Deacon blues.
i agree with a lot of what your saying.
i remember in my teens when i started on my crazy song creation lifelong journey, a very astute number of serious musicians telling me the realities of song creation.
ie "each song is a load of often detailed hours upon hours of work". and often a "struggle".
(and i'm not saying i'm any good at it !)

there are no "shortcuts" or magic tools imho.

what i find interesting is , and ive discussed this with many musicians way better than i , the "psychological"
impact of a song on the "listener".
ie what makes a listener go out and buy a song ?
and why can a listener listen to certain songs a thousand times and still look forward to playing it ?
ive studied this at length from the psychology of the mind angle. and believe certain progressions and hooks are a contributing major factor.

best
oldmuso.

my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs
(90 songs created useing bb/rb.)