Songwriter Tactics

by Beth Ann Erickson

When it comes to writing with brevity, emotional appeal, and using ultra-specific words, songwriters have all of us beat.

You see, when a songwriter sits down to write a song, they have to immediately hook the listener, they have to keep them entertained, then drive home their message – all in the space of about three minutes.

Sound kinda familiar?  That’s pretty much what we have to do….

What we write may take more time to create (or read) than a “simple” song, but we could learn a lot from studying the craft of songwriting, beginning with their use of language.

As I listen to many of the songs playing on the radio, I’m often struck by their ultra-specific language.  For example, the first verse in Phil Vassar’s “Just Another Day in Paradise” transports us to his kitchen where the new morning has erupted into its daily pandemonium.  He does this with a series of two-syllable sentences using some of the most ultra-specific language I’ve heard in a long time.

(By the way, I’d love to print the lyrics for you, but I’d really hate to break every copywriting law known to man….  I recommend you check out his lyrics by purchasing his CD or visiting your local library and see if they carry his music.)

In case you don’t know “Just Another Day…” another song that makes particularly good use of ultra-specific language is “Little Red Rodeo” by Collin Raye.  In this song, a woman’s left her boyfriend and gone to California.  But the songwriter never blatantly tells us this.  We glean all the information we need from his ultra-specific language that dances around the obvious but nails the message.  Instead of telling us “she drove off in her car,” we’re told he’s “gotta catch that little red Rodeo….”

So right now, you’re probably thinking, “She’s trying to tell me that I can make my writing stronger by listening to music?”

Exactly.  Studying, listening to, and absorbing good lyrics will expose you to some wonderful examples of succinct language.  And being exposed to that language will help you cultivate the use of concise language.  And that, in turn will help you write using ultra-specific words.  All for the price of a song….

So, instead of writing, “She had a flower,” you can strengthen your sentence by zeroing in on your noun and writing “daisy, chrysanthemum, or dandelion.”  Then you can toss out that worthless verb and tell us what she was doing with the flower.  Was she holding it?  Tossing it?  Caressing it?  Each verb evokes a different image of her.  And that’s exactly what you’re trying to do – draw a vivid and memorable image in the mind of your reader.

So as you can see, studying lyrics is a wonderful way to train your mind to prefer using ultra-specific words in your sentences.  But that’s not the only benefit you’ll get from studying music.

Songwriters also make good use of some of various elements of poetry like alliteration, rhyme, themes, onomatopoeia, voice, similes, metaphors, and rhythm, just to name a few.  They use all these elements and STILL create phrases that sound as though they could come from almost anybody’s mouth.  That’s a feat.

You would do well to listen – and I mean REALLY – listen to lyrics.  Study the words the writer chooses.  Study how they’re presented.  Study rhyme and rhythm schemes.  Whether you write fiction, nonfiction, sales letters, poetry, or commercial communications, doing this will help your writing begin to sparkle.

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Beth Ann Erickson is Queen Bee of Filbert Publishing and the only writing ezine that'll make your writing sparkle, help you write killer queries, and get you on the road to publication fast. Better yet, you'll receive the e-booklet "Power Queries" when you sign up for your free subscription. Subscribe today at http://FilbertPublishing.com

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