How to Make a Song for Your Wife

You want to make a song for your wife, and you have never written one. You do not need to. A song for your wife works when it says what you notice about her every day but rarely say out loud, and you can write those words yourself or hand them to someone who turns them into music. Below are 11 ideas, a few you can do this weekend for free. Our top pick is a Songbond song, because it turns your stories into a finished song she can play long after the day.

Hear what a finished Songbond song sounds like

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry her name and your stories.

11 song ideas for your wife

1. A finished song from your stories ($39.90). Tell Songbond her name, what you call her and three moments from your life together, and Songbond turns them into an original song within 24 hours. You can ask for changes until it feels right.
2. The proposal, retold. Where you were, what you had planned and what went wrong. Most proposals have one detail that still makes you both laugh, so put it in.
3. A song for an ordinary Tuesday. Her coffee order, the way she hums while she cooks, the voice she uses for the dog. Small daily things often mean more to a wife than grand declarations.
4. Her as a mother. What you watched her do at 2 a.m. with a newborn, the lunches she packed for years, the kid who has her laugh. Play it on Mother's Day.
5. A slow dance in the kitchen. Take a song you both love, rewrite the chorus with her name in it, and play it while you cook dinner. Ask her to dance before the pasta boils over. Free.
6. The vows you would make again. Take your wedding vows and write the version you would say today, with everything you know now. Read it or play it on your anniversary.
7. A song she wakes up to. Set it playing on the kitchen speaker before she comes downstairs, with her coffee already made and the words printed beside the mug.
8. A live performance at dinner (usually $150 to $400). Hire a local singer or guitarist to play her song at your table. Pick a quiet restaurant and call ahead. Many are glad to help.
9. A song from you and the kids. Each child writes one line about Mom and you write the chorus around them. Record the kids reading their lines at the start, then let the song play.
10. A handwritten lyric letter. Write the words out by hand on good paper and seal them in an envelope marked “open before you press play.” Your handwriting is part of the gift.
11. A song about the trip you keep promising. Write about the place you always said you would take her, then give her the song with the booking tucked inside the card. Even one night two hours away counts.

How to choose the right song idea for her

Think about what she would want to hear from you, not what a love song usually says. If she has told you she feels unseen, write about the small things. If you have been through something hard together, write about how you got through it.

• If she is sentimental: the vows you would make again, played on your anniversary.
• If she is busy looking after everyone: the ordinary Tuesday song, or her as a mother.
• If she is playful: the proposal retold, funny parts included.

When and where to play it for her

The moment matters as much as the song. Avoid a big party for the first listen, because she will be busy managing everyone else's reaction. Pick a time when she can sit down: a quiet breakfast on a weekend, a long drive, or after dinner with the dishes left for later. Put your phone face down and tell her you made her something. Hand her a printed copy of the words so she can read along and catch every detail you chose. Then play it a second time. The first time she hears the song. The second time she hears you.

Make your wife's song

Make a song for your wife from the stories only you know. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: songs about the day you met and songs for a vow renewal.