by Pat Pattison
Pretty standard stuff. But beware, it's a setup to lull you into a false sense of security.
The section between the verse and chorus (call it whatever you want to — vest, pre-chorus, prime, lift, channel, runway, climb — I call it a transitional bridge) throws us off balance with its three lines:
She said, “Anything I have wanted
You have given willingly
So now there's only one more thing I need”
Or, if you like, two lines of wickedly unequal length:
She said, “Anything I have wanted you have given willingly
So now there's only one more thing I need”
We are toppled into the chorus, praying to find a secure landing. Perfect. That's what a transitional bridge is supposed to do.
Once we're securely into the chorus, things seem okay. The first two lines feel sturdy, balancing each other with three stresses:
If you love me, give me wings
Don't be afraid if I fly
Then a four-stress line sets up a little more tension:
A bird in a cage will forget how to sing
Boy, do we ever want a three-stress line rhyming with fly. How come? The aba rhyme scheme, wings/fly/sing, begs for a pairing with the unrhymed word. What do you want to hear? Maybe something like:
If you love me, give me wings
Don't be afraid if I fly
A bird in a cage will forget how to sing
I must soar beyond the sky
Okay, my line is pretty cheesy, but even so, it does the job, resolving the tension nicely, both structurally and emotionally. The rhyme structure, wings/fly/sing/sky, feels much more resolved than the situation of the song intends. She's asking for, not getting, wings. That's why the real chorus's rhyme scheme, abaa, is so perfect:
If you love me, give me wings
Don't be afraid if I fly
A bird in a cage will forget how to sing
If you love me, give me wings
The last line fools you (I call it a deceptive cadence), and in doing so, it accomplishes three things: (1) it repeats the title — a good commercial move; (2) the structural surprise spotlights the title; and (3) it resolves the chorus, though not as solidly as a rhyme for fly would have. The surprise rhyme is emotionally better suited to the intent of the chorus since it's a little less secure.
Neat structure. It lights up the title and supports the emotion of the lines with perfect prosody. I'm glad we looked.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
METER:
SOMETHING IN COMMON
The sea captain of Western popular music is the eight-bar musical section, subdivided into two- and four-bar units. Expressed in quarter notes, old salty looks like this:
The eight-bar system is really one piece. Each of the subdivisions is a landmark along the voyage, giving directions and charting relationships. The end of bar two rests:
Then we tack into bars three and four:
What a different trip this section is (probably headed into the wind). Though we're at the end of four bars, we certainly feel unbalanced, and must continue:
That's better; now we're in familiar territory. Not only that, but we know exactly what to expect next. Because of the match between bars one and two and bars five and six, we expect bars seven and eight to match bars three and four. When they do, we have arrived at the end of the trip. We feel stable:
Of course, this has been a very simple trip, but you'd be surprised how basic it is to Western music, from Bach to Berry. Go back and take another look at the complete thing, and, while you're at it, mark the strong and weak notes in each two-bar group:
DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM
4 stresses
DUM da DUM da DUM
3 stresses
DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM
4 stresses
DUM da DUM da DUM
3 stresses
The continuous voyage is organized according to a very simple principle: longer / shorter / longer / shorter.
You can't stop until you get to port. Now look at this simple nursery rhyme:
Máry hád a líttle lámb
4 stresses
Its fléece was whíte as snów
3 stresses
And éverywhére that Máry wént
4 stresses
The lámb was súre to gó
3 stresses
Yup, it has something in common with the voyage we just took:
DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM
4 stresses
DUM da DUM da DUM
3 stresses
DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM
4 stresses
DUM da DUM da DUM
3 stresses
Like the eight-bar unit, this meter is the staple of songwriters, from the early troubadours to Tom Waits. It is even called common meter, partly because of its pervasiveness (the basis of nursery rhymes — e.g., “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,” “Old Mother Hubbard”), and partly because of its relationship to musical form. Imagine our old seafarer singing:
O Western wind, when wilt thou blow
4 stresses
The small rain down can rain?
