Murphy's Laws of Songwriting
April 26, 2009
“May you live in interesting times” is an old Chinese curse. As a songwriter, every day is an “interesting time” for us. As an effort to demystify what may be coming our way in the future, the best place to start is what just happened in the past. Paying the bills doing what we love doing is not only essential to us and our families financially, but we need the approval and validation that on a creative level having a hit brings.
Bearing in mind that this is the music “business,” let’s take a look at what held the listener for the amount of time necessary for radio to “move those microwave ovens.” In other words, connect the jingles so that the pockets of songwriters and publishers could jingle.
2008 was twelve months of amazing change on a lot of levels. As I hadn’t done a “what happened at number one” in country since 2004, I thought that 2008 would be a good window to look at the “new” business of what holds women from the burger commercial to the car jingle. Basically, how creators do their best to help our radio friends keep their listeners and make a living at drive time.
Writers follow their heart and write what they write, but when it comes to pitch time we have to think like horse breeders. We have to be smart about which of our ‘ponies’ are capable of functioning in the situation we place them. Some will be brilliant at harness racing, some have personalities that make them great for children to ride, some will be perfect at pulling carriages, and a few, very few, will be entered in the Kentucky Derby.
Even fewer will win!
Well, some songs work at drive time, most don’t!
As all of you who have read the “Murphy’s Law” articles have heard me say before, more people are struck by lighting each year than have a number one record on the Billboard chart. So now let’s get started.
Anything Unusual
We have seen the number of #1’s on the billboard country chart in the last few years (24 in ’06 to 25 in ’07) so one of the more unusual things about the year 2008 was the number of number one’s. Although there were 26 chart toppers in 2008, up at 25% from 2004. The number of writers participating in the rush of writing a number one song grew at a much smaller percent. For instance, back in 2004 there were 46 writers that had 21 #1’s.
In ’08, there were 49 sharing 26.
The race to number one really accelerated.
Setting the record in 2008 was “Love Story” – (Swift) screaming up the charts in just nine weeks. Only seven of the twenty-six number ones took twenty weeks or more to get to number one. And only one, James Otto’s “Just Got Started Loving You” – (Otto/Femino/Williams) enjoyed more time [thirty four weeks total] in the sun, with the other six garnering significantly less time on the charts.
Looking back a year to ‘07 we see “If You’re Going Through Hell” – (Berg/Tate/Wright) with 43 weeks on the charts and “Before He Cheats” – (Tompkins/Kear) with 46 weeks on the charts. What a difference a year makes.
Another unusual feature of ‘08 number ones is that 50% of them were written or co-written by the artist. Yes, 13 of these hits had the artist involved, and six of the 13 were written by the artist alone.
Leading that pack of lone writers was Taylor Swift with three, “Love Story,” “Should’ve Said No,” and “Our Song.” Next, with two solo writes is Alan Jackson with “Good Time” and “Small Town Southern Man.” Brad Paisley really did write a letter to himself, “Letter To Me” by himself, but as an artist invited his pals to join him at the top with “I’m Just A Guy” – (Paisley/Miller/Lovelace) and “Waitin’ On A Woman” – (Sampson/Varble). Of the three number ones Carrie Underwood enjoyed, the only one she was not a co-writer on was “Just A Dream” – (McEwan/Lindsey/Sampson). On the other two, “All-American Girl” – (Gorley/Lovelace/Underwood) and “Last Name” – (Lindsey/Laird/Underwood), she helped row the boat. The other artist/writers, James Otto “Just Got Started Loving You” – (Otto/Femino/Williams), Sugar Land “All I Want To Do” – (Nettles/Bush/Pinson), Darius Rucker Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” – (Rucker/Mills), and Zac Brown Band “Chicken Fried” – (Brown/Durrette). So with 50% of the ‘08 number ones written by the artists, more songs achieving number one status, songs spending less time on the charts and sales plummeting 24% from ‘07 “may you live in interesting times’ takes on a new meaning for the non-performing, or stand alone writer and the publisher working in the market.
Tempo/Intro
Well, there was only one waltz, “I’m Still A Guy” – (Paisley/Miller/Lovelace). All the rest were 4/4 time signature. Sixty five percent were mid-to up tempo, which is a drive time staple. Strangely enough, all the ballads were written by the stand-alone writers. Generally, according to label A&R folk, the ballads tend to be written by the artist/writers.
