Full transcript
0:00do you ever listen to the lyrics of
0:01songs you love and just think how did
0:03they do that like you can't even imagine
0:05how the songwriter arrived at that turn
0:08of phrase It's so normal to feel like in
0:10our own lyrics that we're just flapping
0:12around in the shallow pool of mediocrity
0:14but in this video I'm gonna
0:17I mean I've simple and Powerful
0:22ever written one of the most important
0:24techniques is all about understanding
0:25that there are some lines of lyrics in
0:28your song structure that are way more
0:30important than other lines and these are
0:31called Power positions and in technique
0:34number five I'm going to explain to you
0:36what they are where they are and how to
0:39use them number one extending metaphors
0:41a metaphor is when we describe one thing
0:44through the lens of some other object
0:46and it's in that area of overlap where
0:49we actually get the metaphor so if I say
0:52anger is a storm it's the ways in which
0:55we connect those two images or ideas
0:57where the metaphor actually emerges but
1:00the real fun of metaphor and where your
1:03best lyrics are gonna come out is the
1:05ways in which you extend that initial
1:08metaphor so angry as a storm might be
1:10interesting in and of itself but it's
1:12going to be even more interesting if I
1:15spend 10 minutes developing that
1:17metaphor let me give you an example
1:19anger is a storm the clouds of your mind
1:23gather darkening your eyes your words
1:26are lightning striking out at the
1:29nearest touch Point your voice swells
1:32and Spills and I Harden like ice my dark
1:35glances rumble on the horizon of our
1:38days what you can see that I've done
1:39there is I've just spent five or ten
1:41minutes extending the metaphor by using
1:44words and images related to storm to
1:48describe and expand on the idea of anger
1:51here is a piece of lyric writing magic
1:53after you do this for five or ten
1:56minutes you just pick out the best bits
1:58and the thing with metaphor is it's easy
2:00to go too far so we don't want to use
2:02every single thing we've come up with we
2:04just want to pick the few lines or ideas
2:07that really stand out so here we could
2:09create something quite quickly like this
2:11the clouds of your mind gather again
2:13words start spilling out and I get stuck
2:17here in your rain hardening like ice in
2:20fact actually leaving out the end
2:22initial metaphor that started the whole
2:24thing can actually result in lines that
2:26are even better than if we had included
2:28that first metaphor anger is a storm one
2:31of the reasons for this is that it's
2:33actually a way to invite a listener in
2:35to the world of your song by allowing
2:37them to connect the dots for themselves
2:40and when people do that there's this
2:42crazy release of dopamine that happens
2:44and it actually creates a feeling of
2:46connection with a listener when they're
2:49allowed to actually figure things out
2:50for themselves one of my favorite
2:52examples of this comes from the Arnie
2:54DeFranco song school night she went over
2:56to his apartment clutching her decision
2:58and he said did you come here to tell me
3:00goodbye so she built a skyscraper of
3:03procrastination and then she leaned out
3:06the 25th floor window of her reply so
3:08here is the action step for you the
3:10songwriting exercise is to come up with
3:13five different interesting initial
3:15metaphors and you can use a random word
3:18generator like perchance.org and I've
3:21included a link to that in the notes
3:22below so come up with five interesting
3:25combinations like jealousy is a kitchen
3:27the conversation was a security
3:29checkpoint growing older is an elephant
3:31and for each one of these five
3:33interesting combinations spend five or
3:35ten minutes extending the metaphor
3:38making sure that you are using words
3:40phrases and images that are related to
3:43the metaphor image so if I'm using
3:45jealousy is a kitchen kitchen is the
3:48metaphor image I'm really talking about
3:49jealousy but I'm going to use language
3:52related to Kitchen to paint that picture
3:54another great way to practice this is of
3:56course to listen to some great songs
3:57that actually do this inside the lyrics
3:59of the songs and here are a few examples
4:01Golden by Jill Scott Circle games by
4:03Joni Mitchell she Burns by Foy Vance
4:06Take Me to Church by Hozier number two
4:08upgrading verbs certain words in the
4:11English language are way more powerful
4:13than other words and I'm not talking
4:15about like Expelliarmus I'm talking
4:18about the difference between verbs
4:21adjectives and adverbs there are so many
4:24wonderful writers who have given this
4:26advice to me and the world for example
4:28Jeff Tweedy in his lovely little book
4:30how to write one song says this about
4:33adverbs you don't need to say the dog
4:34barked loudly loudly is implied and
4:37adding it actually weakens the bark and
4:40of course the famous Stephen King quote
4:42the road to hell is paved with adverbs
