Lyrics are the first thing most people notice, so more than any other aspect of a song, they really need to be perfect. Many great pieces of music have been dragged down by poorly executed lyrics, and while there are, of course, many factors to a great lyric, there's one often-overlooked aspect that regularly causes unprepared songwriters to lose control: The shapes of the words themselves. It sounds simple, and honestly it kind of is, but trust me, really understanding those subtle nuances of sound is an absolute game-changer, and once you know how to think about it, it's one of the easiest ways to make your lyrics better.
