The strength of each beat in the melodic line should determine how you set the lyrics to the music. Look at the relationship of each beat to the next; you may find that you will need to choose a shorter or longer word, depending on the song’s configuration.

This may sound complicated, but it’s really a matter of looking at the beats and checking a thesaurus (or maybe a rhyming dictionary). If you’re trying to figure out how to match words to rhythm, this is really your best bet to having it all come together.