Pro Tips: For Incredible Lyrics Here's How to USE AI and Not RELY on It

Suno brought a personal 25-year songwriting passion back to the surface and rebirthed a long dormant vision. At Flair AI Radio, we have heard innumerable similar stories. For most of my first month using Suno, I either wrote entirely new song lyrics, or reframed decades old lyrics into relevant and re-invigorated music that I was proud to share with the world.

About a month ago, I had a friend coming over to learn Suno in detail. To add some fresh lyrics to the session, I decided to venture over to Chat GPT to create a few fast new song lyrics I could then generate in Suno.

The lyrics that Chat GPT were far better than what I had imagined. This was unusual, because I have written about how Generic the “look” of Chat GPT writing is, in an article of Medium) and shared about it here: https://open.substack.com/pub/rethinkerpub/p/ai-might-be-a-stale-non-fiction-writer

Still, as Paul Saxberg said in the Suno Music Creators Facebook Group, most of the time you can tell which songs were created in AI. Suno does a great job with the music and vocal. But it often can only go as far as the lyrics it’s presented.

For this article, I will share how you can USE AI, but still use YOUR OWN creativity to generate something so much more powerful and, well, human, than AI is capable of producing. How to use AI to  accent your creativity and not rely on AI to do all the heavily lifting.

The “Story” in detail

Last week, I had a song hook idea for a story that I knew would be relevant for many women listening: the “Ma’am” conversation and debate. I know dozens of women who bristle when a grocery store clerk refers to them as “Ma’am” as they leave the store. So, I just needed to create a song around the hook concept. Until a month ago, I would handwritten the entire song. This time, I decided to prompt Chat GPT with the concept, in some exacting detail.

PRO TIP: the amount of detail is important, the more writing and direction you provide, the better the final generation will be… at least to start.

I’m going to show you the lines generated by AI and the final song, so you can observe how you can change your AI lyrics to turn them from meh to magical!

FIRST VERSE (AI ORIGINAL LYRICS)

Sweats on, ponytail, just grabbing some bread,
Two screaming kids still stuck in my head.
I’m juggling milk and cereal too,
Feeling invisible in aisle two.
At the checkout line, I heard him say,
“Have a nice day, ma’am,” and sent me on my way.

FIRST VERSE (MY FINAL CREATION)

Sweats on, ponytail, grabbing some bread,
The day’s worth of trouble still stuck in my head.
Juggling milk and some bagels plain,
Feeling unseen in the express lane
Then the frat-brat at the counter
Without much of a glance, said
“Have a nice day,
ma’am,”
and changed all my plans

 Starting with THE VERSE’S FIRST LINE, the word “JUST” was, well “just” filler! There was no need for the line, and it was only going to bog Suno down, so it was ejected.

 “Two sreaming kids” was far too negative and didn’t match to the overall story. What if the listener didn’t have two kids? Would it resonate with the largest audience. By changing the line to “The Day’s worth of trouble…”, anyone could relate.

 “Feeling invisible in Aisle two…”? A little boring. Switching cereal to “bagels plain” allowed me to change the next line to “Feeling UNSEEN in the express lane.” How many people feel invisible when they are out in public? This simple changed produced a far better and relevant visual in the mind of the listener.

PRO TIP: ALWAYS be thinking about you audience when you are editing your AI music. Is every word adding to the story you want to tell.

AI
At the checkout line, I heard him say,
“Have a nice day, ma’am,” and sent me on my way.

MY FINAL LYRICS
Then the frat-brat at the counter
Without much of a glance, said
“Have a nice day,
ma’am,”
and changed all my plans

 This whole section needed updating. It was generic and boring. “Him?” – no connection. “Sent me on my way” – blah.

 So, it was completely overhauled.

First, think about the visual of the word I made up: “Frat-brat” – can you see him? Can you picture his look?

“Without much of a glance” – how many women get this reaction when they are at the counter. We all want to be seen.

“Changed all my plans” – Sets the stage for the entire rest of the song. What plans? We find out when you listen to the song!

PRO TIP: see how the song lines are broken up? When you listen to the song, you’ll see that Suno perfectly aligned to the story. Suno is SMART, it doesn’t just create vocals and music, it learns the theme and story “aura” of your song and will create accordingly if you format your lines to amplify the story.

I hope this has given you some great strategies, on how to USE AI and not RELY on it.

We know that this will further your chances of being added to the Flair AI Radio online music station. We are starting to create amazing relationships with many of you, so please share your own story as we communicate.

Here’s to your amazing music!

Final PRO TIP: 

Final Chorus (AI ORIGINAL LYRICS)

I don’t need the dress, don’t need the shoes,
But it’s fun to remind the world I still choose.
Confidence is the key, I understand,
And it all started when he called me “ma’am.”

Final Chorus (MY FINAL CREATION)

You don’t need the dress, don’t need the shoes,
But it’s fun to remind the world you still choose.
Confidence is key, we now understand,
We own our power,
if they call us “ma’am.”

By changing the story from “I” to “You” and “We,” you add more relational connection with your audience, and turn it from a song, into an inspiring mantra. Note the formatting changes again.