The Mona Lisa Lyric Method
Surprise yourself with every song you write.
The Mona Lisa Lyric Method is a method, not a mould.Same steps. Different song. Every time.
Bust out of what you'd 'normally write'
Write on themes you'd never have landed on alone
Finish lyrics that feel fresh… not familiar
Let's be honest
You already know you're a songwriter…
That's not the problem.
The problem is… you keep writing the same song.
Different title. Different chords. Same song.
Maybe it sounds like this:
- Every new song sounds suspiciously like your last one
- You reach for the same themes, rhymes and tricks… and you can hear yourself doing it
- You sift through ideas and they all sound like something you've already written
- You know there's a different song in you… you just can't get past the usual ones
Sound familiar?
It's not because you're short on talent.
It's not because you haven't written enough songs.
And it's not because inspiration skipped your house.
It's because what you really need is a method… but not just any method.
One that pulls a different song out of you every time, instead of stamping out the same one with a new title.
This works even if…
- ✓You've been writing for years and you're set in your ways
- ✓You've tried methods before and they made everything sound like a template
- ✓You don't play an instrument or know any music theory
- ✓You write in a genre nobody seems to teach
- ✓You're just starting out
That's exactly what the Mona Lisa Lyric Method fixes.
Everyone says "just write more songs."
So you do.
And you end up with more of the same.
You play a new one for a mate…"Yeah, it's good. Kinda sounds like that other one."
Every time you sit down, some part of you hopes today's the day you surprise yourself.
The real reason
Here's why nobody's fixed this for you yet…
Because great lyrics are hard to explain.
Most songwriters know a great lyric when they hear one. They just can't tell you how to write one.
So the advice becomes "write more songs."
Sure, quantity builds instinct.
But if you don't understand why a great lyric works… you just keep writing the one you already know how to write.
More songs won't fix it.
A different way of writing will.
From a student
"My creativity flows knowing I have a complete system."
"My biggest problem with songwriting was knowing what to do when I sat down to write. I'd have a melody, maybe a title and a vague idea, but I wouldn't know what to do with it or how to expand those snippets into a section or song. My songwriting has improved in many ways using what I've learned from the method. I'm more confident and relaxed and my creativity flows knowing I have a complete system to use. It's a lot of fun and a great process!"
William Dennett, Indie Rock/Pop Songwriter
The method
So how do you break the pattern?
Not with rules. Not with inspiration hacks.
With a method, not a mould.
Same steps
Different song
Every time.
Each step pulls out something your usual habits would've skipped right past.
So by the time you finish a lyric… it doesn't sound like your last one.
And the melody is practically already written.
It all starts here
The Phonetic Spine.
The backbone of every great lyric ever written.
It's in every song you love. It's why certain lyrics feel impossible not to sing.
Once you know it… you truly know your lyrics are going to sing.
Then the method reaches into your creative soul… and pulls out lyrics that make you think,
"Where did that come from!?"
Most songwriting methods teach you what to write.
That's how you end up sounding like everyone else.
This one shows you how, one intentional step at a time.
So you end up sounding like you.
I am not your songwriting guru
But here's why you'll be interested in what I know…
I'm Nathan Eshman. A&R Manager, Billboard-charting writer/producer, touring session guitarist and founder of my own independent label. I've worked with artists, label execs and publishers from Sony, Universal, Capitol CMG, Centricity Music, Word, Fair Trade Services, Hillsong Music and more.
I've sat in the rooms with some of the most influential writers of our time and watched them work.
... produced their demos
... given feedback on their songs
... picked their brains
... studied their process
I've seen firsthand what it takes to write songs that became radio and streaming #1s and Dove award winners – even a few Grammys.
And here's what struck me.
Their process barely changed from song to song. Their songs never sounded the same.
The Mona Lisa Lyric Method is how I bottled that.
