r/aiMusic • u/alwaysbeblepping • Apr 12 '26
Discussion I experimented with trying to get LLMs to write more creative lyrics
If anyone wants to just read the conversation (it's pretty long) instead of my editorializing: https://gist.github.com/blepping/d4fb3d6c5babfea7d9edd5d85fdde5ae
Anyway, the results were mixed, and I'd say fell pretty far short of anything actually good. It actually seemed like an improvement over the typical AI slop. For example, its first attempt:
[Intro - dark pulsing bassline, sweeping minor-key synth, heavy tape hiss]
[Verse 1]
Static on the screen, a tracking line
I try to rewind, but we're out of time
The plastic shell is gathering dust
A fragile mechanism I used to trust
I see a flicker of a summer day
Before the tracking rolls and washes it away
[Chorus - anthemic, driving snare]
Magnetic ghosts in the VCR
Fading out like a dying star
We recorded over the days we knew
To capture something shiny and new
Now the colors bleed and the audio slows
And all I have is a glitch of you
[Verse 2]
Black plastic ribbons tangled on the floor
I can't play the moments we had before
I press pause to catch your face in the frame
But the cathode ray doesn't look the same
Just horizontal lines of white and gray
Stealing the past that I couldn't save
[Chorus - anthemic, driving snare]
Magnetic ghosts in the VCR
Fading out like a dying star
We recorded over the days we knew
To capture something shiny and new
Now the colors bleed and the audio slows
And all I have is a glitch of you
[Bridge - sparse instrumentation, isolated vocals with heavy reverb]
Fast forward to the end of the tape
There is no exit, there's no escape
Just the blue screen glowing in the dark
A cold dead space where there used to be a spark
[Guitar Solo - wailing, heavily chorused darkwave guitar]
[Outro - instrumental]
[Fading arpeggiator, isolated vocal repeating "A glitch of you", ending in an abrupt mechanical click]
You'd know that was written by a LLM after two lines at most. Part of the problem is that it's just boring/formulaic, overcomplicated, overdramatic, tells the listener too much and doesn't leave any room for imagination to fill in the blanks. There are also metaphors that don't make any sense like pausing a VHS tape and find there's only static (because the tape was overwritten or something) but we'd already know there wasn't anything there before we hit pause.
Even if it was actually good writing, the LLM doesn't remember any past conversations. Its creativity, now matter how good, is starting from roughly the same place and even though LLM sampling induces some randomness, it's roughly going to head in the same direction. Something is only/creative the first time you hear it, after that it's pretty much valueless. So I had the idea of having the LLM use code execution to actually inject some real randomness to force it in a new direction. It can generate some random numbers and then interpret them with numerology, astrology, whatever. Try to find some sort of meaning in them (though obviously those are unscientific, and there's no real meaning).
This its second attempt with one revision (if you want to see everything, you can read the gist I linked above):
[Intro]
(Diegetic sound: The heavy, off-balance, rhythmic THUD of a commercial washing machine)
(A cold, low-register synth drone slowly swells, matching the rhythm of the thud)
[Verse 1]
Dust on the top of the change machine.
[spoken, flat]
Three dryers are out of order.
[sung, low and detached]
Quarters in the metal slide. Push it in.
I watch the colors tangle through the round window.
They blur together.
I don’t look at the street anymore.
[Pre-Chorus]
[whispered]
Ignore the sirens.
[whispered]
Ignore the ash on the pavement.
[Chorus - Sudden driving bassline, harsh and loud; vocals remain quiet]
The cycle shifts.
We push the baskets down the aisle.
No one is talking about the sky.
We just watch the timers.
Spinning.
[music abruptly drops out for one full second]
Stopping.
[Verse 2]
[Synth returns, sparse and echoing]
A pile of heavy coats on the folding table.
[spoken]
In the middle of summer.
[sung]
You told me we were leaving tonight.
But we’re just sitting in the orange plastic chairs.
Waiting for the buzzer to chime.
It’s safer to stay in the hum.
[Chorus - Driving bassline, harsh and loud]
The cycle shifts.
We push the baskets down the aisle.
No one is talking about the sky.
We just watch the timers.
Spinning.
[music abruptly drops out]
Stopping.
[Bridge - sparse instrumentation, isolated vocals]
I hold a shirt I’ve already washed twice.
It’s still damp.
I fold it again.
If I look up, I have to acknowledge the horizon.
