The hardest part about writing a song is finishing it. Wouldn't it be nice if they all just flowed out of us in one, sweet sitting with no editing necessary? More likely is the fact that we'll have to work at it to get it done. When you find yourself struggling to finish a song, consider these five points:
Sometime in late December last year my family and I went to see the movie "Saving Mr. Banks" which was basically the true story of how the movie Mary Poppins came to be. The most memorable scenes for me were when the two songwriters would come up with these brilliant songs for the movie and performed them for author P.L. Travers, the writer of Mary Poppins. Travers was a reluctant (that's an understatement) participant in the whole process, with Walt Disney actually having spent 20 years trying to convince her to let him do the movie around her book. The songs were an integral part of their attempt to persuade her, and she was a tough customer!
Disney movies have always had wonderful songwriting, right out of the old world of the Brill Building in New York where songwriters would go to work every day doing nothing more than write and compose. And even if most of the time these songs were directed more at children, there is nothing "dumbed down" about them. A great example of this is the song "Under The Sea" from the animated Disney movie "The Little Mermaid". "De seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake."
This song is a wonderful study in creative lyric writing. For me, the bridge is especially brilliant; imagine trying to rhyme all kinds of sea creatures with instruments and creating a whole band out of it! "What do they got, a lot of sand? We got a great crustacean band!" It's not often you see the word crustacean in a kid's song. That's what is also great about this song, as I mentioned before, it doesn't talk down to kids.
Musically, the whole Caribbean feel is perfect. The character Sebastian has a Jamaican accent, and the song's main musical phrase is all steel drums. It's in the key of C with a pretty straight-forward chord progression, and in the last chorus, it modulates up for two lines, resolving back down to the original key in a splash (pun intended) of brilliance.
If you haven't heard it, or can't remember the last time you did, just listen again and enjoy (lyrics below). ~ IJ
The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake
You dream about going up there
But that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you lookin' for?
1st CHORUS:
Under the sea, under the sea
Darling it's better down where it's wetter take it from me
Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin' full time to floatin' under the sea
Down here all the fish is happy
As off through the waves they roll
The fish on the land ain't happy
They sad 'cause they in their bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky
They in for a worser fate
One day when the boss get hungry
Guess who's gon' be on the plate
2nd CHORUS:
Under the sea, under the sea
Nobody beat us fry us and eat us in fricassee
We what the land folks loves to cook
Under the sea we off the hook
We got no troubles, life is the bubbles, under the sea under the sea
Since life is sweet here we got the beat here naturally
Even the sturgeon an' the ray
They get the urge 'n' start to play
We got the spirit, you got to hear it, under the sea
BRIDGE:
The newt play the flute, the carp play the harp
The plaice play the bass and they soundin' sharp
The bass play the brass, the chub play the tub
The fluke is the duke of soul (Yeah)
The ray he can play the lings on the strings
The trout rockin' out, the blackfish she sings
The smelt and the sprat they know where it's at
An' oh that blowfish blow
LAST CHORUS:
Under the sea, under the sea
When the sardine begin the beguine
It's music to me
What do they got? A lot of sand
We got a hot crustacean band
Each little clam here know how to jam here under the sea
Each little slug here cuttin' a rug here under the sea
Each little snail here know how to wail here
That's why it's hotter under the water
Ya we in luck here down in the muck here
Under the sea!
First of all, I'm assuming that the writer is talking about "success" in some sort of commercial way, or least in terms of popularity on YouTube or other digital means. Success can be a pretty relative thing, but I'll go by that assumption.
I can certainly agree with "love" being a successful topic. I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I guessed that probably 75% of the songs you hear on the radio are about some aspect of love; new love, lost love, jealous love, old love...the list goes on and on. You can't go wrong using love as your songwriting topic.
The second, country, was actually described as "about the country", basically describing songs about patriotism. I don't think you'll find too many songs on YouTube or on the Billboard Top 100 on a REGULAR basis, that are patriotic. So I would broaden that topic to "places". Places can be anything from a city (there have been lots of famous and successful songs over the years about cities!), to a spot where you used to meet someone (okay, that's bordering on a love song, I know), to a neighbourhood you grew up in, to your room or even a job place. Patriotism might feel good to you, but it can often become cheesy, so be careful with that topic on its own.
The next topic was described as religion and religion is a subject that is rather audience specific. For instance, there are Christian songwriting websites and message boards out there, so I am certainly aware that there are songwriters who write solely in that genre, and it is indeed a genre. Within the Christian community there are radio stations with hit songs and big name artists. I do remember a time when gospel songs were occasionally on the playlists of mainstream radio, but that doesn't happen any more. Country radio often has its share of songs with religious overtones, so a person might have some success with a country audience. So I'm on the fence as to whether this topic can be potentially successful outside of its specific audience.
Nature is the next topic. Oddly enough, the first song that comes to mind is an old one written by Eddie Rabbit and performed by Elvis Presley. I don't know why, but "Kentucky Rain" just popped into my head! It's really not about rain, though, or Kentucky. It's an excellent title, but it is...guess what? A love song! Nature in and of itself seems a rather benign topic. Another one that comes to mind (sorry, these are all old!) is "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver. It takes place in the Rocky Mountains, but it is really a coming-of-age song. So I think that nature is probably used more as a metaphor for something else, rather than a topic in and of itself.
Here are the most recent (as of 8/20/14) Billboard top 5 hot pop songs and their topics:
And the hot rock top 5 songs:
The hot country top 5 songs:
Okay, so let's compare with the original list of five topics. Out of the three genres with fifteen songs in total, I'll see which topics are included:
So what do we learn from this? First my statistics were off a little. I said that 75% of the songs out there are love songs. Nine out of fifteen songs makes it closer to 60%. But you're pretty safe writing a love song. Religion, country, nature and sports, not so much. And, there are a lot of other topics to write about...even Pompeii! So push the envelope, be imaginative, write about what you know (or make it up!) and don't restrict yourself. Your idea might be better than any other song idea on the charts!
IJ