What you get
Here's what the Mona Lisa Lyric Method gives you…
A step-by-step method that pulls a different song out of you every time, with no instrument and no waiting for inspiration
How to write on themes you'd never have landed on alone, so your catalogue stops sounding like one long song
The Phonetic Spine, the missing piece between the song you felt and the one on the page
How to write lyrics that practically suggest the melody, so adding music feels inevitable, not forced
A repeatable system for finishing songs, not just starting them
How to become an anytime, anywhere, any-mood songwriter, because inspiration becomes a bonus, not a requirement
What successful songwriters are actually chasing, and why nobody talks about it like this
A complete philosophy of lyric writing, not a bag of cheap tricks you'll forget by next week
Inside the course
Take a sneak peek at every lesson
The Phonetic Spine: The backbone of lyric-first writing
- The invisible architecture inside every great lyric. Once you see it, you'll never unhear it in a hit song again
- The one mistake that kills Verse 2 melodies stone dead and the blindingly simple way to never make it again
Finding Your Mona Lisa: Titles & Direction
- The lie melody-first writers have been telling themselves… and why it's costing them their best songs
- 3 repeatable, inspiration-free methods for finding titles that feel human, emotionally loaded and worth writing, so you're never stuck recycling the same big idea
Defining Your North Star
- The one sentence that saves hours of editing, and why almost no one writes it down before they start
- The version of the North Star concept that actually saves you work… because the way most people teach it doesn't go nearly far enough
Writing Your Chorus
- The 4 simple prompts that help you generate up to 40 inspired lyric ideas for your chorus… before you've even considered a melody
- The lazy move hit songwriters use every day to write lyrics that feel emotional, deep and effortlessly creative
- 4 steps that turn a chorus full of potential into one that gives you chills when you sing it
Show & Tell
- How to write lines that drop your listener into a scene so vividly they feel like they're in the song, not just hearing it
- Why the order of your lines is doing more work than the actual words… and how arranging them wrong can kill even your strongest ideas
Verse 1: Setting the Scene
- The one thing pro writers do in every verse that amateur writers never think to do. Once you see it, you'll find it in every song you love and never write without it again
- Max Martin's subliminal listener lock: simple enough to steal, yet powerful enough to have your listener salivating for the chorus from line 1
Verse 2: The Saga Continues
- The real reason Verse 2 kills so many great songs and the 6-step fix that means it never happens to yours again
- The stupidly simple toggle that makes your chorus mean even more the next time around
Lyric Cloning
- How to turn a single lyric idea into a complete, singable section… and if you want… an entire song, without questioning whether it'll work with a melody
- With this alone, you can write a hooky, singable chorus in as little as 1 minute. Before you roll your eyes, just try it. Try it once and you'll see why it's my favourite lesson in the course.
The Lyric Well
- What to do when that one line just won't come, and the almost ridiculous solution that'll make you think I've completely lost my mind… until it works.
- John Cleese's insight on creativity that completely reframes what you think "trying harder" actually means
Writing Your Pre-Chorus
- Instead of tiptoeing around the pre-chorus, just follow these 7 steps and you'll have a pre that has your listener leaning forward saying "yes… give me that chorus"
- Know instantly whether your song needs one… and when skipping it entirely is the smarter move
Building Your Bridge
- Stop trying to make your bridge meaningful. Do this instead.
- The moment in this lesson where you realise you already wrote your bridge… you just didn't know it yet
Editing Your Lyric (with downloadable checklist)
- How to edit without emotion and without getting precious about lines that aren't serving the song. The downloadable checklist removes the guesswork entirely
- How to know when your lyric is genuinely finished, not just finished enough, so you close the page feeling proud instead of quietly wondering if you should've done one more pass
The bonuses
Three bonus lessons, right when you need them
Woven throughout the Mona Lisa Lyric Method… each one dropping at exactly the moment you'll need it.
Show & Tell
The difference between lyrics your listener feels and lyrics they simply hear.
Lyric Cloning
How to turn a single idea into a complete, singable section. Some say this lesson alone is worth the price of the course.
The Lyric Well
What to do when that one line won't come. The solution is almost ridiculous. But it works.
The entire method… in your pocket.
The Mona Lisa Lyric App. 3 months free.
- Follow the prompts, step by step
- Paste the complete song structure into your notes and refine
- Lyric writing is as simple as sending a text
- Anywhere, any time, any song
And the Complete Mona Lisa Lyric Method Cheat Sheet. Every step, every prompt, every tool. Pin it next to where you write and never wonder "what was that step again?" ever again.
Is this for you?
This is 100% for you if…
- ✓Your new songs keep sounding like your old ones
- ✓You can hear yourself reaching for the same themes, rhymes and tricks
- ✓Your words look great on paper, but something gets lost in the melody
- ✓You know what you want to say, you just can't get it out in a way that sings
- ✓You write melody first and your lyrics end up feeling like filler
- ✓You know there's a braver songwriter inside you than what's making it onto the page
This isn't for you if…
- ✕You'd rather prompt AI than show up to the page yourself
- ✕You treat your first idea like it's a gift from heaven. This is for writers willing to dig past the obvious
- ✕You think lyrics are just syllables to fill the space between chords. This course will ruin that excuse for you
- ✕You're convinced melody is all that matters and you're not open to being proven wrong
- ✕You're happy writing the same song forever
The investment
$297
One-time payment · Instant access · All prices USD
A method years in the making, built from everything I learned working alongside some of the world's most successful songwriters as a Music Publishing A&R professional, songwriter and producer.
A lyric framework that gets you out of the rut and into lyrics so melodic they almost sing themselves. Plus the complete method in an app you can use anywhere.
Every song you write from here on in will be proof you invested wisely in your craft.
The Follow-Through Guarantee
Finish the course and do every exercise within 30 days.
Still not writing from somewhere deeper?
Send me your work and I'll refund every cent.
No work, no refund. Change of mind doesn't count.
Fair trade: you bring the follow-through, I bring the goods.
Questions
Questions worth answering
Won't a step-by-step method make all my songs sound the same?
Do I need to be able to sing or play an instrument?
How long will it take to get through the course?
Does this work for my genre?
Still got a question? Email me personally at contact@inspirethesong.com and I'll get back to you.
Leave the same old song behind… and start writing the ones only your future self would write.
$297
One-time payment · Instant access · All prices USD