Metaphors Be With You
“Because I’ve never met a phor I didn’t like.”
-Bill Shipper
Let’s talk about a way to paint a picture within your songs: Metaphors. As a grammar nerd, I’d probably roast you for not knowing the difference between a metaphor and a simile. But when discussing music, I tend to use them interchangeably. Though I’ll only be discussing metaphors in this blog, There are two different ways to use metaphors and similes in songs:
Your metaphor or simile is used as the title in your song.
Your metaphor or simile is used in the lyrics of your song, but isn’t necessarily the hook.
In researching for this blog, there are many songs that mix both metaphors and similes within the lyrics, so to make things easier, we’ll be focusing exclusively on songs that use them in the title.
What’s the difference between a metaphor and a simile? I always say there’s nothing like a good metaphor. Because that’s a simile. Similes use the words “Like” or “As”. Think of the word “similar”. Metaphors, though not meant to be taken literally, assert that you ARE what you’re comparing yourself to. Though not a simile or metaphor, think about the difference between telling your significant other, “It’s like you don’t even care” versus telling them, “You don’t even care!” the second one is a lot more powerful. That’s not to say similes aren’t powerful too, but it’s something to think about as you’re writing.
“Tourniquet” by Jeremy Messersmith
Lyrically: This song is all about serving as protection for somebody when they’re down and out, and when nobody else will. Interestingly, that’s the overarching theme, but by design, this song wasn’t meant to overdo it with the medical gauze imagery. I had the pleasure of taking a songwriting lesson from Jeremy in 2014, and asked him how he was able to write such a powerful song, while not overdoing it with references to a tourniquet. He told me that the I will be there in an ambulance line in the last verse made him feel like he was pushing the metaphor a little too far, but what makes it work is all the other ways he could serve as that tourniquet. So by mixing metaphors (“I will lasso you a thundercloud”), he’s able to say that there are many ways to keep this person’s wounds from getting infected, besides just bandaging them up.
Melodically: This is a very interesting song, melodically. The main hook is "I'll be your tourniquet,” and when I hear the phrase, “I’ll Be” in a song, it immediately makes me think of Edwin McCain’s song of the same name, whose melody is a lot slower. But this song has a driving melody, which shows the narrator is determined to make this person feel better, no matter the cost.
Structurally: This song follows a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus format. A bridge easily could have gone in this song, but as Mr. Messersmith told me, he didn’t want to overdo it with the imagery of a tourniquet, so just sticking with what he had seemed like the wise choice. It should also be noted that being someone’s tourniquet is a noble deed, but something you do for the people you care about, without even thinking twice. So the simplicity of the structure may be an intentional way of saying, “I’ll do this for you, and I’m not bragging about it.”
2. “She’s My Kinda Rain” by Tim McGraw
What Works
Melodically: This song has a down-tempo verse, with minimal instrumentation and a slightly more booming chorus, though a decidedly simple one, to match the verse. It also mixes in strings in between the first and second verse. This fits well with the lyrics, which we’ll dive into in the next section.
Lyrically: Interestingly, this song uses almost all metaphors, like the title, but it mixes in similes, such as “Like love from a drunken sky,” in the chorus, and “Like Rembrandt’s Light” in the second verse. Much like “Tourniquet” by Jeremy Messersmith, it doesn’t stick to one metaphor, but rather mixes in other comparisons, before finally coming to the conclusion that “She’s my kind of rain”. This allows you to build up to the title, rather than build around it. In other words, it leaves you with more visuals than you bargained for with the title of the song.
Structurally: This song follows a verse, pre-chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, solo, pre-chorus, chorus, format. Two things should be noted about this format:
The pre-chorus serves in lieu of a bridge, which works in countless different songs.
The first chorus after the pre-chorus is what I call an a capella chorus, with the instruments cut, then part way through that chorus, the instruments come back in. Personally, I’m not a fan of losing your momentum after what serves as a bridge, but this song peaked at number 2, so take that with a grain of salt!
