Writing The Apology Song

Love being the silly thing it is, most of us have experienced the need to say "I'm sorry" for some wrongdoing or another. Songwriters often find songs written on this topic ring true with most listeners, so this is a good area to try your hand at. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

I'M SORRY I SAID A STUPID

Sometimes our words harm our relationships. Think of little things that were said by you, folks you know, or things you read or saw on television. Sometimes it can just be a pun taken entirely the wrong way, bad timing, a joke gone terribly wrong, or a comment you said about another person your loved one mistakenly thought was about them. In your lyric, try to come up with ideas that just make sense at first--you can make them rhyme later. Find solutions other folks had for these dilemmas that WORKED, not just what might sound right coming from you, especially if you have screwed up these problems in the past. You can also just see how the book or TV characters worked out the dilemma, and perhaps write around that idea.

I'M SORRY I DID A NO-NO

Sometimes it is our actions that get us into trouble. Think of situations where the protagonist actually had a happy ending (these often make up for more salable lyrics), and write some prose around this situation, along with the solution where this person actually "did the right thing," apologized, paid for their misdeeds, or whatever was needed. Having them learn not to do it again also helps our backwards society have a few songs that could help them find similar solutions, so feel free to write that into the song if you can within the "three minute movie" you are trying to write here. Again, try to not leave loose strings. Sure, there are loads of songs out there with hoodlums getting away with bad things, cheating on a loved one, and so forth, but there is a good market for songs that show life in a more positive light.

I'M SORRY I FORGOT

Sometimes we forget important dates, are late for something, get caught up in work or whatever, and we hurt our loved ones by just assuming they will "get over it." Sure, you could write a song about a callous person who thinks this is okay, but why not write a song instead about being nice and giving them something even better to make up for it, and letting them know that they are more important somehow. Again, don't be shy about going to the media and finding fiction or true stories about this type of situation that you can create a lyric around. Always, though, make sure you either change names or situations around or get permission if you are going to use real-life or copyrighted material.

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