Tag Archives: Ross Copperman

Building A Hit, Write Like A Pro

Building A Hit: Blake Shelton & “I Lived It”

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Blake Shelton’s current single, “I Lived It,” is living it up on the country singles chart. Today, let’s take a look at some of the ways the songwriters built this song to be a Blake hit.

Great songs don’t happen by accident- they’re a series of wise choices.  And the songwriters (Ashley Gorley, Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins and Ross Copperman) made some great choices when building “I Lived It.” 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.

If you want to write hits, too… 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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1. Stick to the brand.

Overall, this song is built to fit Blakes’s brand of country. The lyric is really country, and the song is about what it’s like to grow up… country.  Really country.  This subject matter fits nicely beside other songs he’s cut, like “Green,” “Boys ‘Round Here” and “Hey.”  The phrasing and production are also a little more traditional than progressive, which also (generally) fit’s Blake’s brand.

 2. Show, don’t tell.

There are a lot of images in the song, and it puts us in those moments. Right in the first line, we see a guy driving a flatbed Ford.  Then we see flies and a hole in a screen door.  Blake’s not just saying he grew up country, he’s showing us what growing up country looks, feels, sounds and tastes like.

These fresh, vivid images help the song stand apart from all the other, vague “I grew up country” songs that no doubt get pitched to Blake for every album.  Not only that, but it helps to…

3. Give the listener a reason to connect.

How many people can relate to growing up this way?  A lot of us remember mama pouring bacon grease in a can, sitting in front of a box fan, and so many more things in this lyric.  It pushes the nostalgia button for many, many listeners.

For example, if it’s been years since you’ve thought about how cool it was to get your hands on a two dollar bill, that line sets off a “nostalgia bomb” in your brain.  And nostalgia is a great way to connect to the listener’s emotions and get them to invest in your song.  It’s not the only way, but it sure is a powerful one.

4. Keep it moving.

Writing a sentimental, nostalgic song might lead some writers to write a slow ballad.  But not these hit songwriters.  They know that their chances of getting a cut go up as they add some tempo, groove or energy to the song.  So that’s what they did.

The song is by no means an uptempo rocker. But they put about as much tempo on it is as they could without breaking the sentimental, nostalgic vibe of the song.

Okay, those are four areas in which Ashley Gorley, Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins and Ross Copperman built “I Lived It” to be a hit song. Of course, those aren’t the only elements that make “I Lived It” 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 July, 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.

Cut/able Songwriting, Write Like A Pro

Cut/able Songwriting: Dierks Bentley & “Black”

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So… how do you write a song with a negative-sounding title, and make it a positive, sexy love song?  Well, you write it like Dierks Bentley’s “Black.”

Let’s look at some of the songwriting lessons that make “Black” a cut/able song.

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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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Ok, I know what you may be thinking.  “Didn’t Dierks write that song himself?”  Well… yes.  He wrote the song with Ross Copperman and Ashley Gorley.  But that doesn’t change the fact that it still made the record- and the radio.

I’m sure Dierks doesn’t cut everything he writes.  So “Black” still had to compete- even if was just against other songs he wrote.  There are valuable songwriting lessons to be learned here.  So let’s look at a few.

The song puts a positive spin on a negative phrase.

If a cowriter brought in the phrase “make the world go black,” where would your mind immediately go?  Probably somewhere dark.  (ba-dum-dum!)  That phrase has a negative connotation- slipping into oblivion, passing out, and even dying.

A potential angle would be something like “I want to stop thinking about her blue eyes, that red dress… I’m gonna sit here and drink till the world goes black.”  And that could work just fine.  It could be pretty cool.  But ya know what?

A song with a positive spin… usually gets more spins.

The writers went to the next level, did the extra work, and took the song to a positive, sexy place.  Much more commercial!

The song bridges the confusion gap.

