As a 'wordsmith', I don't call myself a song writer as I can no more make up a tune than I can fly to the moon on a bicycle, I mainly write lyrics for themed [usually nautical] shows. So if the subject is, say, pirates, I try to write in the 'style' of the age concerned, be it'broadsheet' for events of the 17th-18th C.or 'Victorian' or a more 'free' style for songs dealing with current events.