by Paul Zollo
I use inner rhymes frequently in my work, both because it adds that inner structure which makes the song sturdy, and also because it’s fun to find a good one. Here’s an example:
The crystal meth, the Sabbath wine
The haunted, wooden ships
The final breath, the seventh sign
Of the apocalypse…”
—“What Jesus Meant” by Paul Zollo
In this example, which is in an abab rhyme scheme, the inner rhymes are “meth” and “breath.”
As with any of the craft elements of songwriting, not unlike the spices one uses to enhance a dish, the savvy songwriter must know when and how to use them. Inner rhymes, or ‘internal rhymes,’ as they are also called, can be too overt and call too much attention to the hand and intention of the author, while overwhelming the content and emotion of the lyric. I spoke to Van Dyke Parks about this issue. Parks wrote the lyrics to many of Brian Wilson’s greatest songs for the Beach Boys, such as “Heroes and Villains,” and also has written both words and music to many solo albums worth of powerful and amazing songs. Not only is he an astounding musician, he’s also a very crafty and inspirational lyricist, who embraces many of the values of the past generations, such as the use of inner rhymes. Like Paul Simon, he prefaced his comments on this subject with recognition of just how tough writing a good lyric can be. “Lyrics are hard,” he said. “I get the impression, when I’m working on a lyric, for example, because I love internal rhymes and a highly crafted lyric, what some people think of as highly pretentious or overly managed words. At one point, in our songwriting history, this was a prerequisite for a good song. A highly crafted, a heavy internal rhyme scheme. Those things are thought of as elaborate and somehow out of step.”
However, I suggested, people do respond to that kind of perfect structure even nowadays, when they have the chance to hear it. “They should be aware of it,” he answered. “I’m comforted by such craft. I love it. But there is a time when instinct is the higher teacher. There’s a time when internal rhymes—enough of them. There’s enough of it. It’s like you get to a point of what they say in New Orleans is ‘obzakee’—one too many spices in a dish. There gets to be a point when you don’t want to have so much internal rhymes.”
But when a dish is finely and tastefully seasoned, the result can be transcendent. The same is true with a song. The right blend of inner rhymes with regular rhymes can add a beautiful durability and vigor to a lyric. Many of the great songwriters of the past used inner rhymes abundantly, as in this example from one of Cole Porter’s most famous songs:
Some Argentines, without means do it
I hear even Boston beans do it
Let’s do it, let’s fall in love
—“Let’s Do It” by Cole Porter
In that example, Porter uses the inner rhymes of “Argentines,” “means,” and “beans” to link the lines from the inside rather than from the outside. Another Porter example is in “Love For Sale,” with its famous litany of repeated inner rhymes:
Let the poets pipe of love
In their childish ways
I know every type of love
Better far than they
If you want the thrill of love
I’ve been through the mill of love…
—“Love For Sale” by Cole Porter
In that one, he wondrously links the lines with the inner rhymes of “pipe” and “type,” followed by “thrill” and “mill.” But as with other songs referenced here, the lines work organically—though they are punctuated by many rhymes, inner and outer, they flow perfectly with the music, and they work perfectly in terms of the lyrical content.
One of my other favorite examples of a great inner rhyme is this one, from Lorenz Hart, which resounds with the comic spirit of an Ogden Nash verse:
Sir Paul was frail, he looked a wreck to me
At night he was a horse’s neck to me
So I performed an appendectomy
To keep my love alive
—“To Keep My Love Alive,” words by Lorenz Hart and music by Richard Rodgers
How To Use This Rhyming Dictionary
This dictionary is designed for easy usage for any songwriter or poet. It is divided into three parts: for one-syllable rhymes, two-syllable rhymes, and three-syllable rhymes.
A one-syllable rhyme—such as “rhyme,” “time,” “dime,” “crime,” and “lime”—is also called a masculine rhyme.
A two-syllable rhyme—such as “crabby,” “flabby,” “gabby,” “grabby,” “scabby,” “shabby,” and “tabby”—is also called a feminine rhyme.