“Black” has a twisty idea (the world going black = good instead of bad).  This means the listener might get lost.  So Bentley and crew just came right out and said what they mean in the bridge: “I don’t wanna see a thing, I just wanna feel your touch.”  They even said it twice to make sure you got it!  This makes it clear that it’s not so much that Dierks doesn’t want to see her, but that he really wants to focus on another of his senses – the sense of touch.

If you confuse, you lose.

This song bridges that gap, so the listener is less likely to be confused.

The song’s images are right on point.

The imagery in the song points to either “black” (the dress on the floor) or the sense of touch (“brush me with your hair,” “find your fingertips, trace them back to your lips”).  Is the “brush” in “brush me with your hair” a paintbrush-with-black-paint reference?  I like to think so.  And some of the images pull double-spins.  “Heart attack” and “put me flat on my back” usually mean bad things.  Here, they mean very good things!

These are a few of the elements that make “Black” a cut/able song. If you want YOUR songs to be more “cut/able” (able to be cut) then you should definitely check out my new, expanded and upgraded version of “Cut/able: Lessons In Market Smart Songwriting.” Its five powerful lessons will help you write songs that artists want to sing, radio wants to play, and listeners want to hear! CLICK HERE TO WRITE CUT/ABLE SONGS.

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

Make a songwriting “Confession!”

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Are you ready to make a moonlight soaked, ring of smoke, right hand on a cold one “Confession?”

The new single by Florida Georgia Line does a great job of painting a picture for the listener.  There’s so much to see in this lyric!  Great job by songwriters Ross Copperman, Matt Jenkins, and Rodney Clawson.  Let’s take a look into this hit lyric.  I’m going to put the imagery in bold blue.

“Confession”

Rusty barbed wire lines these fields
Gravel dust behind the wheels
Drifting like my mind into the rearview
Jet trails cutting across the sky
I’m rolling through the open wide
Searching for a song to drink beer to
And trying to find a place to disappear to

CHORUS:

I light up the night and let it burn
Lean back and watch the sundown fade
Do what I do when life’s a little sideways
I take a sip and say a prayer
Wait for a shooting star and stare
Off at the headlights on the highway
That guy in the windshield looking back looks just like me
But there’s a crack in the reflection
This is just a moonlight soaked, ring of smoke
Right hand on a cold one confession

Embers in the ashtray glow
like memories that won’t let go
I’m out here trying to get ’em untangled
In the darkness on the edge of town
A little lost, a little found
Waiting on a call from an angel

REPEAT CHORUS TWICE

That’s a ton of images!  I really puts the listener into the scene.  Right away, the listener knows where the song is taking place.  We don’t have to drift around without an anchor.  We immediately see fields lined with barbed wire.  I’m watching the movie.

The writers also do a nice job of showing the singer’s emotional state.  Notice how they compare “memories that won’t let go” to embers glowing in the ashtray.  And how they put an image to how he feels broken by putting a crack in his windshield reflection.  Great stuff.

SHOWING is so much more interesting than just TELLING that he feels broken and has memories he can’t forget.  Show me, don’t tell me.

If you want your songs to stand out, put killer imagery in your lyrics.

Since strong imagery is such an important part of professional-level songwriting, 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!

I’ve also created two LIVE, ONLINE workshops for “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do).”  Each workshop includes ALL the regular course materials- and they are now available for less than the price of the regular course!

Time is about to run out, so don’t delay. The workshops are on February 16 and 18, and a ticket comes with ALL the materials for the full course:

*2 hours of video teaching

*1 hour of audio (great for listening on-the-go)

*50-page ebook

*course workbook

And, of course, you get an hour of additional coaching on the live, online workshop.  I’ll cover materials not included in the regular course, and we’ll do plenty of Q&A.  It’s your chance to ask me your songwriting questions.

As long as you have an internet connection, you can join us! (We’ll be using the Fuze online platform, which is free.)

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.

To find out more, just…

CLICK HERE for the FEB. 16 ONLINE WORKSHOP and COURSE.

CLICK HERE for the FEB. 18 ONLINE WORKSHOP and COURSE.

If you can’t make either workshop, but you’re ready to “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” CLICK HERE or 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