Examples of great songwriting

Jack DeValera

In response to Frobisher's great thread on the Joys of Songwriting I thought I'd start one myself that would helpful.

I'd like people to post songs here and say exactly why they think the song is good, and what tips writers like us can take from it.

It can be any song you like, or a particular part that is unusual or interesting in some way.

For anyone else that wants to post, be as brief or as exhaustive as you want, it doesn't matter - just try to include links to the song and the lyrics (most famous songs are available on YouTube).

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I'll get things started with Blind Willie McTell by Bob Dylan, one of my favourite songs.

You can listen to the song here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC44dxddVwE&feature=related
And the lyrics are here: http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/mctell.html

Now there are a number of reasons why I love this song - and you could write a thesis on what this song might or might not mean, but I'll just concentrate on
stylistic devices the writer uses to make the song so striking. Also, I find it impossible to write about melody, so I'll just deal with words.

The opening line:
Seen the arrow on the doorpost
Saying, "This land is condemned
All the way from New Orleans
To Jerusalem."

I always try to have an arresting opening line in my songs - it's extremely important to catch someone's attention and give them a reson to pay attention to the rest - the old Wild West image of the arrow holding up a Dead or Alive poster is great here.

No line should really be banal or cliche - but you'll lose all your audience if the first line is.

Well, I heard the hoot owl singing
As they were taking down the tents
The stars above the barren trees
Were his only audience

Try to think of unique ways to say something that has been said before.

The image here is of an owl singing but nobody is there to hear it - instead of simply saying "I heard the hoot owl singing, But his song was not heard" or something like that, the writer says "the stars in the sky were his only audience".

This is what makes some writers good and others great - this is what we aspiring songwriters should aim for.

See them big plantations burning
Hear the cracking of the whips
Smell that sweet magnolia blooming
See the ghosts of slavery ships

This is a good example of evoking a time or place and making the audience really believe they are there.

Instead of saying, 'Plantations were burning, slaves were whipped, and they were packed onto slave ships' - the writer evokes the senses, and says, 'look listener - look at those slave ships, listen to those whips cracking..etc'.

Using the five senses is a good way of capturing a listener's attention - also, songs always seem more immediate when you use the present tense.

Well, God is in heaven
And we all want what's his
But power and greed and corruptible seed
Seem to be all that there is

Note the internal rhyme here "power and greed, corruptible seed" - internal rhymes tend to make lines jump out and stay in a person's head.

It's used alot in poetry, but not so much in popular songs - if you want to make your lyrics jump out more, go back to your leaving cert poetry notes - I swear they're much more useful than you think.

frobisher

A really good idea for a thread. I think there's a lot to be learnt by seeing/hearing what others think about songs that you might not have noticed or thought of yourself.

There's so many I could mention. I'll go with Space Oddity by David Bowie as I performed it last week at The Song Room. I love the way he paints broad pictures with the lyrics but also details that are mundane compared to the whole space adventure but add a lot of colour like taking his protein pill, being in the newspapers for his clothes etc.

The chords are great too. There's no mad chords in it but there are some atypical changes. Initially it's in the key of C but then we get an E7, a Fminor, then we get a Bflat. Nice color and tonality changes in their. I also love that he sings the 7th note on the fmajor 7, "Heeeeeere...... am I floating round my tin can."

Great tune!

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=uhSYbRiYwTY
http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/www.pjandphil.utvinternet.com/BOWIE/SPACEODD.TXT

markesmith

A great example is Elvis Costello's "Beyond Belief" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrX7J9wN8Mk (don't know what the video is about).

Really simple chord progression (think it's D,G,D,F), but the way the melody snakes around it is absolutely class.

humberklog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCZGqcMZ6Jw
Gilbert O'Sullivan...Alone Again.
Starting on his piano in the simplest progression he's nailed the tune right from the off. Dropping to his minors he knows befor he starts what the sentiment is. I've loaded up the Karioke version so we can all sing along. Or to see how masterly he's lyrically constructed the song.

JimiTime

David Bowie, Quicksand. Those dimished chords, those abstract lyrics, the key change, the swirling piano, the beautiful Cello, the sweeping strings.
One of those songs I just feel, no matter what I write, it'll always be supreme! Songwriting at its best IMO.

Youtube link.

tinkletoes

My sister introduced me to Stone Sour they are brilliant:)