Songrut Songwriting

An extreme example of changing tack from one rhythm to the other is Aerosmith's 'Jaded'. It has a complicated verse rhythmically which, apart from the nursery ryhme style melody sung over the top of it, is very angular and 'not groovy' - it's certainly not foot tapping. When the chorus is about to come in the whole track just stops - and then crashes into the chorus which is straight forward rock.

It's almost a relief when the chorus comes in. After all the complication of the verse, the chorus gives you the release you so wanted. And then, no sooner has the chorus ended, we're back into the complicated rhythm again.

This switching between the unusual and the commonplace can be found in many songs. When I've got a verse I'm happy with but the chorus just really doesn't want to come, a bit of lateral thinking in this way can give me the kick I'm looking for. If I have a simple verse, I try to work on a more complicated chorus which could almost sound as if it were from a different song. This can also make for interesting bridges (or 'rises' or whatever you want to call the bit between the verse and the chorus).

When you have a verse and a chorus that are musically very different, trying to write the section that links them both together can be very rewarding, and can turn into the best part of the song quite often. If the listener is thinking 'where is this going' then you have them under your control.

Of course, in the Aerosmith track there's no bridge/rise - they go straight into the chorus. And because you may be thinking there's a bridge coming, it tricks you and you get your release sooner than expected.

This isn't exactly ground-breaking rule-breaking stuff, but worth remembering. Don't be scared of sticking a chorus from one song idea onto the end of a verse from another.

Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got To Do With It?' was created in just this way. It goes from a very washy ballad form in the verse to a kind of reggae/calypso feel in the chorus. More subtle than the Aerosmith track, but effective. This was two songs and they were quite literally stuck together.

« hide | Please comment on this article using the comment link below!

If the end of a verse seems strong, perhaps it's actually the hook. Don't beat
yourself up about coming up with the 'killer chorus' that you thought you were going to write. Perhaps the song is happy as it is. Some songs like this can sound like 'all chorus' - and you can find that the hooks that you have going throughout the song are plenty hooky enough without going into 'another bit' to sing along to.

Getting out of thinking 'and now there must be a chorus' can be very liberating if you haven't done it before. Listen to some jazz standards and you realize that it's all 'chorus'.

Middle eights can also be something you think you 'should' have. In the past, the 'middle bit' was the musicians having a play around the chords to give the singer a rest before he came back in at the end. Instead of doing that, why not just write an instrumental middle eight, which reflects the mood of the song in a slightly different way to the main body of the song? And then come back to the last verse? Of course all this has been done before, but it's easy to forget when you're having difficulties.

Perhaps you don't need a chorus. Perhaps you don't need a middle eight.

If you're fighting with song structure, go listen to The Beatles. Some of their greatest songs didn't do anything that a normal 'how to write a hit song book' will teach you.

'Yesterday' and 'Norwegian Wood' - the verse was the chorus?

« hide | Please comment on this article using the comment link below!

OK, you may have to repeat yourself just so that the first time listener gets a
chance to get your drift - but should you agonize trying to come up with something
as good as your perfect six lines that you know you're never going to better? If you've 'said it all' perhaps a middle eight wouldn't so much as 'sum it all up' but prolong the misery of telling it again, but not as well?

Some songs were born short, and therein lies their beauty. Knowing when to stop is important. I've agonized over third versus and middle section for months before I've realized that the song was already finished - it was just shorter in lyrical length than my initial expectations.

« hide | Please comment on this article using the comment link below!