Tag Archives: Lyrics

Craft

Put The EmPHASis On The Right SylLABles!

3 Comments

Man vs Row

Next time you’re out (single guys), I want you to say this to a girl:

“Hey, beau-TI-ful girl, what are you do-ING la-TER? wa-NNA go to the luke bry-AN con-CERT?”

Try saying that out loud, with the emphasis I’ve given.  Totally unnatural, right?  (No, I don’t mean the part about going to a Luke Bryan concert- I meant the syllables.)  I don’t care if you even have backstage passes, the girl is going to say, “No way, dude- you sound like an alien robot.”

If this fails so miserably, why do we sometimes write songs that talk like this?

A big part of successful songwriting is the ability to write lyrics that fit naturally into your melody.  If you want your song to be singable, you want the emphases of your melody and the emphasis of the syllables in your words to match up.  Here’s an example:

The word “moment” naturally has more emphasis on the 1st syllable and less emphasis on the 2nd syllable.  You naturally say it like “MO-ment.”  You don’t say “mo-MENT.”  Likewise, the word, “daughter” also has it’s natural emphasis on the 1st syllable. “DAUGH-ter,” not “daugh-TER.”

Your melody also has certain notes or beats that it emphasizes.  So if you’re writing a line with the word “moment” in it, you want to be certain that the melody doesn’t make you sing it “mo-MENT.”  You want it to sing like you’d actually say it in real life: “MO-ment.”

If you’re writing a line with he word “daughter” in it, you want to be certain that the melody doesn’t make you sing it “daugh-TER.”  You want to sing it like you’d actually say it in real life: “DAUGH-ter.”

If you run into this conflict, I suggest that you either adjust your melody or replace “moment” or “daughter” with a word that sings better.

I’ve used the words “moment” and “daughter” as examples, but this holds true for any word.  You want to get the syllable emphasis right on every word in your song.  If you don’t get it right, here are at least two things that can go wrong:

It’s harder for a singer to remember your song.

When your syllable emphasis and melodic emphasis don’t compliment each other, one part of your singer’s brain will be trying to say the words normally (“MO-ment”) because that’s how he’s said it his whole life.  But the other part of his brain is trying to sing the melody correctly (“mo-MENT”).  It’s unnatural, and so it’s harder to learn.  If he has trouble learning it, he just may not cut it.  He’ll cut something that’s easier to remember.

It’s a speed bump for the listener.

The A&R rep, publisher or audience member is grooving along with your song, everything is fine… then you hit “daugh-TER.”  It sticks out like a sore thumb- in a bad way.  Unless it’s somehow your gimmick and you do it enough where it’s a “thing” and you make it cool… it just sounds like a rookie mistake.

You want your words to sing naturally and conversationally.  You want your lyrics to flow naturally over the tongue so they flow believably into the ears.

So, if you remember nothing else from this post, remember this:

Don’t be an alien robot.  They don’t get the girl… and they almost never get a hit.

Today, I also want to let you know about a course I’ve put together to really boost your songwriting.  It’s called, “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” and it’s available now!

The course guides you as you learn 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 begin more songs (more easily) using imagery exercises as the start of your songwriting process.

And since we’re all songwriters, that means you might not have the means to pay for the full course right now.  Not to worry.  I’ve made three packages of the course available.  Each one has great, helpful content.  Just choose the one that works best for you by CLICKING HERE.

And there is an upcoming LIVE imagery workshop on Tuesday, May 17.  Not only does it come with all the course materials, I’ll be there to answer your questions and walk you through some great material not covered in the course!

If you’re ready to “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” CLICK HERE or on the image below.

imagery_square_copy

God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,

Brent

Man vs Row

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.

imagery_square_copy

 Man vs Row

Cowriting, Craft, Songplugging

The Advantages of Cowriting

13 Comments

Man vs Row

Nashville is a cowriting town.

It seems that everyone that moves or spends time here gets sucked into it eventually.  But maybe you’re unsure if it’s something you want to try.  Maybe you’ve always written alone and you’re worried about the unknown.  Maybe you think another writer might pull your song in the wrong direction.  Maybe you don’t see the value in it.

If that’s the case, consider these advantages of cowriting:

1. More relationships.

The writing room can be a very lonely place.  Some of your cowriters will become close friends, and that’s awesome.  For me, one of my favorite parts of songwriting is getting to hang out for hours with people I admire and enjoy.  Each of your cowriters also has his or her own network.  That means they can help you mean more publishers, artists, other cowriters, etc.