3 stresses
Christ, that my love were in my arms
4 stresses
And I in my bed again
3 stresses
Since common meter is based on strong stresses, it doesn't really matter where the unstressed syllables fall. Like this:
If Máry hád a líttle lámb
4 stresses
Whose fléece was whíte as snów
3 stresses
Then éverywhére Máry wént
4 stresses
The lámb would be súre to gó
3 stresses
Or even this:
It was Máry who hád the líttlest lámb
4 stresses
With fléece just as whíte as the snów
3 stresses
O and éverywhére that Máry might chánce
4 stresses
The lámb would most súrely gó
3 stresses
Sometimes, common meter omits a strong stress. The most usual variation shortens the four-stress lines to three stresses, and adds an unstressed syllable at the end:
Sátan rídes the fréeway
3+ stresses
Pláying róck and róll
3 stresses
Gíve him lnáes of léeway
3+ stresses
He lóngs to dríve your sóul
3 stresses
It still works the same way: longer / shorter / longer / shorter.
The important point is that the first and second phrases don't match; three-plus stresses is still longer than three stresses.
Sometimes a strong stress isn't really that strong, as seen in this selection from Emily Dickinson:
I heard a fly buzz when I died
4 stresses (2 adjacent)
The stillness in the room
2 stresses (in is pretty wimpy)
Was like the stillness in the air
4 stresses (2 of which are pretty wimpy)
Between the heaves of storm
3 stresses
Common meter is nothing if not flexible. Sometimes the four-stress lines divide into two phrases. Sometimes the four-stress and three-stress lines add up to one complete phrase. Here are both events in one verse (written in triple meter) from Gordon Lightfoot's “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”:
They might 'a split up or they might 'a capsized
2 phrases, each
2 stresses
They might have broke deep and took water And all that remains is the faces and names Of the wives and the sons and the daughters
2 lines equal one phrase of 7 stresses
Common meter is a great starting point for creating a lyric, and for assuring a musical match. But remember, I said starting point. Writing in common meter is not a goal, it is a tool. Since common meter creates expectations, you can learn to create nice little surp
rises. Watch Paul Simon work his magic in these two lovely unbalanced bridges.
First, from “Still Crazy After All These Years”:
Foúr in the mórning, craáped out, yaẃ ning
4 stresses
Lonǵing my lífe awaý
3 stresses
I'ĺl never worŕy, wáy should Ì
4 stresses
It's aĺl gonna fáde
2 stresses
(unbalanced)
The short ending leaves us hanging, supporting the emotion of the bridge. (What? Structure can be used to support emotion? Yup. Structure can be used to support emotion.)
Next, from “Train in the Distance”:
Tẃo disappoińted beliévers
3+ stresses
Twó people pláying the game
3 stresses (people set on weak beats)
Negótiátions and lo⊨esongs
3+ stresses (songs is weak in lovesongs)
Are oöten mistáken for ońe and the saǂe
4 stresses
The last line unbalances the section and turns spotlights on the idea. A neat and effective ploy: If you want people to notice something, put it in spotlights. Ergo, put your important ideas in spotlights. Corollary: Don't turn on spotlights just to be cute.
Learn to cram your ideas into alternating four-stress and three-stress phrases. If they resist, let them, and see whether the results create any nifty little surprises, especially if the surprises help the meaning. The exercise will do you good; it will help you chart your course more clearly, and in stages that are foreseeable and easy to accomplish. If you need to take a detour, you will know where you are when you leave, and it will help you keep safely under control. A simple detour:
You've never felt what lonely is
4 stresses
Till you've flown the night alone
3 stresses
And the wind has blown you almost to despair
5 stresses
The sky runs black as midnight
3+ stresses
And the strip is hard to see
3 stresses
Heading into Charlotte on a prayer
5 stresses
Organizing your ideas into common meter may take a little work, but probably not that much, since, with rhymes like “Old King Cole” and “Little Miss Muffet,” it is ingrained from your earliest childhood. You can practice with any idea — a telemarketing call for example:
I had to call to say hello
I hope you're gonna buy
Times are tough and rent is due
And I've got songs to write
Or deciding whether to call for a date:
I wanna call, I wanna call
I know I'll sound too scared
My self-esteem is plunging fast
O do I do I dare?
