SA Songwriting Workshop: Really Focus On Your First Verse!
In songwriting, quite often the ideas just don’t pour out of us like we want or expect them to. Melodies fall flat, we get stuck while writing verse lines, or maybe the whole song doesn’t seem to be working at all as you hoped! Before you put your next song on the back-burner and leave it half-written, here’s help!
In this article, let’s explore a simple method to improve your first verse lines. Remember, your first two lines are the ones that keep the listener interested enough to hear more. You really want the first two lines to directly relate, or at least hint at the song’s title. Many times, when you give your first verse some clarity the rest of the song follows suit and it makes for easier, more effective songwriting.
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Let’s say the song title is “Don’t Get Carried Away,” and the first four lines in the first verse are:
I’ve been looking at you all night
And I think you know
My intentions can’t be
The answer to your dreams
Not a very clear first four lines! It doesn’t do anything for me, that’s for sure. There’s a lack of focus, and really, the song can take off aimlessly in any direction right now. So let’s focus!
First, I’ll ask myself what I want the song to be about. Taking the song title, “Don’t Get Carried Away,” I’m thinking maybe this can be a pop or country song. Before I begin, I need to summarize the song’s idea in one sentence. Here are some possibilities:
1. I just met this woman, we’ve hit it off, but she’s not looking for a one-night stand and she wants to retain her respectability at any cost, so she’s telling me to cool it!
2. I’m not ready to commit to a long-term relationship yet, and you need to slow down with all this marriage and babies talk before you scare me off!
Number 2 sounds cool but I’m thinking I’ll save it for another song which means I’ll use number 1 as the song’s idea. Let’s review the first 4 lines:
I’ve been looking at you all night
And I think you know
My intentions can’t be
The answer to your dreams
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“I’ve been looking at you all night” sounds plain and limp. Let’s give that line some life and hopefully everything else will fall into place a little better.
My eyes have been locked into yours all night
Wow, much better!
So what do I want to say in the rest of the first verse? I want to say I know she’s interested in me, too.
My eyes have been locked into yours all night
Now tell me it isn’t so
Your smile has found me more than once or twice
Enough to tell me all I need to know
Much more interesting and powerful, and quite possibly the start of a solid country tune, written right here in real-time!
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In summary, it’s wise to map out a story line for the entire song, then to break down the story in sections if you have to. Now, I do agree there are times when excellent melodies and lines naturally appear out of thin air! But if you want to consistently write good songs, get in the habit of mapping out and knowing what you’re trying to say either on paper or in your head before you write it!
Focus on your first verse, make it strong and memorable, and be clear about where you’re going with the song as it relates to the song’s idea. Your songwriting will usually become effortless thereafter!
Lyrics © 2008 SongwriterAdvisor.com All Rights Reserved
Sting recalls how he woke up in the middle of the night with the line, “Every breath you take, every move you make dancing in his head, so he sat down at the piano and wrote the million-seller “Every Breath You Take” in 30 minutes. Countless other songwriters talk about a short phrase or melody suddenly and unexpectedly taking over their brains and hit songs literally “writing themselves” with little effort!
