Tag Archives: Craig Wiseman

Artist Insights, C4X, Cut/able Songwriting

Artist Insight Report: Blake Shelton “If I’m Honest”

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If you want your songs to get recorded by major artists, you need to understand those artists.

Understanding what an artist has recorded before can help you predict what he or she might record in the future. So, today, I decided to dive into Blake Shelton’s album, “If I’m Honest.” Here’s what I found, track-by-track.  (Note: “PUL’D” is a reference from my workbook “Cut/able: Lessons in Market-Smart Songwriting.” It means “Positive-Uptempo-Love/Depth.”  “Neighborhood” and POV (“Point Of View”) are also explained in “Cut/able.”  Check out the workbook HERE.)

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Artist: Blake Shelton

Album: If I’m Honest

Producer: Scott Hendricks

Label: Warner Bros. Nashville

“Straight Outta Cold Beer”

Writers: Marv Green, Ben Hayslip, Justin Wilson

POV: Me-to-the-world

Timeframe: In-the-moment

PUL’D: Positive, Midtempo

Neighborhood: Bro, redneck, blue-collar

Subject: Country life pep rally

Notes: Rap-like lyrics, lots of imagery, “We’re country and that’s awesome” theme.  Play off “Straight Outta Compton,” fun, clever.  Drinking, Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Solo-Chorus

“She’s Got A Way With Words”

Writers: Andy Albert, Marc Beeson, Wyatt Earp

POV: Me/Her

Timeframe: In-The-Moment (with some looking back)

PUL’D: Negative (but humorous), Midtempo, Love (lost love)

Neighborhood: Country boy.  Lyrically pushes the envelope. Sarcastic.

Subject: Lost Love

Notes: SINGLE, Breakup, fun/funny, clever lyric, quirky, not much imagery, not a very “big” melody.  Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Chorus

“Bet You Still Think About Me”

Writers: Park Chisolm, Mark Irwin

POV: Me/You

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Want-you-back, hopeful, mid-ballad, big chorus, love/lost love

Neighborhood: Country

Subject: Love love

Notes: Melodic, hook in the pre-chorus, not a lot of imagery.  Tells the listener (the girl) that she’s still wanted. Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Chorus.

“Every Time I Hear That Song”

Writers: Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo, Brad Warren, Brett Warren

POV: Me/You

Timeframe: In-The-Moment, looking back

PUL’D: Sad, Mid-power ballad, Love/lost love

Neighborhood: Country

Subject: Lost love, music

Notes: Big melody, falsetto.  Tells the girl (listener) that she’s still wanted.  Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Solo-Bridge

“Came Here To Forget”

Writers: Deric Ruttan, Craig Wiseman

POV: Me/You

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Sad but hopeful, Mid-tempo, Love / lost love

Neighborhood: Country, Pop-country

Subject: Lost love and hooking up with someone new.  Drinking.

Notes: SINGLE.  Mid-groove.  Kinda dark.  Lots of imagery.  Weed reference. Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus

“Every Goodbye”

Writers: Busbee, Ryan Hurd, Liz Rose

POV: Me/You

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Positive, Midtempo, Love/Lost Love

Neighborhood: Blue collar country boy

Subject: I lost her.  You lost him.  Let’s hook up.

Notes: Bouncy feel-good groove, drinking, not a ton of imagery.  Getting over a heartache, but not a sad feel.  Feels very positive.  Verse-Lift-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Lift-Chorus

“It Ain’t Easy”

Writers: Rhett Akins, Mat Dragstrem, Ben Hayslip

POV: Me/You

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Positive, mid-groove, love

Neighborhood: Soulful country.

Subject: It ain’t easy for him to leave her place ‘cuz he’s so in love.

Notes: Telling the girl what she wants to hear.  Horns.  Hook-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus

“A Guy With A Girl”

Writers: Ashley Gorley, Bryan Simpson

POV: Me/You

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Positive, Uptempo, Love

Neighborhood: Country boy.  Blue collar, kinda redneck.

Subject: When I’m with you, nobody’s paying any attention to me- cuz you’re so beautiful.