4:45and I would like to add to that by
4:46saying the road to hell is also paved
4:48with adjectives adjectives and adverbs
4:51generally tend to do nothing but weaken
4:53your language and expression as opposed
4:56to verbs which are really the PowerHouse
5:00of the English language verbs obviously
5:02convey action but they do so much more
5:04they can convey image mood tone emotion
5:08and attitude let's look at an example
5:10here if I have a line of lyric like she
5:12walked into the room walked is my verb
5:16let's see what happens when I simply do
5:19the act of replacing that fairly generic
5:22verb with something slightly more
5:25interesting she slid into the room she
5:29slithered into the room she flowed into
5:32the room one thing to notice is that
5:34when we analyze the lyrics to songs and
5:36songwriters who are great lyric writers
5:39we tend to see the general absence of
5:41adjectives and adverbs let's check out
5:43the song motion sickness by Phoebe
5:45Bridges I hate you for what you did and
5:47I miss you like a little kid I faked it
5:49every time but that's all right I can
5:51hardly feel anything I hardly feel
5:53anything at all you gave me 1500 to see
5:56your hypnotherapist I only went one time
5:59you let it slide fell on hard times a
6:01year ago was hoping you would let it go
6:03and you did
6:05literally the only adjective in this
6:07entire lyric is the word hard and in
6:10this case hard is actually part of the
6:12expression hard times it wouldn't work
6:14to just say times so hard here is barely
6:17an adjective at all because it's part of
6:19an expression there are basically no
6:21adjectives and not a single adverb here
6:24is your songwriting call to action and
6:26this call to action has Two Steps step
6:28one is to go through the draft of any
6:32lyrics that you're writing to songs
6:33you're working on and literally just
6:36cross out any adjectives or adverbs that
6:39are inside the lyric there might be some
6:42adjectives that absolutely need to be
6:44there so for example in the Bruno major
6:46lyric nothing the very first line is
6:49tracksuits and red wine movies for two
6:51we need the word red there red is
6:54actually important red wine has a
6:56different connotation to white wine or
6:58even just wine it paints a picture of a
7:01certain type of person and a certain
7:03type of moment but we certainly don't
7:05need floral red wine step two is to go
7:08through a draft of your lyric and
7:10underline every single verb that you use
7:13throughout the course of your lyric and
7:15the task here is to pick one verb per
7:18section and upgrade that verb to
7:21something more interesting just a quick
7:23note here to say if you are finding this
7:25video useful or helpful at all please go
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7:30algorithm Pixies deliver our content to
7:33other people who might be interested in
7:35the video and it really helps us and we
7:36really appreciate it number three use
7:38specific imagery that works hard when
7:42Bruno major sings tracksuits and red
7:43wine movies for two it puts a movie in
7:46your mind you get a clear sense of who
7:49the characters are what their
7:51relationship is how long they've been
7:52together what they're doing right now
7:54where they are and why they're there the
7:57movie starts playing in your mind and so
7:58you become invested in this song as
8:01Stephen King says good description
8:03usually consists of a few well-chosen
8:05details that will stand in for
8:07everything else and this is true for
8:10song as well and maybe even more true
8:12for song where we have very limited real
8:14estate in which to build mansions in the
8:17minds and hearts of our listeners
8:20there's a line from an Amanda Palmer
8:22song that I just love so much because it
8:23demonstrates this so beautifully the
8:25line is from her song The Bed song which
8:27is just a great and epic song to start
8:29with but this particular line kills me
8:31every time and it's this I find my
8:34glasses and you turn the light out I
8:37just love this line so much because it's
8:39very much like that Bruno major lyric in
8:41that it is this really specific snapshot
8:44of an image that actually shows us
8:47rather than telling us so much about the
8:50relationship here we know this is two
8:52people in bed together we know something
8:54about their age they've probably been
8:57together for a while and maybe even a
8:58long time in glasses kind of maybe even
9:00adds 10 or 20 years onto the vision of
9:03who these people are so we know that
9:05maybe a couple in their 30s 40s or 50s
9:07we also know that as one of the
9:10characters is leaning over to get her
9:12glasses to read that the other character
9:15is turning their light out so these two
9:17characters are not on the same page
9:19they're actually kind of living parallel
9:21lives even as they are existing or
9:24coexisting in their most intimate space
9:26their bed so there is something deeply
9:29wrong here and it's this image that
9:32shows it to us rather than telling it to
