“
13. Read poetry. Study poetry. Know at least something about what an iamb and a trochee and a spondee are. Words matter, phrasing matters, lines matter. Don’t assume that poetry is just for snobs and grad students, because it isn’t. Part of the delight of good songwriting is when it unfolds itself to you over the course of many listens, like when I realized after listening to and performing Rich Mullins’s “The Color Green” many times, I discovered a subtle rhyme pattern buried in the lyrics, or when an image in verse two foreshadows another one in verse three.
”
”
Andrew Peterson (Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making)