CONSTRUCTION OF A SONG
Hooks
"Hook" is the term you'll hear most often in the business and craft of commercial songwriting. (Well, maybe not as much as "Sorry, we can't use your song," but it's possible that the more you learn about hooks now, the less you'll hear "we can't use it" later.)
The hook has been described as "the part(s) you remember after the song is over," "the part that reaches out and grabs you," "the part you can't stop singing (even when you hate it)" and "the catchy repeated chorus." Some of the world's greatest hook crafters are commercial jingle writers: how many times have you had a jingle stick in your mind? Here are several categories of hooks.
A) THE STRUCTURAL HOOK
In this category, part of the structure of the song functions as the hook. The most common is the "hook chorus." It repeats several times during the song, and it should contain the title or "hook line," usually the first or last line (See "Chorus Construction"). We may also consider memorable "B" sections, particularly in an AABA form, to be hooks, but the chorus is almost universally referred to as "the hook."
B) INSTRUMENTAL HOOKS
There are melodic phrases in songs that may not be part of the vocal melody, yet stick in our minds as though they were. In the last line of the chorus of The Beatles' "Something" after "Don't want to leave her now, you know I believe and how. . ." is a melodic guitar figure that we think of whenever we think of the melody, though there's no lyric over it. If we heard that figure by itself, we'd be able to "name that tune." The repeated riffs or loops that introduce and run beneath Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and Jay-Z's "Can I Get A" are as memorable as any other parts of the songs.
Too often, I think, songwriters tend to believe that creating those instrumental hooks is the job of the arranger, producer or studio musicians. It should be kept in mind that if those are the hooks that sell the song to the public, they'll sell the song to the producer and artist if you create them first.
C) STORY LINE HOOKS
Have you ever heard a song and afterward couldn't quite remember the melody or the exact words but you could remember the story? Sometimes the story itself is so powerful and evocative that it's the thing that stays in your mind longer than the exact words or melody. One great example is the Dixie Chicks' "Goodbye Earl."
D) PRODUCTION HOOKS
Production hooks aren't always possible for a songwriter, but today more writers than ever before have access to sophisticated instrumental and recording technology. The sounds on both demos and master recordings have become very important. Experiment with the way various instruments sound in combination. Experiment with electronic keyboard synth "pre-sets" combined with acoustic instruments or natural sounds. You can digitally sample sound sources or buy them on disks, tapes or ROM cartridges and modify them yourself. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology has made possible an almost infinite variety of sonic combinations
Early recording techniques such as "phasing" and "flanging" were later incorporated into electronic boxes that you could use at the tap of a button and today virtually any sound modification device used in the studio has been converted to some portable digital form that you can use at home or on stage. Certain sounds will evoke certain emotional responses. Use them as artistic tools along with lyric and melody to create mood and emotion. One of the most effective hooks is a sound no one has ever heard before. Remember, however, that once you get into the technology of creating sounds, it can be so much fun that you can easily forget that the song is still the most important thing. No matter how exciting those sounds are, they won't make up for a weak song.
Hooks are essential in commercial music. They are points of reference that keep us interested and focused on the song. They're devices that help us remember and an entertainment in themselves. Part of your job as a commercial writer is to be able to use as many different types of hooks as possible.
E) CHORUS CONSTRUCTION
The part of the song people remember best, after the first couple of listens, is the chorus. Effective choruses are a magic mix of lyric, melody and phrasing.
The majority of choruses adhere to certain guidelines. I say 'majority' because there are songs that ignore some of the guidelines and still win by the strength of their performance, arrangement and/or production.
1. The title should appear in the chorus, in a way that, by virtue of its placement in the chorus and/or its degree of repetition, we know it's the title. If words or phrases other than the title repeat in the chorus, or in strong positions, the listener won't know which is the title when they call the radio station to request it or ask for it at the record store, which is why you sometimes see songs with two titles, like "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," "Blue (Ba Da Dee)" or "C'mon and Ride It (The Train)" - that usually means that someone felt the song's title was not its strongest hook, or even that the song has two hooks and they're covering their bets by putting both in the title. Since you can't buy or request a song if you can't remember its name, these are very important commercial considerations.
2. Keep the information simple enough for people to remember easily. If you're a literary genius, you may tend to think most choruses are too simple. Don't worry about it. They need to be simple!
3. They need to distill and focus the song.
4. They need to stand repetition.
5. The words of the chorus need to be easily remembered. It also helps if the melody is fun and easy to sing.
6. The action of the verses should not pass the action of the chorus chronologically. Choruses can run from two to eight lines (depending on your definition of a line).
Here are some common lyric constructions:
1. Repeat the same line two or more times. This can get monotonous unless that line is fun to sing or shout (like "Take this job and shove it"), it's sung with a style that makes it interesting (like "Whoomp! There it is"), and/or it's musically exciting.
2. First and third line the same, second and fourth lines different. This offers the possibility of having a strong "payoff" line to end the chorus. The last line in the chorus is a power position, and there are high expectations for it to be strong and satisfying. Examples: Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is.;" Brian McKnight "Anytime" (McKnight/Brandon Barnes); Paula Cole "I Don't Want To Wait"
3. First and third lines the same, second and fourth lines the same. Provides maximum repetition of both lines and makes the chorus very easy to remember. Example: Eagle Eye Cherry's "Save Tonight"
4. First three lines are the same, fourth line different. This has some of the potential monotony of #1 and the payoff advantage of #2. The repetition of the first three lines makes for a powerful setup, so the payoff needs to be strong. Example: Steve Winwood's "Higher Love."