As we have been told since the dawn of radio, the expectation for the intro is 13 seconds. In 08, after adding all the intros up and finding the average, the length was 15 seconds. Only two songs “Should’ve Said No” – (Swift) and “You Look Good In My Shirt” – (Martin/Shapiro/Nesler) were longer than 20 seconds, the rest stayed in the teens.
In line with “get me to hook/title on time” i.e. 60 seconds from the top of the record, 62% did just that. If you consider the intro separately and start timing from the vocal, all but one “Cleaning This Gun” – (Cannon-Goodman/Beathard) arrived right on time.
THEME AND PERSON
The pronouns used in 14 of the songs were strictly first person ‘you and me’, which means the writer made the song a conversation between the singer and the listener, inviting the listener in on a personal level.
As for the mantra, a country song should never whine, preach, or vent at drive time, UNLESS it’s done with humor, irony, and detail, most of the number one’s did that very skillfully. For instance, using the third person pronoun in “Just A Dream” – (McEwan/Lindsey/Sampson) allows the singer to tell the story but not be the main character. “You’re Gonna Miss This” – (Gorley/Miller) made Trace Adkins not preachy by having the mom, dad, and plumber doing the preaching. Carry Underwood got to brag about an “All-American Girl” – (Gorley/Lovelace/Underwood) without it really being about her. And those that were simply young and dumb redeemed themselves in “Back When I Knew It All” – (Willmon/O’Donnell/Hannan).
With only a couple of exceptions, the songs behaved exactly as they were intended. To make the singer look good to women at the worst time of day possible, drive time. Professional writers are all very much aware that singers, unlike actors, are fairly consistent character wise, from song to song. They are not irredeemably bad in one song and then good in the next. So, if the song is out of character for the artist, having it in third person [he, she, them] makes the singer the commentator, and not the main character. This allows the artist to sing about losers and old people, and not be one!
Themes were pretty much as you would expect.
LOVE, ROMANTIC
“Just Got Started Loving You” – (Otto/Femino/Williams) and “Home” – (Foster/Buble/Chang)
LOVE, OF FAMILY
“You’re Gonna Miss This” – (Gorley/Miller) and “Small Town Southern Man” – (Jackson)
LOVE LOST
“Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” –(Rucker/Mills)
“Just A Dream” – (McEwan/Lindsey/Sampson)
GOOD TIMES/PARTY
“Chicken Fried” – (Brown/Durrette)
“Good Time” – (Jackson)
REVENGE/SATISFACTION
“Should’ve Said No” – (Swift)
“Do You Believe Me Now” – (Pahanish/West/Johnson)
LIFE LESSONS
“Cleaning This Gun” – (Cannon-Goodman/Beathard)
“Back When I Knew It All” – (Willmon/O’Donnell/Hannan)
MORALITY PLAY
“I Saw God Today” – (Clawson/Criswell/Kirby)
“Everybody Wants To Go” – (Collins/Dodson)
So, there you have it. Love in all its glory. Romantic love, of family, of good times, of country, God, plus love lost, revenge, life lessons and morality plays.
Now there’s your country!
Song Length
The writer and artist of the longest song in ‘08 was Alan Jackson, who spends the full 5 minutes of his record having a “Good Time” – (Jackson). At four minutes plus, 7 or 27% stood proud at 4 or more minutes in length. I would assume that sometimes, as at the end of some of these records as there is 39-45 seconds of instrumental that just plays on with no vocal, the on air personality probably used it to talk over. Some definitely could have been a lot shorter! The rest of the records were between 3 and 4 minutes. That seems to be the majority. Not one squeezed in under 3 minutes.
Song Forms
Much as movie scripts are written pretty much the same, there are 6 basic song shapes that the listener expects to receive information in. The five that were used in ’08 were:
Second form [Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Instrumental-Chorus.] The variations on this form are infinite, but the above is what it basically is. The great news for writers is that this form is forgiving and flexible. In rock, it accommodates musical riffs that become a major part of the record [think heavy metal]. In folk, urban, hip-hop, etc, it is expandable to include as many verses as necessary to tell the story and is very arrangement friendly. The writer is not confined by a middle 8 or bridge. In country, the story telling potential is obvious.
For instance, using it to success were Alan Jackson “Good Time” – (Jackson), Carrie Underwood “Last Name” – (Lindsey/Laird/Underwood), and Darius Rucker “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” – (Rucker/Mills).
