The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => The Writing Process => Topic started by: mickeytwonames on January 03, 2016, 08:49:22 PM
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What i'm trying to come to terms with in my writing is that modern day lyrics seem to no longer fit the verse - chorus - bridge - story telling sequence of old. With people's attention span now being that of a gnat us song writers need to re-invent the song for modern taste - any ideas how to achieve this?
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I don't agree - nothing much has changed in lyric writing
The language naturally reflects the vernacular of the time but the general structure has remained the same:
1st Verse - sets the scene and introduces the "characters"
Pre-chorus - serves to set up the chorus
Chorus - emphasises the "theme" / message of the song, often containing the title
2nd Verse - progresses the story
Bridge - looks at the theme from a different perspective
If anything, modern lyrics are more "conversational" and do not sound very "crafted" - although ironically it is much harder to write a lyric that sounds natural and conversational
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What Boydie says sounds right to me (and on all things pop he is someone whose opinion I would always listen to) - the only thing that I can really detect structure-wise is that prechoruses seem to be very much in fashion these days. And perhaps sections tend to be shorter - two lines for the prechorus not four - and everything probably less wordy with shorter lines than in some other times and genres. But every song is different in what it calls for and "rules" if there are any are broken all the time.
There was a discussion about the Billboard charts recently - it seems on Youtube you can get a medley of all 50 songs in 12 minutes - which could be good listening if you're going for that sort of style.
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Thanks for that - some producer said - it might have been in this forum - that he can tell the age of a songwriter by the structure of the song. I'm just fishing about for ideas to help me shift from my comfort zone.
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Develop your own style. Set fashion don't follow. No one ever made a be for themselves by producing more of the same. Commercial crap it comes and goes but the legends are forever. (Tupac parody) ;)
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Develop your own style. Set fashion don't follow. No one ever made a be for themselves by producing more of the same. Commercial crap it comes and goes but the legends are forever. (Tupac parody) ;)
I'm sorry but the above statement is absolute nonsense. Many people have made a LOT of money by producing more of the same. It's basically how the music industry works.
After Nirvana - Every label wanted a grunge band
After Spice Girls - Every label wanted a girl band
After Avril Lavigne - Every label wanted their own angsty teen pop/rock chick
After Creed - Every label wanted their own post grunge mainstream rock band
That's a tiny subset of example but it's basically the engine of the music industry.
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Massive +1 to the above - by all means foster your own 'fashion' or trends but just don't rely on it to pay the bills. Yes there's always exceptions but the music industry is an INDUSTRY after all and by dint of that fact alone that want what will sell i.e. the 'same' as what currently makes $£