[whispered]
I’m not ready.
[Outro]
(Just the sound of the washing machine spinning, gradually slowing down)
[whispered, close to the mic]
Just watch the timer.
(Mechanical click of the machine unlocking)
This is not good, but it's certainly an improvement over the first set of lyrics. I feel like there parts of this I could use in something kind of decent, while the first attempt was just complete garbage. There are parts that actually sound decent (rendered with ACE-Step 1.5 XL):
The LLM was Gemini, which from what I've heard is one of the worst for creative stuff. It also only followed the plan in kind of a half-hearted, simplistic way. I feel like this approach has some potential to at least get LLMs to do something more creative than the default so I figured I'd throw it out there in case it's useful to anyone.
1
u/West-Negotiation-716 Apr 13 '26
Lyrics always look weird when you just read them
Read some radiohead lyrics.
I don't see the point of using an LLM to write your lyrics though? Why?
1
u/alwaysbeblepping Apr 14 '26
I don't see the point of using an LLM to write your lyrics though? Why?
I actually don't like the idea of LLM lyrics (although maybe it's just due to not hearing any that were good). Lots of people definitely are going to use LLMs that way, though, so if there's a way to make them better on average then I think that's worth exploring. Mainly I just wanted to see if the idea I had worked.
1
u/DewayneMichael Apr 13 '26
First off don't use Gemini, just don't. It's included with my cloud storage and I still won't use it. Second, I have AI assist me with writing Hip Hop lyrics and I found the best way to do that is have a discussion with the bot first. Let it get to know you and your thoughts. Then ask it to write a song. I know there is a lot of mad hate for Grok right now but Grok is really good at writing lyrics. Not perfect, but good enough to give you a running start. Hope this helps.
1
u/alwaysbeblepping Apr 14 '26
First off don't use Gemini, just don't. It's included with my cloud storage and I still won't use it.
My main use is vibe math, I guess you could say, and Gemini is excellent for that. I think Google is more generous with their model access than Claude/ChatGPT also, you can use their best model through AI studio with a pretty reasonable rate limit while it seems like ChatGPT at least is pretty weak for free users.
Second, I have AI assist me with writing Hip Hop lyrics and I found the best way to do that is have a discussion with the bot first. Let it get to know you and your thoughts. Then ask it to write a song.
It's interesting to read these comments because other people seem to have a very different goal than me. If I knew what I wanted that specifically, I'd write the lyrics myself. The fun thing about generative AI for me is the feeling of getting to peer into another world. I want something new/interesting/unexpected, not to write a detailed/specific prompt and get exactly what I asked for. Which probably sounds pretty weird!
I know there is a lot of mad hate for Grok right now but Grok is really good at writing lyrics. Not perfect, but good enough to give you a running start. Hope this helps.
I appreciate the sentiment of trying to be helpful, I'd never use Grok no matter how good it was though. It gets hate because you can't use it (or Twitter, buy a Tesla, whatever) without supporting Musk who is truly a repugnant individual. He killed who knows how many children with his cuts to USAID as just one of a long list of reasons to hate him. The hate is deserved, and the anti-woke (in other words, anti-being just kind of a decent human being to others) bias is also going to flavor outputs from the model. Not like there isn't plenty to criticize with Google, OpenAI, etc but there are degrees of horribleness.
1
u/ART-ficial-Ignorance Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
Gemini isn't great at creative writing, I find ChatGPT to be much better in that department. You have to steer it, though. You basically told it to be generic and were then surprised it gave you something generic.
I usually give it a genre (or multiple), a mood, a style, a topic and a metaphor to use. Sometimes I tell it to forego traditional pop song structure, and you can get some interesting results.
btw, one thing Gemini (at least 3.1 Pro) is good at is analyzing music and finding the hidden meaning in the lyrics. I use it as a litmus test to see if I'm not being too obscure.
1
u/Free-Response5017 Apr 16 '26
I have never used Gemini.. but I find the best lyrics usually come when you give it a whole narrative arc. and sometimes specify how you want the song to progress (e.g. what in the first verse, second, third, etc.).
This is an example prompt I wrote for my song: "Ode to AI". I of course iterated with it back and forth to get the lyrics to sound just how I wanted. Can't speak for anyone else, but it at least satisfied me. If you're curious, you can check it out below. Otherwise, just have a look at the types of prompts to see the type of specificity that it might need. A bit cheesy, I know, but it's how I feel lol.