0 A Story Of Relationships

2. More pitch / promotional power.

If you write a song alone, it’s up to you- and only you– to get it into the right hands (a publisher, a producer, an artist, etc.).  However, if you add a cowriter or two, now you have more people to play the song out live at songwriter nights or pitch it to publishers or artists.  It multiplies the chance that your song will be heard by the right people.

Rise

3. More ideas.

When you write alone, you have to come up with every single melodic and lyric idea yourself.  If YOU don’t think of it, it doesn’t end up in your song.  However, when you cowrite, you and your cowriter help each other overcome those creative roadblocks. “Two heads are better than one.”

4. Less creative ruts.

When you only write alone, it’s harder to stay out of creative ruts and it’s harder to pull yourself out of them.  Maybe you find yourself going back to the same tempos, moods, chord progressions or stories time after time after time.  However, it’s hard to stay in a rut if you’re writing with a bluegrass female on Monday and a pop-country guy on Wednesday.

5. Less excuses, more productivity.

It’s pretty easy to break writing appointments with yourself.  Nobody’s going to call wondering where you are, and you’ll probably get bonus points with your spouse if you did the laundry or mowed the yard instead.  But if you know someone expects you to be online or in the writing room at a certain time to write, you’re a lot less likely to bail. Likewise, it’s pretty easy to walk away from your guitar or notebook when you hit a creative roadblock in a song.  But it’s a lot harder to just walk into the other room and turn on the TV when you have a cowriter sitting across from you.  That would be just plain awkward.

6. Faster learning curve.

Cowriting allows you to learn from your fellow songwriters.  You get a front row seat to observe how they think, how they overcome obstacles, etc.  You may pick up a cool alternate tuning or a way of constructing a lyric that you would’ve only discovered on your own years later.  Plus, a good cowriter will challenge you to dig deeper and write better songs.  I know that’s definitely been true for me.

This is not to say that cowriting is always the best thing in every circumstance.  But it sure has helped a lot of writers (like me) get more successful more quickly.  What about you?  What other advantages of cowriting would you add to this list?  Leave a comment below- I’d love to hear from you!

Oh, and here’s one more advantage…

7. Complimentary strengths.

Few songwriters are equally strong at both lyrics and melody.  Even fewer are equally strong AND GREAT at both.  So, if you’re like most of us, your songs can benefit from finding a cowriter who is strong where you aren’t.  And this doesn’t mean just “strong at lyric” or “strong at melody” or “strong at producing.”  It could even be more specific things like “great at idea development,” “brings in killer hooks” or “writes awesome images.”

Team Sport

You want to find cowriters who have valuable strengths.  And YOU become a more valuable, in-demand songwriter as you develop strengths in different areas.  One area which has helped me attract and grow some valuable cowriting relationships has been my ability to write with strong imagery.

Writing with great imagery has helped my songwriting career and helped get my songs cut.

Imagery in songs like “Monday Morning Church” (a top-5 hit for Alan Jackson), “Last Night Last” (recorded by Lady Antebellum), “Crickets” (the title-track to Joe Nichols’ current album), and “When Your Lips Are So Close” (Canadian #1 hit and Single Of The Year for Gord Bamford) helped them get recorded and released.  I’m living proof that it’s a valuable skill.

And 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. 

 

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.

If you want to join a LIVE workshop or learn more about how 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.

imagery_square_copy

 cropped-man-vs-row.jpg

Craft

Gather Images By Writing The Video For Your Song

1 Comment

Man vs Row

Sometimes, as writers, we have the tendency to leave too much information in our heads and off of the page.

Maybe we know the story too well- maybe because we’ve lived it. Either way, our lyrics can sometimes just comment upon the story without actually giving us the story.

You might say, “Last night, you made me cry,” without telling us that he made you cry BECAUSE he “looked at me with cold blue eyes like I was some stranger he was telling goodbye.” It’s up in your head- you see the picture when you sing that line. But the listeners won’t see that. They can’t. They’re not in your head.

You want to build the habit of showing us the cause of the emotions, not just telling us about the emotions.

Show The Cause

One way to help in this process is to “write the video.” This is not actual storyboarding. It’s just stream-of-consciousness (or more thoughtfully) writing down what you see in your mind’s eye when you’re thinking about the story in your song. Memories or make believe, it doesn’t matter. Just capture the sights, sounds, tastes, touch and smells of your story.

This process is good for a few reasons:

1. It gives you a stack of images to draw from in your lyrics.

You can now pick out the coolest, most true images for your song.  You’re not stuck just using what you can think of in the moment.  Instead of “well, that’s the best I could think of at the time,” you get to say “that’s the best I could think of. Period.”

2. It helps you really crystalize your thoughts.

Instead of vague notions you’re trying to capture in your song, you’ve already sketched out your story. Now, instead of trying to come up with the next rhyme, you’re more likely to think about what the thought needs to be. And a cool thought is much more important than just a cool rhyme.