9:33us that makes it even more powerful for
9:37a detailed walkthrough on how to come up
9:38with great imagery check out this video
9:41on our Channel or if you want a more
9:42deep and structured demonstration with
9:45case studies examples and application
9:46you can check out our short course the
9:48link is in the video notes below here is
9:51your call to action with this lyric
9:52writing tip a great and very quick way
9:55to do this is to take a line of lyric
9:57that you identify as being more telling
9:59than showing or more General than
10:02specific and just spend five minutes
10:04trying to invert that line into some
10:08kind of specific image based snapshot
10:11that shows it rather than tells it so
10:13for example you could take a line like
10:15it was a beautiful normal Saturday
10:17afternoon and instead of telling that
10:19figure out at least 10 different ways
10:22that you could show us that through an
10:24image so for me it might be something
10:25like barbecue smoke curling up through
10:28the eucalyptus leaves or watching my dog
10:30chase rabbits in his sleep or eating
10:32samosas that my neighbor dropped at my
10:34door they're like little photographs
10:36little snapshots that are designed to
10:39show a picture a specific image that
10:42illustrates the concept rather than
10:44merely telling it in some general way
10:46like Saturday afternoon number four
10:49contrasts there is something incredibly
10:52compelling and very sticky when we
10:55actually combine two opposing ideas or
10:58images in the same line of lyric or at
11:01the very least close to each other in
11:03the lyrics so for example contrasting
11:05day night good bad hot cold questions
11:09answers there's something about
11:10opposites that is very very appealing
11:13the contrast usually serves to amplify
11:16in some way the idea by spotlighting it
11:19let's look at a Beautiful lyric that
11:21does this in such a spectacular way this
11:23is the song she Burns by Foy Vance I've
11:26frozen over my desires covered up in
11:28Virgin Snow but when I stand beside her
11:31she Burns yeah she burns like petrol
11:34soaked paper and fireworks it's that
11:37opposite contrast of cold and hot Frozen
11:41and burning that really amplifies the
11:45hook of this song which is she Burns
11:48number five power positions there are
11:51lines of lyric inside the structure of a
11:53song that because of their position in
11:56the structure will naturally draw more
11:59attention from a listener's ear and
12:02those lines are always the first line
12:05and the last line of any section it's a
12:09Well documented scientific phenomenon of
12:12human attention that we will always pay
12:14more attention to the first thing and
12:16the last thing of anything really but
12:19it's also true in songs the human ear is
12:22naturally
12:23spotlighting the first line and the last
12:26line it's not that the internal lines
12:28aren't important they are but they're
12:32just not as important in this video I
12:34want to focus on one really effective
12:36technique that I call the last line
12:38pivot we're going to use that last line
12:41to create surprise to see how this works
12:44let's listen to one of the best songs
12:46ever written I'm just going to go out
12:47and say it it's the song River by Joni
12:50Mitchell it's coming on Christmas
12:52they're cutting down trees they're
12:54putting up reindeer and singing songs of
12:57joy and peace oh I wish I had a river I
13:01could skate away on the surprising
13:03element of that last line comes because
13:06Joni has stacked images of Christmas and
13:09by stacking images of Christmas it
13:12creates a certain pattern we've got all
13:15this Christmas imagery and generally
13:17Christmas imagery has a positive
13:19connotation so she's stacking all this
13:22Christmas imagery but the last line is
13:25not positive at all it's not a positive
13:27feeling she's using that last line to
13:30create an element of surprise by saying
13:32I wish I could get away from it all so
13:35surprise can only happen when we create
13:38expectation and expectation only happens
13:40when we create pattern so the whole idea
13:43here is we can take this lyric as a
13:45model for our own we can stack images
13:48and then use that last line to break the
13:51expectation that has been created
13:53through the stacking of that imagery
13:55here is your call to action to put this
13:58technique into practice there are really
14:00two ways you can do this the first way
14:02is to start by stacking images that
14:05describe something it could describe an
14:08event it could describe a feeling it
14:10could describe an experience that you
14:12had and then use that last line to Pivot
14:14the other way to do this is to reverse
14:16engineer the section to actually start
14:18with your last line think about what
14:20your target is and then start with its
14:23opposite if you want more tips and
14:24tricks on writing better lyrics check
14:26out this video Happy writing guys see
14:29you next time