Struggling to think of ideas for your next song?
When you’re listening to the radio, you start to notice that a lot of songs seems to have the same themes. Why not use one of these themes to write your own?
I have scoured the internet (as well as listening to hours and hours of music, ya know ;P) and compiled a list of the most used themes used songwriting. Take a look below!
Love
Without a doubt, love is one of the most popular themes in writing songs. Love songs come in all shapes and forms, whether it is lamenting love for someone, describing the feeling itself or creating a first dance-type song.
Some popular love songs include:
- How Deep is Your Love– the Bee Gees
- The Power of Love– Jennifer Rush (other versions include covers by Celine Dion, Gabrielle Aplin and Dalton Harris)
- Perfect– Ed Sheeran
- I Will Always Love You– Whitney Houston
- We Found Love– Rihanna and Calvin Harris
Heartbreak
Losing love can be just as much of an inspiration for songwriters as love itself. Heartbreak can move people to creativity in all manners of ways and here are some examples of famous heartbreak songs.
- You Can Go Your Own Way– Fleetwood Mac
- Rolling in the Deep– Adele
- The Winner Takes it All– Abba
- Dancing On My Own– Robyn
- Un-break my Heart– Toni Braxton
Sex
Lets talk about sexy baby, lets talk about you and me 😉
In a world that is becoming increasingly more sex-positive, lots of music turns to S. E. X. Whether the song is a beautiful description of two bodies coming together or just a raunchy 3.5 minutes of beats and butts, more and more music nowadays is talking about sex.
Looking for a bit of sexpiration?
- Lets Get it On– Martin Gaye
- Feelin’ Myself– Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj
- 2 Become 1– Spice Girls
- I’ll Make Love to You– Boys II Men
- Pony– Ginuwine
Partying
These tunes normally have a heavy focus on the beat and want to get you in the mood to dance! Party songs can turn any night from boring to banging.
- Party Rock Anthem– LMFAO
- Lets Get It Started– Black Eyed Peas
- Party in the USA– Miley Cyrus
- Fight for Your Right (to Party)– Beasite Boys
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun– Cyndi Lauper
Politics
Musicians have often used their medium to draw attention to- what they believe to be- political injustices. From wars to racism, songs can challenge the political landscape and bring issues into the public eye.
Some classic examples of songs with a political message are:
- Born in the USA– Bruce Springsteen
- American Idiot– Green Day
- Revolution– The Beatles
- Blowin’ in the Wind– Bob Dylan
- Uprising of Love– Melissa Etheridge
The Body
Curves, eyes, butts and thighs, singing about the body- especially the female body- is a common theme in a lot of popular music. Whilst there is an argument that it can often be quite objectifying in certain ways, there has been a huge surge in body positivity songs over the past few years.
Check out some examples below:
- Anaconda– Nicki Minaj
- My Humps– Black Eyed Peas
- Whole Lotta Rosie– AC/DC
- Video– India Arie
- My Skin– Lizzo
If you turn the radio on, chances are you’ll hear a song about one of these 6 topics.
What do you think? Are these the themes you normally use when you write the songs?
Artemis x
The Artemis Project 