EXERCISE 16
Try doing this with your grocery list. Try one in duples — da DUM da DUM — and one in triples — da da DUM da da DUM.
Learn to think in common meter. It will give you plenty in common with every Billboard chart in history, and plenty in common with the language of song from its earliest chartings. You will be sailing through it and its variations as long as you write lyrics. It's a strong map to work from; it will help you chart a manageable course to keep you from getting lost when those prosodic zigs and zags take you into lovely and unexpected waters.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SPOTLIGHTING WITH COMMON METER
Don't be depressed because people are nodding off during your best song, their eyes crossing, their faces drooping inexorably toward the tabletops at your best lines. Don't bother spending big bucks on an exotic vacation pilgrimage to find “inspiration” again. Before you call your travel agent, try a little juggling. It could be a simple case of dull, lifeless lyric structure, and a little excitement might be all you need to put your ideas in a nice, bright spotlight.
Let's start with a common meter structure and see if we can get your listeners' faces off the table:
Rhyme
Stresses
I hitched to Tulsa worn and soaked
a
4
Stopped to get a bite
b
3
The waitress stared before she spoke
a
4
Then asked me what I'd like
b
3
Both the rhyme and the rhythm move in an abab (alternating) structure, giving double power to our expectations, and making the expected fourth line resolve completely, though a bit dully.
But just because you expect something to happen doesn't mean it has to happen. Expectations can be used to make structures more interesting. A surprise can add color and interest to your songs. First, let your listeners expect something, then surprise them with something different.
EXERCISE 17
Stop reading and create your own four-line common meter structure. Then, as I manipulate our original Tulsa structure throughout the chapter, make the same changes to your own version.
Okay, let's start with something we've seen already. Remember the bridge from Paul Simon's “Still Crazy After All These Years” with the shortened fourth line? Let's try that same trick here:
Rhyme
Stresses
I hitched to Tulsa worn and soaked
a
4
Stopped to get a bite
b
3
The waitress stared before she spoke
a
4
I felt the vibe
b
2
This throws us off balance. We wonder what the vibe is, but it doesn't seem all that promising, given the feeling of instability the shortened line creates.
Do the same thing to your section of common meter.
Now let's make another easy move: Extend line four by another strong stress (including an unstressed syllable). I've added the extra stressed syllable inside the line to keep the end line rhyming with line two:
Rhyme
Stresses
I hitched to Tulsa worn and soaked
a
4
Stopped to get a bite
b
3
The waitress stared before she spoke
a
4
Then smiled and asked me what I'd like
b
4
Do the same thing to yours.
Extending the last line creates a surprise — a deceptive rhythmic closure. Your listeners were innocently expecting a three-stress line rhyming with line two.
You've turned spotlights on both the third and the fourth stressed syllables of line four — the third because it doesn't rhyme with the third stressed syllable of line two, where you expected the rhyme, and at the fourth stressed syllable because it's sticking out of the end where it wasn't expected to be:
Rhyme
Stresses
Then smiled and asked me what I'd like
a
4
The spotlighted positions exaggerate the innuendo in her question. What a simple technique. All it takes is an extra two syllables inserted inside the line, one unstressed and one stressed. You can do it anytime you want. Uncross your listeners' eyes.
You could stop here and have a more interesting structure, but let's keep this effect and try something more.
Let's take what we have so far and rhyme line four with lines one and three instead of line two:
Rhyme
Stresses
I hitched to Tulsa worn and soaked
a
4
I stopped to get a bite
b
3
The waitress stared before she spoke
a
4
Then smiled and flashed her petticoats
a
4
Now we've added a surprise. Let's call it a deceptive closure in this case because it fools us. We expected something else.
So far you've juggled phrase length and rhyme scheme. Again, you could stop here and have a more interesting structure, but you can make it even more exciting.
Let's add another line to what we already have. Make the additional line a four-stress line that rhymes with lines one, three, and four:
Rhyme
Stresses
I hitched to Tulsa worn and soaked
a
4
Stopped to get a bite
x
3
The waitress stared before she spoke
a
4