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Murphy's Laws of Songwriting
In the last Murphy's Law, I discussed assembling your demo for presentation; however, before you dress up your song and walk it out in public, take a long, hard look to make sure you've given it the full benefit of your craft. Here is a limited checklist: Check your Checklist: - Have you kept your pronouns consistent? If it's "she" in the verse, it should not be "you" in the chorus (unless you left "she" for "you").
- Have you varied your rhyme scheme from the verse to the chorus to subtly alert the listeners that something (the hook) is coming their way?
- Is there a significant change in the melody from the verse to the chorus?
- Do the opening couple of lines of the first verse set the stage for the story that follows?
- Is the hook in the right place? With rare exceptions, the title/hook is placed at the end of the chorus, not somewhere in the verse or the backyard.
- Is the language you use to tell your story contemporary, i.e. would you hear it in normal day-to-day conversation?
Don't Forget: There are several more items on the checklist, but because of restricting space here, I leave you with what I consider the most important point: Is the song satisfying?
Does it have a beginning, a middle and a end? If the answer to all of the above is yes, demo on. © Copyright 2003 Ralph Murphy
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