The sound of a lyric can also become part of the meaning. A word can have a texture to its sound that adds to its impact.
Compare hand, rot, bag, and book with lunatic, masterful, and mellifluous. The sound of the first group has a rough, choppy, percussive feel. The second group has a softer, flowing, more melodious feel. Talk about the music of words in songwriting!
Nowhere can you see this better than in onomatopoeia. This happens when the sound of a word imitates its meaning: rip, bubble, crunch, pop, slurp, and fizz. These words have a life and vibrancy that can bring verve to a dull lyric.
In fact, inventing an onomatopoeia can be a good way, if used sparingly, to bypass cliché language. “He scritched his fingernails across the chalkboard.”
A similar technique, called portmanteau, combines two words to create a new one. “He quickly scriveled a whiny, complainy note to his wife.” This sentence blends snivel and scribble. The next section gives three more ways to slip in the music of words into your songwriting.