A Simple Way To Make Lyrics and Melodies More Musical
Songs with sections – Verses, Choruses, Bridges – in which every line has a similar…
What Do Nas, Sting, and Metallica Have In Common?
It’s a practical and sensible songwriting convention that, in a Verse/Chorus song, the Chorus will…
Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’: Getting Inside A Great Song
What makes Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ a great song, maybe one of the great songs? Greatness…
Looking For The DNA Of A Lyric? Try Your Song’s Title
When writing a lyric, we songwriters often have trouble answering a very mundane question: What…
If Marvin Gaye Can Do It, So Can You
Writing my post last week about the non-plagiarism of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It…
Was ‘Blurred Lines’ Stolen From Marvin Gaye? No.
The first time I heard Robin Thicke and Pharrell William’s Blurred Lines I thought, “This…
When The Words And Music DON’T Match… Sometimes It’s Great
Most songs have music and lyrics that match – moody music gets sad lyrics; happy,…
How To Punch Up Your Song’s Title
Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ – written by her, Max Martin, and Shellback – leaves…
Quality Control: Taking A Song Apart And Putting It Back Together
I don’t have one ‘handy’ gene in me, so I’ve always been amazed when I…
How Do You Get Out Of A Songwriting Rut?
When I hear a song I like that’s either new, new to me, or that…
‘Let It Snow’: Great Songwriting Any Time Of Year
In the summer of 1945 in Los Angeles, on one of the hottest days of…
The Joy Of Cutting
Buddhists preach non-attachment. Today, though I’m not religious, I will join their ranks, at least…
Lorde, Adele, MJ: The Art Of The Pre-Chorus
More than any other part of a song, the Pre-Chorus’s main function is to help…
Songwriting: What Creates Skill? Why Does It Matter?
Skill is a big part of the difference between an amateur and a professional. Just…
Why Is A Song Like A Set Of Directions?
The human mind instinctively looks for patterns. It will even make up patterns when none…
7 Reasons Why It’s Great To Be A Songwriter Right NOW. (Can You Add Another?)
There are a lot of reasons – particularly on the business side – why it’s…
Creative Destruction in Songwriting
“Creative destruction is a process through which something new brings about the demise of whatever…
How Do You Organize Your Song? Around The Title?
Almost all of my songs are Title-based songs. Even though I don’t usually ‘write from…
A Question About Stevie Nicks’ ‘Dreams’
Nothing great that humans make is ever perfect, even if anyone could figure out what…
In Songwriting, You’ve Got To Crawl Before You Walk
It’s not too hard for me to get sick of my own songwriting. Sometimes it…
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