A three-syllable rhyme—such as “blabbily,” “crabbily,” “scabbily” and “shabbily”—is also called a triple rhyme.
Since rhymes are distinguished by their vowel sounds, each section of this dictionary is organized alphabetically according to each vowel sound, with long vowel sounds (such as the long “a” in “game” or the long “i” in “ice”), so marked. When a vowel is not marked as being long, it is a short vowel sound (such as the short “a” in “bat” or the short “e” in “bet”).
Part Two:
One-Syllable Rhymes
Long A
a
agape
airway
allay
alleyway
andante
anyway
applique
archway
array
ashtray
assay
astray
attache
ave
away
aweigh
aye
ballet
bay
beltway
beret
betray
bidet
bikeway
birthday
blase
Bombay
bouquet
bray
breakaway
breezeway
Broadway
buffet
byplay
byway
cabaret
cabriolet
cachet
cafe
caraway
carriageway
cartway
castaway
causeway
chalet
hambray
Chevrolet
clay
cliche
communique
consomme
convey
copulae
coupe
cpa
crochet
croquet
crossway
cutaway
dante
daresay
day
decay
deejay
defray
delay
demode
disarray
dismay
disobey
display
DJ
dna
dolce
doomsday
doorway
dossier
douay
downplay
dray
driftway
driveway
emigre
endplay
entendre
entree
entryway
epa
escapeway
essay
estray
everyday
expressway
fairway
faraday
faraway
fay
fda
fha
fiance
fiancee
filet
fillet
flambe
flay
floodway
flyaway
flyway
foldaway
folkway
footway
foray
foreplay
forestay
forte
frappe
fray
freeway
Friday
>
gainsay
gangway
gateway
gay
getaway
giveaway
glace
gourmet
gray
grey
gunplay
halfway
hallway
hatchway
hay
headway
hearsay
hey
heyday
hideaway
highway
holiday
hombre
hooray
horseplay
hurrah
hurray
inlay
interplay
inveigh
jay
KKK
kyrie
latter-day
lay
layaway
layday
leeway
lingerie
macrame
Mae
mainstay
malay
mammae
manque
matinee
may
mayday
mba
melee
midday
midway
milky-way
mislay
misplay
moire
Monday
moray
naivete
nay
nebulae
negligee
neigh
noonday
Norway
nosegay
noway
NRA
NSA
obey
offpay
Ojibwa
O.K.
okay
outlay
outplay
outre
outstay
outweigh
overlay
overpay
overplay
overstay
overweigh
padre
papier-mache
paraguay
parfait
parkway
parlay
parquet
partway
passageway
passe
passway
pathway
pay
payday
photoplay
pique
piquet
pj
play
Pompeii
popinjay
portray
pray
prepay
prey
protege
rotegee
pupae
puree
purvey
quay
Quixote
raceway
railway
ray
reconvey
reggae
relay
repartee
repay
replay
resume
resurvey
ricochet
risque
RNA
roadway
Rockaway
roue
roundelay
runaway
runway
sachet
safeway
sansei
sashay
Saturday
saute
say
screenplay
seaway
shay
shipway
signore
signorine
skyway
slay
sleigh
sluiceway
sobriquet
soigne
soignee
soiree
someday
someway
soothsay
souffle
spay
speedway
spillway
splay
spray
stairway
stateway
stay
stingray
stowaway
straightaway
straightway
stray
subway
sundae
sunday
superhighway
survey
sway
swordplay
taboret
taipei
taxiway
teleplay
they
throughway
throwaway
thruway
Thursday
tideway
today
tokay
tollway
touche
toupee
trackway
trafficway
tramway
tray
trunkway
Tuesday
UK
umbrae
underlay
underpay
underplay
underway
unsay
USA
valet
vertebrae
vivace
wahine
walkaway
walkway
waterway
way
waylay
Wednesday
weekday
weigh
whey
windway
wordplay
workaday
workaway
workday
x-ray
Yahweh
yea
yesterday
YMCA
YWCA
Zimbabwe
