Hey folks,
Just a short note and hopefully a useful song-writing tip.
I haven't posted any lyrics lately and lucky for you, I won't tonight.
I haven't been lazy, believe me. I've been scouring over my lyrics, rewriting, adjusting, trying to determine if I'm heading in the *write* direction. In the meantime, I've had yet another revelation in song writing I'd like to share you writers. You may already know this and I may be preaching to the choir. But for you writers just starting out I think you'll find this informative and useful.
Lyrical Hooks.
A lyrical hook is that small catch phrase, usually found in a chorus that makes a song memorable to you. For example, Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven" or The Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". OK, OK! Telling my age, eh?
In many cases and more often than not, the lyrical hook, which I'll refer to as the "hook" from now on, is the title of the song. The hook is what grabs your attention and keeps you coming back for more. And if a hook did that to you, then it did it's job.
Hooks, are short, snappy and memorable. But creating or finding a hook with those qualities is a tough job. Believe me! Many song writers start a song with a hook. In other words, they think up a hook and then write a song around the hook. Sometimes a hook doesn't show up until a lyric is already in progress. But a lyric without a hook is like a Coke with no fizz, or a beer with no head. At least a little one.
But most important of all about hooks. Your verses must "lead" to the hook. I am so guilty of not doing that. I'm all over the place. Until now! Your hook is the candied dessert of your lyrics. The verses are just meat and potatoes with maybe a little gravy for the meat.
I wrote a lyric, Big Hearts Fall Hard. The phrase 'Big Hearts Fall Hard" is the hook. It's the payoff. Adn it's a darn good hook that requires a darn good lyric. Now that I've got your attention with my hook, you'll want to hear it in all it's glory. But me as a writer doesn't want to give it to you all at once. I want to build up to it. I want to give you an interesting trip to get to the payoff.
Here's my original First Verse and Chorus
[V1]
I've got you on my mind today
You didn't leave me time to say
You said goodbye, you closed the door
You had a ticket, I sat on the floor
[Chorus]
Big hearts fall hard
Big hearts fall hard
And if you wonder
Why it thunders
Big hearts fall hard
**
If you read the verse, you'll obviously see, the verse itself literally has no reference point at all to the hook. The verse does not lead you through a buildup toward the hook. Essentially, all the verse refers to is that "you" meaning the other person in the lyric, left "me" the primary person in the lyric.
The verse is a dead verse. It means nothing in the lyric at all. So a rewrite was required.
Here's a rewrite of verse one along with the chorus again.(one of several being played out)
[RW V1]
My world came crashing to the ground
A simple word that knocked me down
You said goodbye, closed the door
I couldn't get up off the floor
[Chorus]
Big hearts fall hard
Big hearts fall hard
And if you wonder
Why it thunders
[cause]Big hearts fall hard
Now, I hope you can see the build up. In the verse I played out an action that leads up to the hook. And now, when you finally hear "Big Hearts Fall Hard", it makes perfect sense.
I hope you can "feel" the difference between the two verses. The rewrite really gets the point across that I was originally trying to make. And now the verse itself is much more interesting and more importantly builds up to the "hook".
So when you write your verse, take time and consideration of how your verse fits in with the hook.
**
Best to you! And most of all, keep writing.
Les
FrogsMusic