Notes: SINGLE. Telling the girl what she wants to hear.  Praising her.  Feels good.  Good imagery.  Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus.

“Go Ahead And Break My Heart”

Writers: Blake Shelton, Gwen Stephani

POV: Me/You (duet)

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Negative (but feels good), uptempo, love/lost love

Neighborhood: Pop country

Subject: We hooked up getting over other people, but it’s a temporary thing?  But we’re into each other?  Honestly, I’m not really sure what’s going on here.

Notes: Negative, but feels good.  Messed up relationship. On-again, off-again.  Good imagery.  Verse-Verse-Lift-Chorus-Verse-Verse-Lift-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus.

“Friends”

Writers: Blake Shelton, Jessi Alexander

POV: Me/You

Timeframe: Looking back / In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Positive, Uptempo, Friendship

Neighborhood: Movie song.  “Angry Birds.”  Country.

Subject: Friendship

Notes: Buddy song, smile-factor.  Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus.

“One Night Girl”

Writers: Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson

POV: Me/You

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Positive, Uptempo, Love

Neighborhood: Country boy.  Bro.

Subject: It’s daybreak after the 1st date, and he’s telling her he wants to spend more time with her.

Notes: Love, not sex.  New love.  Big chorus.  Good imagery.  Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus.

“Doing It To Country Songs”

Writers: Marty Dodson, Jacob Lyda, Paul Overstreet

POV: Me/Her

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Positive, Mid-tempo, Music

Neighborhood: Country, honky tonk.

Subject: Country music and sex.

Notes: Features the Oak Ridge Boys.  Storytelling.  Lots of imagery.  Double-meaning.  Clever, fun, funny. Verse-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Solo-Chorus-Chorus-Chorus

“Savior’s Shadow”

Writers: Blake Shelton, Jessi Alexander, Jon Randall

POV: Me-to-the-World

Timeframe: In-The-Moment

PUL’D: Positive, Ballad, Depth

Neighborhood: Country gospel.  No angel.  Bluegrass.

Subject: The devil tried to break me, but God pulled me through.

Notes:  Worshipful, acoustic/strings, contemplative.  Verse-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Chorus.

TAKEAWAYS:

This record feels good.  The happy songs feel good.  Even the heartbreak songs feel good.  Not a tearjerker in the bunch.  A theme that keeps popping up is curing a fresh heartache by finding someone new (“Came Here To Forget” “Every Goodbye”).

Women are lifted up on tis album.  The possible exception is “She’s Got A Way With Words,” but even that comes off more funny than angry.  Other songs, he wants the girl back (“Every Time I Hear That Song” “Bet You Still Think About Me”).

New relationships: “Came Here To Forget” “Every Goodbye” “It Ain’t Easy” “One Night Girl”

Established relationships: “A Guy With A Girl” “Doing It To Country Songs”

It’s all pretty light, except for “Go Ahead And Break My Heart” and “Savior’s Shadow.”  The only hopeless or lost love is “She’s Got A Way With Words.”  Not much sex or sexy.  Lot of new love, but not much making out except for the double-meaning of “Doing It To Country Songs.”

“If I’m Honest” hits on a lot of commercial principles I advocate in Cut/able. The songwriters really hit the nail on the head with this one.

If you’re ready to take YOUR commercial songwriting to the next level, I have a great opportunity for you.

In August 2017, I’m hosting “The C4 Experience (C4X)” event.  This is YOUR opportunity to really focus in on writing more commercial songs.  You’ll get expert coaching and a small, supportive community.  And with it being online, you can join us from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.  If you want details, just CLICK HERE.  Tickets are on sale now, and space is limited to only 10 songwriters!

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 and a #1 in Canada… so far.

Craft

Take A Cliche Moment And Make It A Hit Moment

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Replay Wednesday

Every time you use a cliche in your song, you miss an opportunity to do something great.

cliche or great

Cliches get used so much because they’re so easy. They are the first things that come to mind when we want to communicate certain things.

For example, it’s a lot easier to just say we’re “raising hell” or “painting the town” than it is to dig deeper and say we’re “filling Friday night full of empty cans” or “trying to make the Barhopper’s Hall of Fame.”