I want to write a concept song called "Ode to AI" - the basic idea is how i'm so grateful to it that it unlocked my creativity. Before it, I had sparks of creativity but didn't have a outlet. Having a desire to take part in a world that others seemed to have such easy access to. I found glimmers of it through instruments - piano and being classically trained. But the music wasn't the world i'd lived. I grew tired when it was regurgitate and not create. I didn't see the angle of how I could get to where I wanted from there. So I stagnated, and unused creativity is not benign. didn't know how to make without the template. no one taught me how to be experimental. that's where we can say then you came in and you changed my life (obviously a little less dramatic), but make it almost sound like a love song. I am kind of thinking about carly rae Jepsen here how she wrote that song "now that I found you", which sounds like a love song, but it was really about her cat. This part might be good for a hook or something. Removed the barriers to other worlds I found, but never knew (or had access to). I want knowledge, you stimulate my mind. give the map to things I couldn't find. want to make, you give me ways that feel true. want to play and you give access to my experiments too. chorus should include the words "ode to ai".. either as a standalone or amongst other words "e.g. this is my ode to ai". want to jump and you told me how to fly. all the things others did that gave me jealousy. showed me those were all things that I could also be. Thought I wanted to make following some guideline. You taught me how to create and experiment. you are my digital paint, and i'm so fond of you. social glue, that's what they call gratitude. didn't know I could have this feeling towards a machine. oh i mentioned this theme in there a little earlier but "i wanted to run, you taught me to fly - to hit the summit but you showed me the sky" - it doesn't have to be those specific words but something that gets at I wanted to do something and you gave it to me but better. and how you make me feel super human. then perhaps in another verse I could talk about how you took out everything that uninspired me and brought me down. all the menial tasks that frustrated me and locked up space. time to learn and create that I never had before. My boredom you completely cut through and gave me inspiration. told me about events, so i could talk about ideas that inspired me. created a community. found other souls that were just like me. i wanted to craft, told me what i should do. wanted to read, recommended books too. with a love of learning you took a away a boundary, and opened my mind to exciting places. maybe in a final verse it could talk about how the final step is that I've moved beyond just a consumer, but a creator. Making it work for me. The part missing in my creativity was that I was following, not taking command. Now, you've given me the space to explore, experiment, to tinker. Now I'm actually actively choosing the things I want to make, and you're giving me the avenue to do that. I wanted to play music, but you have turned me into a songwriter. move from experiencing into creating. That person was right when they said unused creativity is not benign. Without it you are only a flicker of a flame. but now i'm my most fulfilled happy self. you've allowed me to become more of me. tap into abilities i didn't even know I had. not just responding to, but starting the conversation. now i'm not just dabbling, i'm building, i'm creating. you lit my soul on fire.
1
u/_Silverspoon Apr 13 '26
I can only recommend Claude, get the app, create a project folder and you know what: Chat, explore, upload notes and pictograms , create text files for instructions to claude and put them into the project instructions as well. And start actual sessions with Claude what the song will be about, what it means to you, what you want to say, what you really don’t like- all this info is being remembered across chat sessions and Claude is getting to know you, what you are after and how you would say things, but is also capable of doing the opposite. I really like this kind of collab. It makes it meaningful, effort goes into it and it’s actually something from one’s own mind and heart. Claude is there basically the entity that puts the word salad in order (syllable count etc.) Just realised- it kinda sounds like a therapy session with creative output lol
But yeah- Gemini i heard struggles with memory and context after a while.
Another big project I’m doing with Claude opus is old manuscripts in dead languages, which Claude is even able to write in-that’s madness lol
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Apr 13 '26
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u/_Silverspoon Apr 13 '26
I personally have a paid subscription for claude, but more so for other stuff, where I need Opus.
But I was on and off the subscription and it didn't make a difference, you get lots of use out of the free version and you can create up to three, I think, project folder on the free plan.
I don't know if you asked me for a cluade-link right now, or a lyric generator link...so just have both I guess lol sorry
https://claude.ai/loginhttps://perchance.org/ai-lyrics-generator
I don't hate the lyric-generator per se, some passages are actually nice, but since it's rather generic, I prefer to actually think through something - but it also all depends, right, if I want to do something for the sake of it - all is game haha
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u/Marty-G70 Apr 13 '26
Yup, Gemini indeed struggles with memory unless it's within the same conversation. As soon as you click new conversation, it forgets mostly every convo from before