Tag Archives: Brad Tursi

C4X, Write Like A Pro

Here’s A Great Way To Make Your Song Lyrics More Believable

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If the listener doesn’t believe your lyrics, they’re never going to fall in love with your song.  There will always be an emotional disconnect.

So how do you make your song more believable- and more powerful (and profitable) as a result?  Read on.

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To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success.  Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

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Here’s the deal.  Believability matters.  It’s huge.  If the listener has the feeling the whole time that your song is just “something somebody made up,” they will have a harder time connecting with your song emotionally.

And if your song doesn’t connect emotionally to the listener, the listener won’t connect financially with you.

The trick is to put small, not-obvious details into your lyrics.  Only, it’s not a trick.  It’s craft.

There is power in finding images that go deeper than the obvious or cliche images.

I had a publisher tell me once, “write about the truck from the INSIDE THE CAB, not from the OUTSIDE.”

Too many writers (and I was obviously guilty of this) write about “the truck”- the situation in the song- from the outside. They describe it using imagery and details that could be used by anyone who isn’t actually IN that situation. Those are the obvious details.  And, usually, the obvious details are the cliche’ details.

Our job is to dig deeper.

 

Dig Deeper

We need to use our memory, our imagination, research, and whatever we have at our disposal (including our cowriters), to write from the inside of the truck.  Here are a few current examples from hit country songs.

“Written In The Stars” by Old Dominion

(written by Brad Tursi / Matt Ramsey / Shane McAnally / Trevor Rosen)

The song is about a guy wondering and asking a girl where their relationship stands.  Is it a temporary fling, or the love of a lifetime?  This girl seems to be playing games with his emotions, and he needs an answer.  There’s a great line in the first verse:

“I see those bubbles pop up like you’re texting then they disappear.”

What a great, small believable image!  It’s great because it’s fresh (I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in a song before), but it’s also believable (I’ve definitely seen it in real life).  And it speaks right to the situation- how she’s seemingly playing games with him.  Killer line.

“Are we names in a tattoo, or just a number on a hand?”

Another great line.  The “number on a hand” image is great because it’s also small, believable, and speaks to the issue.  It’s a great way of showing – SHOWING – that the relationship is temporary.  It washes right off.  And this is even stronger when set against a name in a tattoo, which (while also written on the skin) is permanent and shows a serious relationship.

“Round Here Buzz” by Eric Church

(written by Eric Church / Jeff Hyde / Luke Dick)

This song is about a guy who’s staying put in this small town, drinking and thinking about the girl that left for the big city.  The first verse kicks off like this:

“Another Friday night – There’s a line of cars leaving – Home team’s got an out of towner.”

This does a great jog of letting the listener know it’s a small town.  It’s Friday night football, and the town only has one team.  And the hometown fans leaving for it makes a noticeable change in traffic.  It also starts to set up the theme by having other people leave town while he’s staying right where he is, drinking.

Isn’t that so much more believable and interesting than just saying, “I’m here in this small town?”  Here’s another great detail:

“No, Scotty’s ain’t got no vibe
Got no gas in his neon light”

What a great way of saying this small town bar is run down.  “No vibe” is a more current way of saying it.  (But in this small town, there probably aren’t many options.)  And instead of just saying Scotty’s is run down, they point out how there’s no gas in his neon light.

What a great way of putting a twist on the same old country song bar scene.  It’s so specific yet believable that I… believe it.  Go figure.

Use inside details, but be sure and use details that make sense to the listener. Be inside but not too inside. In our truck analogy, write from inside the cab, which people can understand. Don’t write from so far inside the truck that you’re in the carburetor and only a mechanic knows what you’re talking about.

The examples above are inside, but accessible.  We’ve probably all seen those text bubbles.  We’ve either had a name and number written on our hand, or we seen it done.  If you’re from a small town (the bread and butter of the country market), you know how football rules.  And even if we don’t know neon lights need gas, we at least see a neon light that isn’t lit up and know he’s in a bar.

Less obvious, yet still understandable, details strengthen your lyrics.

Also, keep the images relevant. They should add to our understanding of the characters or story, not just be filler. In the examples above, all those images speak right to the theme of the song.  They aren’t extra little images thrown in simply because they’re cool.  They serve a bigger purpose than just putting a picture in our minds.

Great details often serve more than one purpose.

They put a cool, memorable, fresh or compelling image in our minds.  They also set up or reinforce the theme of the song.

So next time you write, take your time. Close your eyes and imagine the situation. Then climb into the truck.

What are some other songs that do a good job of writing from inside the “truck?” Do you find that this comes naturally to you, or is it a struggle?

Knowing – and APPLYING –  simple concepts like this is how you write stronger songs.  It’s how you write market-smart songs: songs that have a competitive advantage in the market.

If you want to  learn more about how to write songs that will get you noticed in the music business, I have a great opportunity for you.

Every Monday night in April, I’m hosting The C4 Experience.  It’s an exclusive, live online event where I help 10 writers like YOU create explosive growth in your commercial songwriting.  I want you to win, and I’m going to help you write songs that artists want to sing, radio wants to play and fans want to hear.

CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND RESERVE YOUR SPOT IN THIS EXCLUSIVE EVENT!

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

Brent Baxter is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ruthie Collins, Ray Stevens and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US, a #1 in Canada, and a top 10 in Texas.  His songs appear on 5 industry-certified gold & platinum albums & singles… so far.  He also hosts a top-rated songwriting and music business podcast called, “The C.L.I.M.B.” which can be found on iTunes or your favorite podcast app.SWP 4

Building A Hit, Write Like A Pro

Building A Hit: Luke Bryan & “Light It Up”

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Luke Bryan’s current single, “Light It Up,” is lighting up the country singles chart. Today, let’s take a look at some of the ways they built this song to be a Luke Bryan hit.

If you want to write hits, too… read on!

________________________________

To BE a pro, you need to THINK like a pro, and this FREE ebook will help transform your thinking, your songwriting, and your success.  Get it today!

Click Here For The Book

_________________________________

Let’s look at some of the choices that Bryan and Old Dominion member, Brad Tursi, made when building “Light It Up.” Now, I wasn’t in the room with them, so I can only speculate at the thought process behind the end results. But as a professional songwriter myself, I can take an experienced and educated guess. So let’s dive in.

1. Stick to the brand.

Overall, this song is built to fit Luke’s brand of country. The lyric is young, hip and sexy. It’s a love song, and a desperate one at that (more on that in a second). The lyric sings “me to you,” which is more sexy and impactful. Luke is singing TO the female in the audience, pleading with her to light his phone up. The phrasing and production are also more progressive than traditional, which also fit’s Luke’s brand.

 2. Speak to a large audience.

How many people can relate to desperately hoping someone will call, to the point where they obsessively check their phones? That’s a pretty universal thing, so that’s a large audience who can relate to it- especially Luke’s target of young listeners. Also, notice how the lyric doesn’t talk about how he checks his phone 100 times at work? (Has Luke EVER had a job in his songs?)

He keeps it young. Yet, he doesn’t talk about checking his phone at school, either. He sidesteps both and keeps the lyric open enough that both junior high school kids and young professionals can relate to it. Really, anyone missing someone can relate to it. It’s open and speaks to a large audience.  But it isn’t vague, which leads me to…

3. Show me, don’t tell me.

There are a lot of images in the song, and it puts us in the moment. Right in the first line, we see him open his eyes and reach for his phone. We see him checking the phone right after his shower and almost wrecking his truck checking it. We see him unlock his screen, and we see her red lipstick picture. As I mentioned in my last point, it’s open enough for many, many listeners to relate, but it is not at all vague. He’s not just saying he misses her, he shows us how he checks his phone all throughout the day.

4. Focus the lyric’s emotion.

The story is one of tension and desperation, bordering on obsession. The lyric is relentless in painting the picture of the guy whose whole world is wrapped up in waiting on her to call. Notice how many times they repeat “I check it” throughout the song. The repetition is intentional. Not only is it real and relatable, it builds the sense of obsession and angst.

Also, they keep the song “in the moment.” Luke doesn’t sing about how he kept checking his phone after their fight in the past. No, we follow along throughout his day as he checks his phone, checks his phone, and checks his phone. It’s immediate. It’s “right now.” And it adds to the sense of tension and desperation.

The writers know the emotional button they’re pushing, and they keep pressing it. They don’t get sidetracked with other emotions- they don’t “muddy the waters” of the song. They know what they want the listener to feel, and they focus on that. They keep it simple. And there’s power in that simplicity.

Okay, those are four areas in which Luke Bryan and Brad Tursi built “Light It Up” to be a hit song. Of course, those aren’t the only elements that make “Light It Up” a hit, but they’re four important ones. If YOU want to discover even more of the elements of building a hit song, I have an awesome opportunity for you.

In the month of January, I’m hosting a transformative online songwriting event called, “Building A Hit: From Blank Page To Finished Lyric.” In this powerful 4-week online workshop, I reveal:

How to find great song ideas. Kill writers block and fill up that blank page again and again.

How to focus your ideas for maximum impact. Don’t waste any more great ideas by leaving them under-developed or confusing.

How to frame your idea for maximum commercial appeal. Having a great, compelling idea isn’t enough. You have to build your song in a way that an artist will want to sing it and an audience will want to hear it.

How to finish your song. Stop leaving your best ideas unfinished. Nobody loves a song they never hear, and a song that’s only 99% finished will never get recorded, never get on the radio, and never change your life.

If you want to join me on a journey that will help you think and write like a pro songwriter, click on the link below. Spots are limited for this event, and I only host it twice a year. Miss out, and it’s gone for another 6 months. Don’t delay. Transform your songwriting today..

DON’T MISS OUT- CLICK HERE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

Brent Baxter is a hit songwriter with cuts by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gord Bamford, Ruthie Collins, Ray Stevens, and more. He’s written a top 5 hit in the US, a #1 in Canada & a top 10 in Texas… so far.