5. All four lines different. Doesn't risk monotony and doesn't set up as much of an expectation for a powerful last line as #2 and #3 (but give them one anyway). Examples: Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar's classic "The Wind Beneath My Wings;" Dixie Chicks' "Wide Open Spaces" (Susan Gibson); Mariah Carey's "Dream Lover" (Carey/Dave Hall, David Porter); Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" (Thornally/Cutter/Preven)
6. The first or last part of each line is repeated (and is almost always the title). This is one of the oldest and most common structures. It goes back to "call and response" songs in tribal music and Gregorian Chants. Examples: The Irene Cara hit, "Fame,"(Dean Pitchford/Michael Gore); Ace of Base's "All That She Wants;" SHeDAISY's "Little Goodbyes;" "Still The One" (Shania Twain, Robert John "Mutt" Lang)
7. The first and last line the same, the second and third are each different. This gives you a chance to repeat the hook line at both the beginning and the end. Examples: Huey Lewis' "The Heart Of Rock And Roll."
These are just a few common structures. There are many more. Chorus structures are far less standardized than song forms. Pick up a contemporary songbook at your local music store or listen to a Top 40 countdown and what you'll find is an incredible degree of diversity. In fact, a good share of hits are successful because their choruses are unusual - like Macy Gray's "I Try."
Melodic construction of choruses roughly follows the lyric structures, however there is a tremendous variety of rhythmic and phrasing options available. A lyricist should always keep in mind that there is great flexibility in pop music in the ways that lyrics can be stretched and spaced and positioned relative to the music, and looking at a lyric on paper only gives us a part of the story.
F) REPETITION
One of the most important ingredients of successful songs is repetition. Repetition is a key part of learning almost anything, so if you want someone to learn your song quickly, you can't afford not to use it.
Several studies have been made showing that most listeners have some resistance to hearing something unfamiliar. They'd rather hear a song they already know. It may be a little disappointing to learn that most people are so unadventurous, but it's really not surprising: As writers and musicians, we are always looking for something fresh and new, and tend to forget that there's a public out there who, generally speaking, doesn't share that need for change. So they feel comfortable with the familiar, and uncomfortable with the unfamiliar.
This poses obvious problems for radio stations who'd like to add a new record by a new artist, but whose audience polls tell them they should keep playing established hits instead. The more they repeat those old songs, the more comfortable people feel with them, and the more personal nostalgia they generate. Since radio stations are relying more heavily on listener polls and feedback to program their music, and since listeners can't request what they haven't heard, new writer/artists are between a rock and a hard place.
If you can write songs for established artists, with already familiar and easily identifiable voices and styles, you have an edge, because a new and unfamiliar song by Madonna or Whitney Houston or Garth Brooks is going to get played before an unfamiliar song by an unfamiliar artist.
Whether you're writing for yourself or someone else, you need to minimize the odds against you. Since your problem with a new song is to break through that resistance to something new, repetition of melodic themes, choruses or instrumental figures (riffs) will build instant familiarity into a song. Write a chorus that is totally and instantly understandable, simple, easily remembered and that touches their hearts and/or their feet. By the time the song is finished and the listeners have heard it three or four times, they'll know it and want to hear and sing it again.
The general objective is to have enough repetition without inducing boredom. It's sometimes difficult to determine how much is too much. Lyricists, in general, seem to get bored very quickly and even a very little repetition can make them feel guilty about not doing their job properly. On the other hand, a musician who's just found a great groove will tend to play it till the neighbors have him arrested. This supports the theory that you can get away with more repetition of a short lyric phrase if it's catchy and fun to sing, in other words, if it's "musical" by virtue of its meter, phrasing, rhythm, rhyme, assonance and alliteration. "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "Little Latin Lupe Lu," "Getting Jiggy Wit It" and "Livin' La Vida Loca" all have those "catchy" qualities about them.
Obviously, the amount of repetition you use depends on the purpose of the song, what audience you're trying to reach: a ten-minute dance song can light up a dance floor but merely be annoying you if hear it on the radio while you're stuck in traffic.
Repetition of melody, I believe, allows listeners to focus more on the lyrics. If the melody changed in each of the sections and never repeated, we'd be too distracted to follow the lyrics. I think one of the reasons why the melodies in country music have such simple familiarity is because country music is very lyric-oriented and the familiarity helps the listener concentrate on the words.
Lyric repetition also serves to let the listener's mind rest. If, as a writer, you're giving listeners information in the verses, a repeated chorus coming up says, "Okay, you'll only have to concentrate a little longer, when the chorus comes back you can rest your mind and just groove and when it's over, you'll know just when to get ready to concentrate again." That 'mental set' or 'preparation to pay attention' is another psychology-of-learning principle. It's really the basis of the need, in both writing and production, to have 'pick-ups' before choruses and verses, intros to songs, drum 'fills,' any little figure or chord change or something that 'telegraphs' ahead that there's going to be a change. We like those when we dance too. They help us to choreograph ourselves.
Repetition of words or short phrases, or the first part of a familiar melody or lyric, is a great tension creator in a song. However, in order to work, it has to "pay off" big. Otis Redding was great at that. "You got to, got to, got to, got to" and when he finally hits "Try a Little Tenderness," it's a release and a relief and feels good.
However, too much repetition can wear out your radio welcome fast. We all know songs like that. Pay attention to the ones that do it to you and figure out why. A chorus made up of the same short repeated phrase throughout can be death. Ideally, a song should have a good balance of predictability and surprise without too much of either.
Next: Song Dynamics
|