3. It helps you reach past cliche’ images.

It might be easy to just write about her “feet on the dashboard” because that’s what country songs say (and you’re just focused on finding a line that sings well). However, if you spend more time on the story without being constrained by “next line syndrome,” you’re more likely to say, “Well, no. Her feet weren’t on the dash. One leg was curled up under the other.” That’s way more original and more believable.

So, remember. Focus on giving the listener the cause of your emotions, not just your emotions. Write the video to your song, and you’re more likely to see the video OF your song someday.

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. 

 

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.

If 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.

imagery_square_copy

Craft

Change Your Time Zone To Finish Your Song

3 Comments

Finish 5

Are you trying to finish your song, but you’re stuck?  Try experimenting with the element of time. Don’t let your use of time be happenstance. It’s a powerful tool if you use it wisely. Time can be used as a telescope, framing your idea through the lens of a character’s whole life (and beyond). Or it can be a microscope, framing your idea through the lens of just a few pivotal seconds in a character’s life.

I dealt with the time element on an idea I had called, “Love Is Tough.” My initial thought was a three-act play where each verse told part of the singer’s love story with the girl- some struggle they overcame, some fight, etc. And the chorus would say something like, “Love is tough, but our love is tough enough to handle it.”

Yeah, that works, but it didn’t really excite me. But one day I started working on it with Brent Anderson and Joel Shewmake. We put away the telescope and unpacked the microscope. Instead of looking at years, we started looking at just a few minutes. To me, that made all the difference.

We didn’t have to set up a whole new situation in each verse, so we were free to really dig into the emotion. Heck, we didn’t even have to talk about WHY they had a fight. That wasn’t the point. All that mattered was that even though love can be tough, their love is tougher. (The song, “Tough,” ended up being cut by Lonestar and is a Wal-Mart exclusive track on their album, “Party Heard Around The World.”)  Oh, and Brent Anderson just had is first #1 with Blake Shelton’s “Lonely Tonight.”  Congrats, Brent!

Another way to play with time is to experiment when WHEN the story happened. For example, your “leaving song” idea could be framed as…

     “When you left me” (at some unspecified time in the past)
     “Last night when you left me”
     “You’re leaving me right now”
     “One of these days, when you leave me”

Each one of those options will have a different energy to it. In general, there’s more power in the present. “You’re breaking my heart right now” is more powerful than “you broke my heart.” “You look so good tonight” is more powerful than “you looked so good last night.”

However, one size does not fit all. Take the time (pun intended) to find the best time zone for your song.  The one with the best energy just might give you the “umph” you need to finish your song!

If you’d like more techniques to help you finish your songs, check out my ebook, Finish Your Song! 20 Ways To Overcome Creative Roadblocks.  It’s in the Man vs. Row store.  Click HERE or on the image below to find out more.

Finish 5

Craft

Condense Your Lyric To Finish Your Song

4 Comments

Finish 5

Are there places in your lyric where it feels like it loses energy or interest? Maybe you’re using too much space to say something that should be said in fewer lines or words.

This often happens when a writer “chases rhymes.” For example, the second line of the verse ends in “tailgate” and you spend all of lines three and four just to get to the rhyme “jailbait” without really saying anything.

The thought behind the line is more important than the rhyme at the end of the line.

Step back and take a look at your lyric. Are there places where you waste space by chasing rhymes? If so, scrap those lines and start over. Keep the rhyme if you want, but ONLY if you can rewrite the lines to say something that will keep the listener engaged.

Don’t let a cool rhyme ruin a cool song.

Or maybe you’re not chasing rhymes, but you’re just not using good economy of words. Maybe you’re just beating around the bush, not getting to what you really want to say. Say what needs to be said and then move on to something else that needs to be said. Look for fluff words that don’t add any real meaning to your song. Look for fluff ideas you can cut.

Is it relevant that you’re driving your brother’s truck on your date because yours is in the shop? If it’s just a little detail that was maybe true in your life or some interesting piece of backstory but isn’t important to the heart of the song, cut it. Make room for more lyrics that point right at the heart of your song.

God Bless,

Brent

If you’d like more techniques to help you finish your songs, check out my ebook, Finish Your Song! 20 Ways To Overcome Creative Roadblocks.  It’s in the Man vs. Row store.  Click HERE or on the image below to find out more.

Finish 5

Craft

Write 1,000 Words To Finish Your Song

6 Comments

Finish 5

Are you trying to finish your song, but you’re having a hard time of it?  Maybe you’re stuck because 1) your idea is still vague or fuzzy or 2) you’re too busy trying to write lines instead of trying to figure out the thought BEHIND the lines. Maybe you’re stuck with your title, and you’re not sure where to go from there. So now you start to ponder what those words mean or what that notion means.

