Fight Your Way To A Hit Single!
The pop charts have always seen much success with positive, happy, and energetic songs like “I Kissed A Girl” by Katy Perry, “Lollipop” by Lil’ Wayne, and “Forever” by Chris Brown. But take a listen to recent chart successes like Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” Jordin Sparks’ “No Air,” and “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles, and you’ll instantly realize how much stronger and more memorable these last three songs, full of strife, conflict, and pain actually are! There’s really no comparison.
This is how it’s always been. But why???? No, I don’t believe it’s because we all enjoy each other’s misery even though we’re not too far off when we make this assumption. It’s probably because we as human beings find conflict much more interesting than sappy love stories. Maybe there are genetic factors involved regarding our species. I don’t know one person who can tell me they didn’t try to get closer to get a good view of two boys beating each other’s brains out in a high school hallway instead of leaving the area to go get help. We all have that primal instinct that conditions our brains to zero in intently and curiously tune in when trouble is brewing!
Songwriters can take advantage of this concept by writing and having at least a handful of “conflict” songs when they’re pitching material or picking out songs for their next release.
For you staff writers in the Major Leagues of songwriting where you’re continuously competing for song pitches to different artists, you know how challenging and difficult it can be to actually place a song with the artist of your choice. Your chances go up dramatically when you’re able to show a great, troubled song, because aside from songs like this being extremely marketable, the majority of singers can relate to these songs out of personal experience.
Performing artists want their listeners to feel their music. And in this world where there are much too many lonely, hurt people even when they’re in a relationship, it’s easy to see why a song with conflict has a distinct advantage!
