WRITING THE SONG - Part 20

The title should always be timely. For this reason, current catch-phrases, accepted slang terms, and colloquialisms often furnish the inspiration for song titles. This is illustrated in such songs as Don't Believe Everything You Dream; I'll Be Around; How Many Times Do I Have To Tell You; You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby; I Get A Kick Out Of You. Another common source of title inspiration are hit plays or current best-seller novels. These, of course, should be selected with some discretion and should never be "forced." Such songs rarely deal with the subject matter of the play or novel but are used only because they are popular and because they suggest an approach that could be used in lyric treatment.

Titles should always be chosen with great care. A poor title can spoil a song that might otherwise be commercial in every other respect. It is good practice to list a number of possible titles and get some outside opinions as to which titles are most appealing. In selecting a title, the songwriter should take great pains to avoid repeating or imitating the title of any other published song.

While there is actually no legal method of protecting titles, no legitimate publisher will knowingly accept a song that bears the title of a song already published. One can easily see the confusion that might arise from such a duplication. Song sheet sales and record sales for both numbers would suffer immediately. Music dealers and jobbers receiving orders for two different songs with the same title would not be able to fill their orders intelligently. There would be a similar confusion in the plugging and performance of the songs.

It should be quite clear from the above discussion that the title plays a very prominent role in both the construction, popularizing and sale of the song.

7. The Lyric Pattern Should Follow the Melodic Pattern

The successful popular song possesses a smooth blending of lyric and melody. The listener thinks of them as an entity and not as separate components. He is not distracted or diverted from one to the other. They fit perfectly in character, mood and construction.

To achieve this result, the lyric must follow the same structural form and rhythmic pattern as the tune. Perhaps "follow" is not quite the right word, for often the lyric is written first. In such instances, it must be so constructed that it permits the melody to conform to one of the prescribed song patterns.

Verse: Just as the verse melody serves merely as a build-up for the main melodic theme in the chorus, the lyric in the verse should be used only to introduce, lead up to, or furnish a background for the lyric theme and title mentioned in the chorus. The main melodic theme is not mentioned in the verse. Neither is the title. Remember that the verse is relatively unimportant, and that it is therefore essential to save the real "punch" for the chorus.

The verse is short and offers no time nor space to draw an elaborate picture. The story is sketched in briefly—just well-chosen words to set the scene. In fact, the verse should be written with the thought that it is actually superfluous, and that the chorus should be able to stand on its own without an explanatory verse. In the majority of cases, the verse is seldom if ever sung. One reason for this is that broadcasting time is limited, and since the band leaders are anxious to crowd as many songs as possible into the broadcast, verses are omitted. Sometimes the complete song will be performed followed by one or two repeats of the chorus. This, however, is not the general rule.

Chorus: To understand the development of the lyric story in the chorus, one must study the basic structural form of the melody. In the AABA form, the main melodic theme is mentioned in the first, second and fourth sections. In fact, 24 of the 32 measures in the chorus deal with the identical melody. Since the title should be tied in with the "A^" phrase, there is, obviously, little room to develop a complicated “story.” The actual development of the lyric story in the chorus could be analyzed as follows:

1. "a" phrase (measures 1-8) title and main lyric idea for the song.

2. "a" phrase (measures 9-16) repetition of title and slight development of the lyric idea.

3. "b" phrase (measures 17-24). This section containing the contrasting melodic theme, does not mention the title and offers an opportunity to develop the lyric.

4. "a" phrase (measures 25-32). Final statement of melodic theme and title, Lyric story comes to a definite conclusion.