At the height of the pandemic, we heard corporations scream that we’re all in this together.  I don’t know about you, but it got pretty cloying to hear over and over again.  Yet in song form, it can be somewhat reassuring to hear.  In this blog, we’re going to talk about collectivist songs, but as always, I’m going to try to give you some songs you may not have heard of before, or at least ones that haven’t become cliched within the category.

I’ve got some exciting news—This is my 50th blog! Thank you for all your support. This blog has evolved quite a bit, and I hope your songwriting has as well. To celebrate, we’ll be focusing this time out on “Famous First Drafts” of songs. So picture this: you’ve just written one of the melodies of your career.  There’s just one problem — the lyrics need some work.  Don’t worry — some of the best songwriters of all time have revised lyrics that have become fabulous songs.  Sometimes, those early drafts don’t see the light of day.  One of my favorite examples is when Paul McCartney used the phrase “scrambled eggs” as a filler phrase.  This would later change to “Yesterday,” which went on to become the most covered songs in the history of cover songs.  In this blog, we’re going to look at famous first drafts — songs that artists recorded and released (eventually), as well as the songs they turned into.  There’s only one caveat: because all the songs we’ll discuss were worthy of release, I’m advocating for two things here: saving all your lyrics, but also revising where necessary.

In writing for one of my last blogs, which was about escapism, I got so carried away with a tangent about one song that I decided to make a whole new blog discussing it and four others.  In a previous blog, we talked about the subjunctive tense, hoping someone would do something, but not knowing if they would.  This time, we’ll look at the use of commands in songs — telling someone to do something, not merely stating you hope they will.

Many of my favorite songwriters are storytellers as well.  Most of the songs I tend to enjoy are personal anecdotes, so I can get a glimpse into the life of the writer.  But another subset of my favorite songs are ones that draw from historic events.  The first two songs I’ll talk about will deal with the horrors of war, while the third will deal with political unrest.  The fourth will discuss music history and how it affected history overall.   

In a previous blog, we talked about character development, where an artist takes an existing character and takes creative liberties in song form.  Of course it’s almost impossible for a writer to not have a biased point of view, or skew events a little, but things like Bob Dylan inserting himself onto the Mayflower in “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream” are what I’m trying to avoid, as good as those songs are.

In a previous blog, Twist and Shout, we talked about songs that have some sort of surprise ending.  Sometimes it’s good to know how a song will end, as we often listen to songs while in need of someone with a relatable experience.  But from a pure songwriting standpoint, this blog will look at song titles that explore multiple meanings of that title.

When writing a song, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using a structure you know has worked: alternating between verses and choruses, throwing a bridge or a solo in somewhere, we know it’s safe.  But it’s not always good for the song, and it’s important to realize that as a songwriter.  So in this blog, we’re going to be discussing unorthodox song structures and why they work so well in the context of the rest of the song.

In my Spanish literature class, we talked about types of narration.  While I told my work that I’m getting this Master’s degree to be able to teach Dual Enrollment, the real reason is so I can bring you better blogs.  In this one, we will chat about two different types of narrations: first person, and third person.

Background: There are a multitude of reasons why people enjoy songs.  For me, it boils down to one of three things: you relate to the lyrics deeply, you don’t relate to them, but you appreciate a good story, or you use it as a way to escape from reality.  We have talked about the first two, through character development and many deeply personal songs, but now we’re going to shift our focus from those and discuss escapism songs–tunes that help us escape from reality.

When I was around 8 years old, I started learning about rhyming.  My mom would read Dr. Seuss’ Happy Birthday To You every year on my birthday, so I had been exposed to it, but when I say I learned about rhyming, I mean in formal school lessons.  I remember writing poems about the seasons, and at that point, felt it was important to rhyme as much as possible in those poems, which I translated to some of the earliest songs I wrote.  As I would quickly find out, not all poems are songs, not all songs are poems, and not all songs have to rhyme.  But some of my favorite songs started out as poems, and some of my favorite writers have been able to make that transition seamlessly.  That is our focus for this blog.

