybe they’re applying for the same job. At a public interview, one is asked how well they know the other. They can answer very truthfully and still leave an awful lot out.
Let the past turn up in the present
When a missing heir walks into the family business on the day it's due to be sold, the return creates a dispute. If everyone in the room thought the heir was dead, you may be writing a thriller.
Who gets to call it a goodbye?
Try saying “Please Don't Leave” out loud, then “I Had to Leave.” I'd expect a very different evening from each speaker. You could be looking at the same couple, on the same platform, with the same train coming in. Give the scene to one of them for a few lines. Then start again with the other person's version. There may be something neither is willing to say, even in a scene of their own.
Try the one-sentence test
Try these as opening situations. A woman discovers the man she waited years for is back under a different name. Two people in a hidden relationship have to introduce themselves to each other at work. A former couple has to clear a family house before it goes on the market. In each case, you can see where an opening scene might begin.
Browse a collection of 쇼츠드라마 and pay attention to the first decision in each setup. In a romance, somebody might risk being seen with the wrong person. A family story can get all the tension it needs out of a pen left next to a contract. I’d watch who reaches for it.
Suppose the man has already come back. He's rented the room across the street and spends the evening listening for her key in the door. Why won't he knock? I can see several answers to that, and I'd want to hear the one he'd give her. That's the sort of extra trouble a very plain title can make room for.
Next time a title sounds like something you’d say to a particular person, try writing the reply. It might be a lousy reply. Good. Put those two people in a room and work out what one of them needs to do before the other goes home.
