Just this morning I went to YouTube and listened to Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire.” Such a powerful song, and I don’t think I had ever seen the official video before, which includes a short dramatization of Springsteen as a car mechanic being asked to repair a car by a woman we never actually see, other […]
Even if a song is about something emotional (love, deep friendship, death of a loved one, etc.), it doesn’t work so well to have that lyric be deeply emotional all the time. If all the audience hears is heart-wrenching feelings from beginning to end, it starts to dull its own effect. It’s far better to have […]
I remember reading an interview with Bob Dylan once, during which he was asked his opinion on the state of the world. I don’t remember his specific words, but the gist of what he replied was, “Why are you asking me? I’m just a musician. I have opinions, but they’re no more informed than anyone […]
We know from looking at decades of songs in the pop genres that the songs that really resonate with us and make us feel strong emotions are the ones that shift back and forth between sections of lower and higher emotions. “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process” is FREE with your purchase of […]
Power up your lyric-writing abilities with “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process.” It’s a FREE add-on to “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle” What do you do when you’ve got the song’s topic, the basic story, and a whole pile of emotion, but you just can’t find the words to make it […]
A song where the meaning of the lyric isn’t immediately clear excites us. We’re usually intrigued by the fact that the words are so simple, the phrases and sentences so seemingly unambiguous, and yet… what does it all mean? We can usually tell when a songwriter is pouring out their soul to us, even if […]
