Writing lyrics is hard.  I mean, you’re sitting there, the song is almost done and all you’ve got to throw in there is a bridge or the second half of a verse.  You’re sitting there, staring at a paper or your computer screen and you’ve got nothing.  Then you start throwing out things and all of the sudden something hits you…. and it’s lame.  Start over.

I’ve seen all sorts of friends fighting with this.  Back when I pretended to write songs I even did this.  ’What fits in this space?’.  And here’s when it creeps in.  The cliche’ “I feel so alive” line.  Think about it.  How many times have you heard a song with that phrase in it?  Do you really Jason Mraz?  Do you ‘feel so alive’ at this moment of songwriting?  What about you P.O.D.?  You too?  Don’t believe that this is an over used phrase?  Here we go.

“Alive” – Blue
“Alive” – Kenny Wayne Shepherd
“Rush Over Me” – Backstreet Boys
“Shiny” – Berlin
“Moment” – Aiden
“Change” – Candlebox
“Brave New Girl” – Britney Spears
“My Baby You” Marc Anthony
“Runaway” Avril Lavigne
“Natural Woman” – Aretha Franklin
“Over My Head” – John Farnham
“7 Keys” – Aqualung
“Sleep” – Plumb
“Again” – John Legend
“The Great Escape” – Boys Like Girls
“It Only Hurts When I’m Breathing” – Shania Twain
“No Holding Back” – Rod Stewart
“So Alive” – Love And Rockets
“So Alive” – Ryan Adams
“Wicked Garden” – Stone Temple Pilots
“Franklin” – Paramore

Oh, and you know there are more don’t you?  Now obviously I don’t know all the songs listed above but if you’re able to Google a phrase and put the word “lyric” next to it and this many songs pop up, you shouldn’t be writing it.  And don’t get me wrong, some of these are great songs.  I’m just wondering what else could have gone there.  Plus, when was the last time you ‘felt so alive’?  Although I guess it beats all the songs about feeling so dead right?

What other lyrics can you think of that are over used?