In his announcement - "Reviewing Lyrics - Guidelines and Suggestions" at the top of this forum - Gary provided some great things to consider. I thought I'd post something that kind of goes along with that,which shows the criteria that you can use when reviewing other folks' songs, or to self-critique your own, if you're able to be objective about your own creations. The criteria listed below are the points that the evaluators for our Pro Critique Service (on the old site) used when critiquing songs. These same points are very similar to the ones used by the evaluators for NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) .
1. Does the song have a great opening line that pulls the listener in?
2. Song Structure: Does the song flow and hold the listener's interest?
3. Is the hook/idea memorable and well placed (visible and repeated) in the song?
4. Verse lyric: Do all verses support the chorus and clearly tell the meaning?
5. Chorus lyric: Does it tie the verses together? Is it memorable? Highlight the hook?
6. Prosody: Does the music emotionally match and support the lyric?
7. Does the melody and tempo (metering and phrasing) flow?
8. Is the melody memorable?
9. Is this song perceived to have commercial appeal; fit a well defined category?
10. Overall: Does this song provide a satisfying listening experience?
Because this forum is just for lyrics, questions 6-8, and 10 wouldn't apply here. However, if you're critiquing a finished work elsewhere by someone, where you can hear the music, they would definitely apply.