cliche and songwriting

I've never read a book on songwriting before, but today I got this one from the library.

For someone who writes as much rubbish as I do, it's pretty cutting. There's a whole chapter devoted to cliche: cliche phrases, cliche rhymes, cliche metaphors, cliche images. There are pages and pages of cliches listed. I know them so well. I love them. I hate them.

I struggle more with cliche in Christian songs than other stuff. When writing for church, we're working with limited subject matter. And we have the added constraints that our words must be edifying and easily understood. The stream of fresh water quickly runs dry and I move to stagnant pools.

But it's a good book. Nice stuff on verse development and using rhyme well.