3. “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine
Lyrically: This song opens right up with its intended thesis –”My heart’s a stereo, it beats for you, so listen close.” It also directs the love interest to “Turn me up when you feel low,” which not only extends the metaphor, but also provides a fabulous contrast, as perfected in songs like “I Started a Joke” (“Which started the whole world crying”). This song was released in 2011, a year after Keith Urban put out “Put You in a Song” (written with Sarah Buxton and Jedd Hughes, as they were driving together one time), but takes it in a different direction: Instead of just one song (and the girl from said song) making the person feel better, they can know that their love interest is “In every beat and every note,” no matter what song is playing on the radio. Similar to my brief tangent about co-writing in the previous blog, both this song (written by Travie McCoy, Adam Levine, Sterling Fox, Anmar Malik, Dan Omello, and Benny Blanco), and the aforementioned “Put You In a Song”), can probably be chalked up to throwing things to a wall and seeing what stuck. Though more people in a co-write isn’t automatically a good thing, it may have given “Stereo Hearts” a slightly different twist than “Put You in a Song” had a year earlier.
Melodically: This song is written in the key of F# minor and is backed by a trap drum beat, while the intro (chorus) contains a keyboard, with a mid-gain guitar sound coming in. Another guitar is also heard in the background, playing a reggae rhythm. In the verses, the trap drums come back in.
Structurally: As mentioned earlier, the song begins with the chorus and builds around it, going to a verse, then back to the chorus, another verse, the chorus again, a bridge, and a chorus. The verses lean into the metaphor, asking if she’d still listen to him if he was “Just another dusty record on the shelf” and the bridge says, “I pray that you’ll never leave me behind, because good music is so hard to find”. Bridges are known to take the song to a different place, and to me, the different place in this song is that the narrator’s love interest is the good music (so someone like her is hard to find), but it also could be an extension of the metaphor again, insinuating that nobody else is going to provide her with that sweet music like he can.
4. “If Love Was a Plane” by Brad Paisley
Lyrically: This song, though grossly misusing the subjunctive tense, begins talking about a young couple: “She’s 98 pounds workin’ down at the Dairy Queen, with an oval V home perm and braces. And he’s long haired, no job, and just 19. They’ve got a baby on the way, they’re off to the races.” The second verse talks about celebrities, and how they have the same idea that they’re going to make it, despite the odds of it winding up in divorce. Interestingly, the metaphor of “If love was a plane” comes in at the end of the chorus: “If love was a plane, nobody’d get on,” and doesn’t get revisited until the bridge: “Imagine now, the pilot’s voice on the intercom, just before we leave the ground. Saying, ‘Folks, thanks for flyin’ with us, but there’s a 6 in 10 chance we’re goin’ down.’” Unlike the aforementioned “Stereo Hearts”, it’s a conclusion the singer comes to after seeing all of these examples of people who, on paper, don’t seem to stand a chance. But in the last verse, he talks about how everybody thinks their situation is different, so they “Line up at the gate with (their) tickets.” The thing that distinguishes this song from other metaphor-using tunes is that it’s all hypothetical. In other words, if love were a plane, nobody’d get on. But it’s not a plane, so everyone gets on.
Melodically: This song’s chords are G, D/F#, C, G, and D, and is written in the key of C. It’s played with the capo on the fifth fret. The acoustic guitar begins, with a slide guitar coming in shortly thereafter, and drums coming in during the chorus. The bridge adds a violin, with the solo having electric guitar, slide, and drums. It’s a very down-tempo song, which fits the melancholy, but hopeful nature of the song.
Structurally: This song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, verse, chorus format. However, the chorus changes slightly each time, as it’s revealed that the people he’s talking about are somehow getting more and more hopeful, thinking they’ll beat the odds. The structure follows the same format as “Every Rose Has its Thorn,” discussed in my blog about character development. Normally I’m not a fan of having a solo between the bridge and whatever comes next, but like in the Poison song, the end of the bridge is such a strong line that a solo fits super well, going into the last verse. It builds tension between the bridge and however the song concludes, which takes a fabulous songwriter to be able to pull off. Though co-writing is a standard practice in Nashville, Brad Paisley wrote this track by himself.
