Exercise

Step 1: Underline or highlight all personal references in a song (I, my, you, your, etc.).

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Step 2: For each personal pronoun, check whether it is clear which character in the song it refers to. If it is unclear which person the pronoun refers to, see if you can rewrite the lyrics (for example, by changing the gender of the character, or by explicitly mentioning the character’s name or role) so that it is clear who the song is referring to.

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Theory

Sometimes you may be writing a story about two women, for example a mother and a daughter, in the third person. In that case, you may refer to both of them using “she” or “her.” However, “It also needs to be clear to the listener exactly to whom the pronouns refer. If there is any doubt, replace the pronoun with information that clarifies the situation” (Blume, 2008, p. 44). In this case, it might therefore be better to write about a father and a daughter instead, or to make it clear from the context of the sentence which person the pronoun refers to.

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Source

​Blume, J. (2008) Six Steps to Songwriting Success: The Comprehensive Guide to Writing and Marketing Hit Songs. 3rd edn. New York: Billboard Books.