One of the reasons I love music is because it helps me realize there are other people who go through the same emotions and same things as I do.  My favorite songwriters write about these experiences not because it’s their job or because they think it will sell a million records, but because they genuinely went through it and need to vent.  But sometimes music can also be a complete escape from reality, and many times that comes in the form of some sort of mystical being.  In this blog, we will talk about those mystical experiences, either with people or places.

Background: In a previous blog, we talked about highways, interstates, streets, and roads, which are constructed by humans.  But sometimes, we can use things in nature to paint a picture in our songs.  All the tunes discussed in this blog will focus on songs that do just that!

Background: In a previous blog, we talked about dating your songs – that is using months, days, and years to provide details within your songs.  However, this particular blog will discuss songs that use times in them, the more specific the better, to tell your story.  Of course there will be some notable omissions, like “3 AM” by Matchbox Twenty, as I have another song in the 3:00 o’clock hour, and do not want to repeat times.  But whether you’re familiar with the songs I chat about or they’re new discoveries for you, I hope you get something useful out of them!

Background: Since 1991, Bob Dylan has been releasing his Bootleg Series, and I have to say, as a songwriter, that even his outtakes are something to aspire to.  Sometimes we’re lucky enough to get those songs released, but other times, we have to rely on the Internet to dig up old demos that never saw the light of day.  The purpose of this blog is to inspire you with the deepest of deep tracks, because I know sometimes those are the ones that inspire me the most, but the other point of this blog is to save everything of yours – you never know who’s going to be inspired by it!

Background: After Princess Diana died, Elton John re-wrote “Candle in the Wind” as a tribute to her in 1997.  Herman’s Hermits made “I’m Henry VII, I Am” famous in 1965.  But what about the songs that make up royal characters?  That is what we will explore today.  It should be noted that unlike the aforementioned Herman’s Hermits song, none of the made up royalty in these songs will have names.  But rather, they will assign fallible characteristics against the backdrop of royalty.  A fabulous contrast for writing!

We all have regrets in life.  Sometimes they’re major regrets that lend themselves well to serious songs, and other times, they’re minor regrets that we can look back on and laugh at.  The focus of this blog is the reasons we didn’t do certain things, one of which is an overcompensation for the actual truth.

In the few and far between love songs that I have written in my career, I always seem to want to end them with a wedding to put some sort of closure on the courtship from the first few verses.  Sometimes these wedding songs (whether my own or someone else’s) are written from the perspective of the bride or groom (that being the singer), and sometimes they are written from the perspective of a jilted ex-lover, who’s trying to come to grips with their ex moving on.  In this blog, we will talk about both kinds of wedding songs.  

In my last blog, we talked about taking a title from a book.  In this blog, we’re going to look at the taking a previously existing song title and writing your own song with the same title.  Ideas for songs are available for copyright, but song titles are fair game – as long as you take it in a different direction than its predecessor.  On that note, there are thousands of songs called “Home” and thousands more called “Stay”.  There are thousands of songs with Memphis in the title, and although some are worth talking about, I will not be covering those in this blog, instead focusing on relatively uncommon song titles and the two directions in which they went.  My hope is to inspire you to come up with a third direction!

In my very first blog for MSA, I talked about a Bee Gees song called “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” This is one of two Bee Gees songs that shares a name with a Hemingway novel. This got me thinking: What other songs are out there that share a title with a book? In compiling this blog, I had two rules: Rule 1, the book cannot be a biography or autobiography about the singer or band member. Rule 2, the song does not necessarily have to have the exact similarities with the book. As I talked about in a previous blog, you can write a song about an existing literary character. Here, there are thematic similarities, but not necessarily a perfect match with the book’s characters and events. Though one does wonder if “War and Peace” would have been as successful, had it been published under its original name, “War, What is it Good For?”

In one of my early blogs, I looked at nostalgia through object writing. All but one of these songs dealt with those objects and how they trigger memories of a relationship between two people. In my last blog, I talked about childhood nostalgia from two different perspectives: First, we looked at happy memories, then we looked at songs about not so happy ones. In writing for the latter category, I came up with the idea for another type of nostalgia that falls into what I call the “Where are they now?” category. In other words, the memories are positive, but you’ve moved onto a point in your life that is much less carefree and innocent. This will be our focus for the songs in this blog.