Third form [Verse- (Verse optional) Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Bridge – Instrumental – Chorus.] Hanging with the comfortable third form seemed to be the message carrier of choice with almost 50% (12 out of 26) songs written that way. Songs like “You’re Gonna Miss This” – (Gorley/Milller), “Back When I Knew It All” – (Willmon/O’Donnell/Hannan), and “Do You Believe Me Now” – (Pahanish/West/Johnson) are perfect illustrations of the structure.
Fourth form [Verse- lift- chorus- verse- lift-chorus (bridge optional)- instrumental (lift optional) – chorus.] Fourth form was used in five of 2008’s number ones. For those of you unfamiliar with the term “lift,” it is also called a climb, channel, pre-chorus, etc. In England, it’s called a bridge whereas in the US, the bridge and middle 8 is the same thing. A couple of illustrations of that form are “Love Story” – (Swift) and “Letter To Me” – (Paisley).
Fifth form [the old AABA form] [Verse - Verse –Bridge – Verse -Bridge – Verse optional] sent five songs to the top. The biggest example of fifth form was “Just Got Started Loving You” – (Otto/Femino/Williams) which was also Billboards most performed song of the year. “Home” – (Foster/Buble/Chang) is another good example.
Sixth form [Chorus – verse- chorus – instrumental – bridge – chorus etc.] Sixth form, or rondeau, snuck in almost at years end. Zac Brown and his co-writer Wyatt Durette bent it a little bit, much like the OakRidge Boys used to, and ended their year in fine style.
Anything Else Worth Looking At
REPETITION
The number of repetitions of title is worth taking a look at because, as noted before, as a record gets more airplay, the repetitions get more wearing and create a “burn factor.” Repetition was important thirty years in order to grind the title in listener’s memory, because back then a record got fewer spins on radio. Now repetition is not always a good thing. Less has become more.
However, representing traditional country, Alan Jackson’s “Good Time” – (Jackson) had 25 uses of title. The closest to that was Blake Shelton’s “Home” – (Foster/Buble/Chang) with 14. “Last Name” – (Lindsey/Laird/Underwood) and “Waiting On A Woman” – (Sampson/Varble) clocked 12 repetitions each. “All I Wanna Do” – (Bush/Nettles/Pinson) had 11 and four more had eight. Well over half had 3-7 repetitions of title (15 out of 26).
Aside from the repetitions, humor irony and detail are major items in a hit song. Humor, because smiling and feeling good is apparently not a bad thing. Irony, because irony and humor go well together. Detail, because women are detail oriented and that is country radio’s key audience. To illustrate all that detail, if you look at “waffle house,” “pig in the ground,” “callused hands,” “pinto,” “sixpence in a shoe,” “hair undone,” “Elvis lip,” “SUV,” “18 hours,” “the pearly gates,” and so many many more the amount of ‘ear candy’ or ‘furniture’ as Don Schlitz calls it, is very impressive.
STORY/CONVERSATIONAL
Ten of the number ones were story songs pure and simple I.E. “Waiting On A Woman” – (Sampson/Varble). Three were mostly conversations with perhaps a little story included for detail and illustration, e.g. “I’m Still A Guy” – (Paisley/Miller/Lovelace). Thirteen were conversations.
BEST BET
As the number one country songs for ’08, reflect humor, irony, and detail rule. So, if you catch the listeners ear with a 4/4 mid to up-tempo riff or two for about 15 seconds, put some humor irony and detail in your story/conversation to get their attention, get the listener to the hook in 60 seconds then give the audience more story/information in the second verse, after the second chorus hand them a middle eight/bridge that gives them a perspective on the song, with either information not heard in the song before, or the other side of the story, then wrap it up possibly adding new information on the way out, and move them to the burger king commercial in under four minutes you are a winner……. or not!!
Conclusion
Craft is alive and well in Nashville. The songs still reach out to the listeners, and work well as they are designed to do. They are “calling cards” that invite the listener to take a closer look at an artist. Perhaps we as an industry have been too eager to pack the whole album with “calling cards” and not gone a little deeper. In my life after the initial attraction of the “hit single” I would go buy (yes, I said buy) the album or CD, and listen at my leisure to get to know more about the artist. Most of the time it was just OK. Some of the time it was magical.
Having the artist involved in scripting their message is certainly not new, and an artist who doesn’t write with the brains to choose material well, certainly reflects his or her depth. As well as being aware that “calling cards” are necessary and equally valid, the artist with “legs” generally has a career.
Longevity for an artist has always revolved around a song, and that song always has to invite the listener “in.” Many thanks to the women and men who invited us “in” in 2008.