The cliche gives the listener information, but it’s forgettable because the listener has heard it a thousand times. There’s no emotion left in it. (Unless you somehow set up the cliche in a way that makes it fresh.)

When you go beyond the cliche, you have a chance to wow the listener with something they haven’t heard before.

A great example of this is “Summertime,” recorded by Kenny Chesney and written by Craig Wiseman and Steve McEwen. It’s about being young in the summertime, and there’s a part in the chorus where they reference driving around.

Young + summertime + driving = radio up + windows down. Right? Yes, and that’s why it’s a worn out, cliche image. Sure, it’s true- we’ve all lived that line many times. But there’s nothing memorable or “wow” about it.

Instead, these hit writers reference a Yoohoo bottle on the floorboard. So much better!

It’s believable- I can totally picture young guys leaving a Yoohoo on the floorboard.

It’s fresh- I’ve never “seen” that image in a song before.

Bonus: It provides a fun melodic moment when Chesney sings, “Yoohoo!”

The writers took a cliche moment and made it a hit moment by using a fresh, believable image. It’s our job to do the same.

Dig Deeper

What do you think? What’s your take on this topic? I’d love to hear your comments. And if there are some lyrics where the songwriter make a cliche moment a hit moment, share those in the comments, too!

Since strong imagery is such an important part of turning a cliche moment into a hit moment, I’ve put together a course on imagery. It’s called, “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” and it’s available now. By the end of the course, you’ll have the basic skills to:

  1. Effectively use both literal and figurative imagery.
  2. Make your story come to life using imagery.
  3. Prove your character’s personality using imagery.
  4. Make your listener connect to your character’s emotions using imagery.
  5. Hook your listener in the song’s first few lines using imagery.
  6. And to begin more songs (more easily) using imagery exercises as the start of your songwriting process.

Click here if you’re ready to “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” or click on the image below.

God Bless,
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 and a #1 in Canada… so far.

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Man vs Row

Craft

Take A Cliche Moment And Make It A Hit Moment

9 Comments

Man vs Row

Every time you use a cliche in your song, you miss an opportunity to do something great.

Cliches get used so much because they’re so easy. They are the first things that come to mind when we want to communicate certain things.

For example, it’s a lot easier to just say we’re “raising hell” or “painting the town” than it is to dig deeper and say we’re “filling Friday night full of empty cans” or “trying to make the Barhopper’s Hall of Fame.”

The cliche gives the listener information, but it’s forgettable because the listener has heard it a thousand times. There’s no emotion left in it. (Unless you somehow set up the cliche in a way that makes it fresh.)

When you go beyond the cliche, you have a chance to wow the listener with something they haven’t heard before.

A great example of this is “Summertime,” recorded by Kenny Chesney and written by Craig Wiseman and Steve McEwen. It’s about being young in the summertime, and there’s a part in the chorus where they reference driving around.

Young + summertime + driving = radio up + window down. Right? Yes, and that’s why it’s a worn out cliche. Sure, it’s true- we’ve all lived that line many times. But there’s nothing memorable or “wow” about it.

Instead, these hit writers reference a Yoohoo bottle on the floorboard. So much better!

It’s believable- I can totally picture young guys leaving a Yoohoo on the floorboard.

It’s fresh- I’ve never “seen” that image in a song before.

Bonus: It provides a fun melodic moment when Chesney sings, “Yoohoo!”

The writers took a cliche moment and made it a hit moment. It’s our job to do the same.

Dig Deeper

What do you think? What’s your take on this topic? I’d love to hear your comments. And if there are some lyrics where the songwriter make a cliche moment a hit moment, share those in the comments, too!

Knowing simple things like this is how you write stronger songs- and market-smart songs (songs that have a competitive advantage in the market).  If you want to  learn more about how to write market-smart songs, check out my ebook, “Cut/able: Lessons In Market Smart Songwriting.”  Click on the image below or click here to write market-smart songs.

God Bless,
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 and a #1 in Canada… so far.

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