You Don’t Have to Write a Hit to Write a Hit!
Songwriting Methods
What makes a good song? Well, it depends on what you mean by “good”. Some are good because they’re irresistible earworms, Some of those earworms are just fun to listen to, while others also have a cool story to tell. And while most of what we hear on the radio clocks in around 3:30, some of our favorite songs are six minutes or longer. And just like there’s no definitive answer for what makes a song good, there’s also no definitive answer to how one should go about writing. In this blog, we will explore some of our favorite methods.
Method 1: Start with your idea, then remember that you’re not alone.
Many aspiring songwriters get overwhelmed with trying to write a hit song. While it would be nice to hit the top of the charts, there’s a lot playing into that song reaching the top spot. So take comfort in knowing that your idea is worth sharing, simply because it’s been in your head. Start by writing what you know about–the sadness of a breakup, the happiness of a new relationship, the hope for a better tomorrow. Get what you need to about those feelings down on paper. If you’re like me, you might be able to write in verse form right away. Otherwise, something like a word web might be a helpful tool for you. Start with your central idea, then use the outside of the web to formulate your verses, and a bridge, if applicable.
After you have a good idea of what you’re going to say, you can start thinking about how you’re going to say it. This is where it comes in handy to remember you’re not alone. Your next step is to think about other songs you like (or even that you don’t like), which talk about those same experiences. Then, think about the elements to that song:
Is the melody fast or slow?
Which chords do they use to convey the message in music and words?
Is there a chorus or a bridge, or do they just use verses to convey their message?
Now we’ll look at some songs and how they work with those three questions. It should be noted that none of the songs I’m about to mention charted higher than 31 on the Billboard charts.
1. “Until You’re Over Me” by Maroon 5 (From 2007’s B-Side Collection)
What Works:
Melodically, this song has a frantic guitar pattern, mixed with an intermittent violin sound, making you realize the narrator is in a strange position before the lyrics even start to be sung.
Lyrically, the song is very relatable. It contains straight-forward lyrics mixed with unique metaphors, telling the tale of someone who knows his love interest is bad for him, but can’t give her up until she lets him go.
Structurally, the song blew me away the first time I heard it. The chorus not only contains a very memorable opening line, (“I cannot refuse your eyes, please don’t look at me tonight.”), but also does something rare for a pop song and for music in general: The title does not come in during the chorus, but instead gets revealed in the bridge.
2. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by the Bee Gees (From 1993’s Size Isn’t Everything)
What Works:
Melodically, this song has a gentle, almost dreamy, guitar part to it, and because this is a heart-wrenching breakup song, it’s a slow melody.
Lyrically, the song is very poetic, especially in the verses, boasting lines such as “Fight the devil and the deep blue sea” and “All the tears and the turbulent years”.
Structurally, the song may seem simple, as a verse-chorus, verse pattern, but it’s what they do with it that drives the song home. As I mentioned above, the song is very poetic, but they never try to reinvent the wheel in terms of the rhyme scheme. When you read “tears” and “years” rhyming, you may not have been blown away. But that’s exactly what makes this song work. There are some very poetic lines in the song that still somehow are relatable. What’s more, the verses feel short, while giving us just enough information, while the chorus is booming and makes you never want to fall in love again. (Or at least gives me that feeling). The Bee Gees may have been unofficially banned from radio after their association with disco, but this is an underappreciated gem from one of the best songwriting trios in the history of history.
3. “Tangled Up in Blue” by Bob Dylan (From 1975’s Blood on the Tracks)
What Works:
Melodically, this song has a twangy, calm, and almost driving energy to it, which tips you off to this being a story about a wanderer. Of course Dylan is notorious for changing up the melodies on various performances and recordings of the song, so I’m referring to the version from Blood on the Tracks. Much like the other songs on the record, there’s an emphasis on acoustic, stripped down simplicity to the guitar.
Lyrically, To me, this song paints a picture very well in a straightforward way to start off, (“Early one morning the sun was shining, I was lyin’ in bed”), but also through mostly strategically-placed visuals (The “topless place'' where he stops in for a beer, the book of poems “written by an Italian poet, from the 13th century”). It’s also worth noting that he jumps time frames throughout the songs, starting in the present tense, then talking about when they met, his job in the great North Woods (shoutout, Minnesota!), and all the times he ran into her, then switching back to the present (“Now I’m going back again, I got to get to her somehow”). Though slightly different, in changing perspectives from first person to third person, “Simple Twist of Fate” (which follows “Tangled” on the album), feels like it throws how we normally write out the window–but to my earlier point of knowing you’re not alone, Bob gives you permission to break the rules a little bit, if you’re feeling confined.
Structurally, This song clocks in at 5:43 seconds on the album, so this is a great example of knowing what the song does and doesn’t need. It wouldn’t make sense to have a complex narrative in the verses and then an even more complex chorus. So instead, this song contains 6 verses and a refrain that always ends with “Tangled Up in Blue”. (When I was 4 and heard the song for the first time, I remembered it because he was singing about his shoe). Bob uses the same structure in many of his songs, including another “Blue” song (with 6 more words that rhyme with that word) in “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”.
Now you may be wondering about a song of his such as “Like a Rolling Stone”, which is similarly wordy. Both critics and Dylan himself have described the song as a stream of consciousness, so even though the chorus is relatively simple (based around the phrase “How does it feel?”), it’s more of an accentuation that can’t be summed up fully even in the verses. Again, it’s about knowing what each song needs.