I know that for myself, sitting and pondering quietly is not usually the most effective way to dig into an idea. Why is that? I think it’s because it’s easy to get distracted. Or maybe it’s easy to sit there and FEEL your notion without ever putting it into words. And we kinda need the words to happen at some point, don’t we?

Anyway, I think I work most quickly and effectively when I can bounce ideas off of something, whether it’s a cowriter or a blank page. And it’s the blank page I want to talk about right now. I call it the “1,000 Word Exercise.” I open up a new Word or Pages file and put the title at the top (if I have one). Then I start typing and I don’t stop until my wordcount at the bottom of the file tells me I’ve hit 1,000 words. (Okay, you can take a bathroom break or refill your coffee, but no flipping on the TV.)

I don’t give myself any hard and fast rules when it comes to this, other than hitting 1,000 words. I can repeat phrases multiple times. I can put down… whatever… as long as it’s concerning that title or notion. I’m not worried about writing lyrics or lines, though some rhyming lines will inevitably appear.

No, I’m just concerned with getting thoughts on paper. If a cool line pops in my head, that’s great. Maybe it goes in this song, maybe it doesn’t. I really don’t know yet because I don’t know what my song is about yet- or even if there’s enough there to write a song about in the first place. Either way, you’ve captured the line, so it’s there if you need it later.

The reason it’s 1,000 words is because 1,000 words is A LOT.

Having that much space to fill means you can’t just stop with glib, shallow first impressions. You have to dig deeper. And wider, actually. That space both allows and forces you to consider multiple angles for your idea. It may turn dark for a little while, then it may turn funny. Sure, you’ll have some cliche stuff in there. That’s fine. Just put it down and keep on writing.

Hopefully, by the end of the exercise, you’ll have discovered an angle or layer of meaning which feels real and compelling. Then you can go through your 1,000 words and highlight lines and thoughts that go with that angle. (I also suggest you highlight- in a different color- lines and thoughts which could be seeds of other songs.)

Have fun… and keep writing!

If you’d like more techniques to help you finish your songs, check out my ebook, Finish Your Song! 20 Ways To Overcome Creative Roadblocks.  It’s in the Man vs. Row store.  Click HERE or on the image below to find out more.

Finish 5

Craft

Songwriters, Write The Video For Your Song

2 Comments

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.

Sometimes, as writers, we have the tendency to leave too much information in our heads and off of the page. Maybe we know the story too well- maybe because we’ve lived it. Either way, our lyrics can sometimes just comment upon the story without actually giving us the story.

You might say, “Last night, you made me cry,” without telling us that he made you cry BECAUSE he “looked at me with cold blue eyes like I was some stranger you were telling goodbye.” It’s up in your head- you see the picture when you sing that line. But the listeners won’t see that. They can’t. They’re not in your head.

So you want to build the habit of showing us the cause of the emotions, not just telling us about the emotions.

Show The Cause

One way to help in this process is to “write the video.” This is not actual storyboarding. It’s just stream-of-consciousness (or more thoughtfully) writing down what you see in your mind’s eye when you’re thinking about the story in your song. Memories or make believe, it doesn’t matter. Just capture the sights, sounds, tastes, touch and smells of your story.

This process is good for a few reasons:

1. It gives you a stack of images to draw from in your lyrics. You can now pick out the coolest, most true images for your song.

2. It helps you really crystalize your thoughts. Instead of vague notions you’re trying to capture in your song, you’ve already sketched out your story. Now, instead of trying to come up with the next rhyme, you’re more likely to think about what the thought needs to be. And that’s much more important than just a cool rhyme.

3. It helps you reach past cliche’ images. It might be easy to just write about her “feet on the dashboard” because that’s what country songs say (and you’re just focused on finding a line that sings well). However, if you spend more time on the story without being constrained by “next line syndrome,” you’re more likely to say, “Well, no. Her feet weren’t on the dash. One leg was curled up under the other.” That’s way more original and more believable.

So, remember. Focus on giving the listener the cause of your emotions, not just your emotions. Write the video to your song, and you’re more likely to see the video OF your song someday.

God Bless,

Brent

KNOW THE ROW

You’re invited to be a part of an exclusive Google Hangout with myself and music publisher & former ASCAP Membership Representative, Chad Green. Ask Chad YOUR questions face-to-face as we discus how YOU can get on the radar of a publisher or PRO! There are only TWO spots left, so don’t wait- click the image below to find out more:

Know The Row pic 2