A song is not a painting: Honing your lyric
Songwriter Tom Kimmel on why a lyric is like a three-act play:
Some of the story, be it a literal tale or an emotional or spiritual narrative, is revealed in the first act, which most often is the song’s first verse and chorus. The second act, usually the second verse and chorus is a new beginning; more of the story is introduced and then summed up in the second chorus. The remainder of the story is then told in the third act often the bridge and final chorus.
In my own work, if I then see that I reveal too much, too soon in my song I make changes. One technique espoused by a friend of mine is to take the first verse and make it the second verse… and to write a new first verse that is more of a prologue… so that the story has somewhere to go! Likewise if the song is slow to develop, I have the option of trying my second verse as the first verse. Experiment!
Bottom line: a song is not a painting. It doesn’t exist all at once. It has a beginning, middle and end, and it needs to flow, rise and fall throughout its lifespan. (In filmmaking they call thisadvancing the narrative.)
Full piece here.
Tags: Song, Songwriting
