Songwriting Tip No.4 Articles / Music Views Posted by PKelly on Jun 05, 2005 - 09:13 AM Songwriting Tip No.4 Textual Content––Okay, now that we’ve dealt with a few ways in which to colour our text (and admittedly this is a slightly backward approach on my part) let’s talk a bit about how to manage the content itself. There are many different song forms but only several are common. Let’s assume for Songwriting Tip No. 4 that you’ve chosen a verse/refrain form for your song. Here’s a tried and true approach––Write a refrain that summarizes in some way what you are saying, or what your song is all about. Usually this is where your vocal hook (the part that literally “hooks” your listener) will be and more often than not the hook will be the title of your song, as well. Then write verses that are either “examples” of what your refrain summarizes, or in some way expands upon the content of your refrain. Or it could be that your verses tell a story and your refrain summarizes or celebrates your story in some fashion. Here’s an example from one of my kid’s songs–– The ants all threw a party For a Bumble Bee last night And they served Black Beetle Pudding Which was greeted with delight The bumble bee did stuff himself Until he finally swore That unless they served him Brandy He’d be headed for the door REFRAIN Oh, Poor Bumble Bee Such an invitation is rarely as it seems Oh, Poor Bumble Bee Wishin’ this was all a bad dream. (Excerpt from POOR BUMBLE BEE © 2002, P.A. Kelly) The verse tells the story and the refrain sums up the situation by commenting on the story. Of course it never has to be this simplistic or this literal. There are many devices you can use and still write within the verse/refrain form. We’ll take a look at some of the other ways in upcoming Songwriting Tips. This article is from Walking Oliver   http://www.walkingoliver.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.walkingoliver.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=234