As research, I decided to take a closer look at how my favorite songs were put together. I offer some observations below. I hope you have some fun with this; it might even get you thinking about the soundtrack of your life.
Geezer alert! Nearly all of the music referenced below comes from the 1950s – 1970s. I checked out after that.
Music has been described as “the universal language.” Every culture has its own forms, and a song can become world-popular despite the language of its lyrics. Per MusicGenresList.com, there are about forty genres of music and hundreds of sub-genres. “Metal” has thirty-seven sub-genres by itself. African Music: ever heard of Genge, Highlife, Isicathamiya or Jit? Me neither.
Jazz is said to be America’s great contribution to music and history. I prefer to think that, for both categories, it’s “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.” (By the way, the song goes, “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,” not “Jacks.” This Jack is asking you to sing it right.)
There is also magic in music; the blending of words and tones can soothe, incite, sadden and inspire. Further, music’s combination of sounds seems to find its way to the most robust part of our brains. I can’t remember what’s I had for breakfast this morning, but I can sing “Under the Boardwalk” by The Drifters from fifty-seven years ago. What song has been stuck in your head since the Kennedy Administration? Lemme guess: “It’s My Party” by Leslie Gore.
So, what genre should I consider as a budding songwriter? The familiar ones from my younger years came to mind.
1950: Country – I remember my dad singing along with “Aha, San Antone” (Sons of the Pioneers) at my grandmother’s house in Iowa.
Early ‘50s: Pop – My mom had records by orchestras like Montovani (“Theme from Moulin Rouge”) and Perez Prado (“Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White”), and albums by Sinatra and Patti Page.
Early-mid ‘50s: Rock and Roll – Bill Haley and the Comets brought the new stuff to my sisters and myself. Sandy and Sunny saw them perform in downtown Omaha, Nebraska.
Mid-late ‘50s: Soul – Sam Cooke and Elvis (blue-eyed soul). Roy Orbison, Jackie Wilson. Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
Early ‘60s: Surf and Folk: Beach Boys and Peter, Paul and Mary…and all the derivatives of both groups.
Mid-late ‘60s: The British Invasion (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield), Motown (Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops), R&B/Soul (Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Isley Brothers, Jackson Five, Temptations).
‘70s: Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Chicago, Steely Dan, Moody Blues, Electric Light Orchestra.
‘80s: Too busy to pay attention. (No, that’s not a band’s name.)
‘90s to now: I stopped caring. I listen to oldies with the following exception.
“Contemporary Country” is now an interesting blend of soft rock and “old” country. It ain’t Buck Owens, Marty Robbins or Tammy Wynette, but it’s more complex and pretty darned good. That’s what I’m going for with my songs.
—-I have always noticed popular music’s components, and I have appreciated the good stuff and marveled at all the bad stuff. It surprises me that so much bad music actually sells. The elements in every song are pretty much the same: structure, words/lyrics, melody/tune, tempo/beat, arrangement. Let’s take a quick look at samples for each of these.
Structure
Things have gotten more complicated in many ways, but the “verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus” model is still very popular. My adorable niece Kelli (Smith) Lewis, a successful singer/songwriter with Smith Sisters and the Sunday Drivers (bluegrass) says, “Pretty much any structure is okay these days. It’s all over the place.”
Here is a curious and successful exception to the song formula from back in 1973:
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel. The music in the chorus is the same as in the verses. Shocked? Go listen to it. In an interview, he said it is his simplest and yet most-requested song. Result: #4 Billboard Easy Listening in the U.S.; UK platinum.
Conclusion: The old format still works for a lot of people, but exceptions can work as well. Kelli was right.
Lyrics: The “Message” of a Song
Conventional thinking says the lyrics to a song should rhyme in some fashion. It’s even better when the entirety of the song makes sense, and it’s lots better when it tells a story.
Here are successful exceptions:
“Colour My World” by Chicago. Nothing rhymes and the story meanders. Result: Top ten in U.S. record sales for all of 1970. The A-side was “Make Me Smile;” it has one rhyme and is a much better song.
“MacArthur Park” by Richard Harris. It has some rhymes to lines like, “Someone left the cake out in the rain,” but the overall song makes zero sense. Result: Billboard #2 song. Donna Summer made a disco version. It went to #1 in the country, and her recording was nominated for a Grammy.
“Horse With No Name“ by America. The words are gibberish with a rhyme or two. “For there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.” (Genius lyrics…hah!) The chorus of the song goes:
“La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la” Yup, that’s it. Result: #1 in the U.S. and it achieved platinum status.
“That’s the Way (I Like It)” by KC and the Sunshine Band. My late father-in-law, Jim Geers correctly said that a song shouldn’t repeat its title more than four times. The title is used in this sh*tty song TWENTY-FOUR times! Result: #1 multiple weeks in the U.S. and Canada.
Conclusion: Good lyrics needn’t matter to make a hit song. That’s bad news for me: writing the words are as close to “making music” as I can get. I’m not tone deaf, but when I try to compose a new tune, it sounds like some other song.
Melody/Tune
As a lonely student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas I took up the guitar. By the time my fingertips stopped bleeding, I had learned only three chords—C, D, G—and I could play a plethora of banal tunes. My roommates wanted to kill me. They perked up when I played “Louie Louie” (the dirty version!) using the same chords. Of course, good songs have wider variations than this in the lead vocals, otherwise every song would sound the same. However, what can be done with just a few chords is astonishing.
Look at this list of three-chord hits. Okay, a couple require four chords.
“Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) Chords: D – G – A
“Horse with No Name” (America) Em – D69/F# (Strike two for that song.)
“Wild Thing” (The Troggs) A – D – E
“Spirit in the Sky” (Norman Greenbaum) A – D – E
“Love is a Rose” (Neil Young) C – F – G
“Ring of Fire” (Johnny Cash) G – C – D (And you thought he was a genius.)
“Release” (Pearl Jam) G – C – D
“Leaving on a Jet Plane” (John Denver) G – C – D
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Bob Dylan) G – C – D – Am7
“Brown Eyed Girl” (Van Morrison) G – C – D – Em
“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” (Green Day) G – C – D – Em
Tempo
Tempo is the pace of the song, and it typically reflects the themes of the lyrics: happiness, optimism, sadness, triumph. “But it’s hard to dance to,” was a common complaint by the pimpled teenage kids rating new songs on American Bandstand. Those kids had a point. Songs by The Doobie Brothers songs—popular in the mid-‘70s when I was single—were very hard to dance to. Examples: “Black Water,” “Listen to the Music,” “Long Train Runnin’”…all of them were too fast for embracing but too slow for much else but swaying and looking around, trying to seem cool. I failed at that, but I probably shouldn’t blame the music.
Here are some songs where the tempo did a good job of matching the mood.
“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” (Righteous Brothers) Agony
“I’m Still Standing” (Elton John) Triumph
“Born to Run” (Bruce Springsteen) Freedom
“Bridge Over Troubled Waters” (Simon and Garfunkel) Sympathy, Support
“You Can Call Me Al” (Paul Simon) Redemption
Beat
A pounding beat—bold rhythms—can bring appeal, emphasis and a unique style to a song. It’s like extraordinary punctuation, and it demands attention. Why do some folks crank the bass and the volume of their car radios WAY up? One explanation says that they are “claiming” all the turf outside the car within the sound of that noise, and it is the beat that carries the farthest. Indeed, if a neighbor is blasting music, you are probably most annoyed by the pulsating beat that is reaching out to you. Beat does not just mean volume, however.
Here are a few songs in which the beat is emphasized.
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” (Bobby McFerrin)
“Smooth” (Santana with Rob Thomas…Fabulous!)
(And pretty much anything by Santana going back to “Evil Ways” in 1969.)
“Sunshine of Your Love” (Cream)
“It’s Now or Never” (Elvis)
Bennie and the Jets (Elton John)
Maggie May” (Rod Stewart)
“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” (Iron Butterfly…but I hate the 14-minute drum solo in the long version.)
Arrangement
An arranger or “recording engineer”—a high-paid specialist—takes the bones of a song and applies instruments, voices, sound effects, and tempo to create a new sound for that piece of music. THAT is where the magic is made.
To prove it to yourself, listen to a familiar song, and in your mind, strip it down to only the lyrics. As shown above, those words are often simple and/or dumb. Then listen only to the basic tune or melody; hear it only in its simplest form. Not much there?
Now focus on the song again with its full arrangement. That’s probably what made it a hit: accompanying instruments, vocals in varying volumes and at key times, perhaps a catchy guitar riff. Notice the times when the song gets “filled in” with background refrains and harmonies.
Another example: think of the Rolling Stones song, “Satisfaction.” The tune has little variation, and the words are almost childish. But, that introductory guitar riff (also used frequently within the song) grabs you; it makes the song unique and memorable.
Roy Orbison had a four-octave range, but it was the opening eight, climbing-then-falling guitar notes that made “Pretty Woman” so memorable. That bit was also used throughout the song.
Here are samples in which the recording engineer created unusual and memorable sounds for simple tunes and lyrics.
“In the Air Tonight” (Phil Collins) Slow eerie beginning, big drums/strong beat where the pace changes. Echos to the music and vocals.
“Good Vibrations” (Beach Boys) Synthesized music, changes in tempo, harmonies, overlapping vocals.
“Superstition” (Stevie Wonder) Catchy keyboard intro/riff, strong and varied vocals, heavy beat, brass backup instruments.
“California Dreamin’” (Mamas and the Papas) Opening guitar riff then a big “strum” and an effective pause. The male vocals have a female echo. Strong vocals throughout. Flute bridge, a bit eerie. Verse one is repeated after the bridge with a slight change. Not much distinction between the verses and chorus, which is simply “California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.” Simple song, epic result. Sort of an intro to folk-rock song; it was unusual and memorable.
“Horse With No Name” (America) Opens with simple 12-string guitar and basic vocals. A nice bass guitar and appealing percussion come in after the first line. Harmonies expand the vocals. Very nice instrumental bridge. It all builds from a simple guitar to a multi-layered, full sound. All the goofy words and repetition noted above don’t matter.
Your Assignment
Listen to the songs you like most. Is it the structure, lyrics, the tune, the tempo or the beat that you like most? Or is the appeal in how it was put together by a skilled sound engineer? I suspect it was the work in the studio.
My Assignments
As a brain-teaser, I wrote the words for a song. After that I wrote another four songs. Lyrics, even rhymes, are a LOT easier than writing a book, though I am not saying my songs are particularly good.
My expanded music experiment—a music CD and five digital downloads—should be completed in May, 2021. I’ll provide an update around that time. For a sneak preview, check out the basic music video made with one of the songs, “The Best of the Worst.” You can view that video along with the forthcoming CD’s cover art (it’s called “Midwestern Roots”) by going to the MUSIC page at this website.
And stay tuned.