Writing Lyrics that Mirror People's Experience

Stories are a language of communication to explain events in life. They help us navigate the world and make sense of what we experience.

And when you want to write meaningful songs — songs that actually make a difference for the person listening to them, then, in our lyrics, we have to abide by the universal structure of how we experience life.

In storytelling, that process is expressed through the five commandments of storytelling which can be expressed as follows:

Those five commandments are based on the universal grammar of communication and information theory. Physics, Biology, Chemistry—they’re all built from this.

The 5 commandments of storytelling map onto the Search Inference Framework.

The Search Inference framework, also known as the search problem framework, is a foundational concept in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer science, particularly within the domain of problem-solving and planning.

It builds on the idea of state space search, a concept that involves representing a problem as a collection of states and transitions between those states.

This approach was formalized in the mid-20th century, influenced by the work of pioneers such as Alan Turing, John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, and Herbert A. Simon.

So, basically, it's an AI problem solver. After all, if we want to create an AI, it would be good if it knew how we solve problems. That's why the early model was also considered to be a global problem solver.

And it established four things:

The initial state is the moment of recognizing that you have a problem, often when you discover a lack of something essential.

This recognition highlights a deficiency or an unsatisfactory condition in your current situation.

The initial state, therefore, is the acknowledgment of this lack and the desire to find a solution.

The trigger for this search is the awareness of your unhappiness or need—for instance, realizing you need water.

This need signals your body or mind that something is missing.

Consequently, you begin to envision what you need and plan how to obtain it.

The second component is the goal state. The goal state represents the envisioned outcome or condition when the problem is solved.

It’s essentially a projection of the object of desire—what it will feel like or be like to achieve the solution.

The goal state directs the individual's efforts to solve their problem by defining the target they need to reach.

The goal state operates as a motivator, indicating when the problem is resolved by the attainment of something that fulfills a need or desire.

It's the state where the absence or lack is eliminated.

For instance, if you desire water, the goal state is having water.

This goal directs your actions and decisions, prioritizing the search for water above other potential desires.

In essence, the goal state serves as the "must get" directive, filtering through the myriad of possible wants to focus on the most pressing need.

You have two driving forces: the goal state at the top, representing the need (e.g., need water), and the current state at the bottom, representing the lack (e.g., lacking water). Both exert pressure, guiding your actions to resolve the deficiency and achieve satisfaction.

Thirdly, we've got our operators, the steps we'll follow, ie. to quench our thirst.

The simpler the task, the more automatic these operators become—think of reaching for a glass of water right beside you; it's effortless.

So, these operations are the actions we need to take to turn our discomfort into contentment, from where I am now to where I want to be.

They're like the tools we employ to transition from dissatisfaction to satisfaction.

Path constraints encompass the environmental factors that hinder progress toward achieving the goal state.

For instance, when aiming to fill a cup, navigating gravity becomes essential.

These constraints manifest as obstacles encountered along the pathway from the initial to the goal state, demanding strategic maneuvering to overcome them.

As we've said before, the 5 commandments of storytelling can be summed up by saying:

Now, when we want to connect the problem-solving framework with our 5 commandments, then we get to the following concept:

When a disturbance becomes a problem ...

This is the recognition of unhappiness: "I’ve been disturbed, and now I have a problem." That’s my recognition of unhappiness. It establishes my initial state, i.e., "I'm hungry."

... a protagonist discerns and enacts their optimal choice to resolve it.

That means we have to discern what kind of problem we have, i.e., I need something to eat.

And we enact our operations in the optimal way to get from the initial state to the goal state. We know when we're hungry, we need to get some food to feel better (moving from initial state to goal state). We will operate in a way so that we can use the minimum viable steps, burning the minimum amount of energy. We do not run three times around the block to get to the hot dog cart that's right in front of our house.

The response from the environment to that enacted choice starts the process anew.

For example, we go outside, and there's no hot dog cart today. Now we have a new level of problems. That's storytelling.

When we want to write meaningful song lyrics, we have to keep in mind how we experience life.

It's us being in an initial state, lacking something, being in that state of unhappiness. And that's how we connect with the audience. We address what they feel they lack as well, i.e., like, love (desire to feel empowered by having someone by your side).

So, when you start the song, the best way to create that connection is to establish the unhappiness, the initial state, what is bugging them, and what must be fixed.

Think of it like the woman in Gloria Gaynor's song "I Will Survive." Her initial state is going through a breakup. She's unhappy because she lacks love.

Then, it's all about the operations.

What is the song's main character doing to move from their initial state to their goal state? What do they feel will get them there?

And to avoid a boring story (like initial state - procedures/operations - goal state), we need the path constraints!

That's the s**t, the song's main character did not see coming and that they cannot plan for.

Again, if you look at the song "I Will Survive", it's her ex-boyfriend showing up in her OWN apartment! Talk about turning points!

Path constraints are great! Because if you want to tell a story in your song that seems real, that is believable, and that moves people, then it must be true to life. So, bring on the obstacles, the chaotic disruptions, because we constantly have to deal with those things in life!

And lastly, in the end, it's all about the question:

Did the song's main characters get to their goal, or did they not? Have they changed/transformed as a person, or not? Did they move to a better place or are they worse off than before?

Have they become a representation of a certain behavior in a specific context that can transcend over to other people? Inspire them?

That's storytelling in a nutshell. Moving from an initial state of disturbance (the lack of something) through operations and meeting path constraints to the goal state (or not).