Comments on: In Songs, ‘I’ Is Usually Better Than ‘We’ https://tonyconniff.com/in-songs-i-is-usually-better-than-we/ Songwriter, Producer, and Coach, based in New York City. Fri, 10 Jul 2015 01:37:33 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Tony Conniff https://tonyconniff.com/in-songs-i-is-usually-better-than-we/#comment-6772 Fri, 10 Jul 2015 01:37:33 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=2374#comment-6772 In reply to Tyler White.

Great points, Tyler; thanks!
TC

]]> By: Tyler White https://tonyconniff.com/in-songs-i-is-usually-better-than-we/#comment-6771 Thu, 09 Jul 2015 14:58:21 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=2374#comment-6771 Great post! I really agree with this line especially: “The ‘We’ position is general; it’s a philosophical, intellectual observation, not an emotional experience.”

I would go a step further and say that “we” can even sound preachy because it’s so impersonal. See: “we are the world”

Compared to I/You, which are more vulnerable and invite the listener in as a real character in the story.

I do think Artists use “we” successfully when they also set up the story using “I” and invite the listener in. For example, Lorde opens in Royals with:

“I’ve never seen a diamond in the flesh/cut my teeth on wedding rings…”

and in the chorus uses “we”:

“We’ll never be royals/it don’t run in our blood”

But doesn’t forget to invite the listener in a couple lines later:

“So you can call me queen bee, and baby I’ll rule…”

In this case, “we” adds a nice generalizing touch to help the song feel more anthemic rather than whiny. But the “I” and “You” make sure it feels personal. To Ke$ha’s credit, I think she also does this well in “We R Who We R” 😉

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