The ‘List Song” – not quite as ubiquitous as it used it to be, but still enormously effective.  It’s always been one of the most useful ways to put together a song.  For songwriters, it’s a gift.

Why?  Because once you’ve got a good Title and made the decision on how you’re going to contrast the List with that Title… it’s a matter of executing the list in an interesting way.  Not necessarily easy, but you do have a plan.  (We’ll get into some examples below.)

In fact, I’d say sticking with the plan – NOT getting too ‘creative’ outside the List (ie, shifting approaches in the middle of the song) – is one of the most important elements of a successful List Song.  The particular approach we’re going to explore here is this –

The List (Verse)… followed by “But’… and then the Title.  Sounds simple, no?

In the writing, you usually start with a strong Title and set it up with The List.  Some classic examples –

I Can’t Get Started (Vernon Duke/Ira Gershwin) – 1936

I‘ve been around the world in a plane
I’ve settled revolutions in Spain
The North Pole I have charted
But I Can’t Get Started
with you
I’ve been consulted by Franklin D.
Even Gable had me to tea
But now I’m broken hearted
I Can’t Get Started
with you

A list of all the amazing things I’ve done BUT I Can’t Get Started with you.

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (U2/Bono) – 1987

I have climbed the highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
But I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

Again (very similar to I Can’t Get Started), a list of dramatic things I’ve done BUT I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

Gotta Serve Somebody (Bob Dylan) – 1979

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls.

But you’re gonna have to Serve Somebody
You’re gonna have to Serve Somebody
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to Serve Somebody

Might be a rock’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage
Might have money and drugs at your commands, women in a cage
You may be a business man or some high degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief.

But you’re gonna have to Serve Somebody
You’re gonna have to Serve Somebody
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to Serve Somebody

A list of all of the exciting and worldly things you might do BUT you still Gotta Serve Somebody.

These great songs are characterized by:
1) A powerful Title, 2) Verses with strong lists of examples that contrast with the title (hence the ‘BUT’), and 3) the songs never wander off from this approach – the discipline and commitment to the idea remain firm from beginning to end.

One similar example: Dylan’s – he’s a master of the list song – Blowin’ In The Wind.  Although this doesn’t have a ‘But’ (there are of course other ways to do List songs, which we’ll get into another time) before the title, it’s perfectly executed.  It’s simply a list of questions followed by the answer (which is… that there’s no answer) –

Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob Dylan) – 1962

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is
Blowin’ In The Wind
The answer is Blowin’ In The Wind

Through the many verses of the song, he never changes the approach.  As in the other songs discussed here, the classic approach to bring the song to its fullest power is to execute the plan with clarity, drama, and inventiveness.

Please feel free to post some other examples!