In a Verse/Chorus song, Bridges usually happen a minute and a half to two minutes into the song, after two Verses and two Choruses.  So, by the time I get to the Bridge, the battle (for the listener’s attention and love) has already been won or lost.  Assuming the listener is still with me, my main focus is to keep things moving… that is, to not lose the momentum I’ve developed and, if possible, build on it.

In a Bridge there’s usually some kind of change of pace.  It can be a change in the narrative point of view or level of emotion (bridges often release or overtly state emotion that’s been held in check or implied in the other sections); a change in the melody range; a change in key, rhythm, or even tempo.

But the main thing is not to lose that head of steam that’s been building for two minutes.  The Bridge is a side trip that should be pleasurable on its own.  But most importantly it should serve the whole song – by not dropping the ball and by effectively bringing us back to the main parts of the song.

Some examples from classic songs –

A fast Bridge that’s a quick change of pace, taking us back to the song with renewed excitement, such as Tom Petty’s ‘Refugee’ (“Baby we ain’t the first…”) or The Beatles’ ‘I Feel Fine’ (“I’m so glad…”).  Both of these Bridges (and entire songs) move along extremely quickly.

Songs that don’t change the basic groove and drive of the song, but change the key, such as Sam & Dave’s ‘Soul Man’ (“Grab the rope and I’ll pull you in…”) – which also modulates at the end of the Bridge – and Macy Gray’s ‘I Try’ (“Here is my confession…”), which also illustrates the ‘opening up emotionally’ approach.

Although it’s not exactly a Verse/Chorus song, I’ve got to put James Brown’s ‘Sex Machine’ in this category (“Can I take it to the bridge…?”), to show the power of staying on one chord for a long time and then changing to the IV chord for the bridge.  (Many of JB’s songs do variations on this theme.)

Paul Simon’s ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ Bridge both changes key and opens way up emotionally.  He goes from telling us stories about himself to, in the Bridge, telling us how he feels (and, like in ‘Refugee’, it leads into a solo that’s the song’s energetic peak).  By the way, this is technically an AABA song but, I think because of the Title repetitions, which are almost Chorus-like, the Bridge functions a lot like it would in a Verse/Chorus song.

Finally, an anomaly – the Bridge of The Beatles’ ‘A Day In The Life’ is a song within a song (“Woke up; got out of bed…”)… way longer and more of a departure than almost any Bridge I could mention.  But it more than maintains momentum and interest and then makes a complex transition back to the main body of the song sound smooth.

As with anything in Songwriting, there are a million ways to do it – if it works, it’s fine (‘If it sounds good, it is good’ – Duke Ellington).  A certain amount of variety and change of pace seem essential, but I notice that what most effective Bridges have in common is momentum – maintaining it, building on it.

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