³ÉÈËÂÛÌ³ - Radio 2 - Sold on Song - Songwriting Guides

Beginnings

The way you start your song is like greeting a stranger, your audience will make a lasting judgment on who you are and whether they like you almost instantly. You need to make a positive first impression; how do songwriters achieve this?

Just like a journalist writing an article for a magazine or newspaper, the first line in your song must grab your listener's attention.

Executives often decide whether they're interested in a song within 40 seconds.
Steve Hillier

Here's an example of an intriguing first line in a song:

There is freedom within
There is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup

Don't Dream It's Over (Neil Finn)

It's not entirely clear what the song is about at this point, but we get an instant impression that there is a problem that needs to be overcome. But what is it? We have to listen to the rest of the song to find out.

You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
When I met youâ€¦

Don't You Want Me (Callis/Oakey/Wright)

By these opening lines, we know that this song is telling us a story and so we want to know what happens next.

It is often said that record company executives decide whether they are interested in a song or artist within the first 40 seconds of hearing their CD. With that in mind, here are some ideas to grab their attention:

The first line of your song could be a question or instruction eg, 'Is it asking too much?' (Stars by Dubstar), 'Tell me what you think about me' (Independent Woman by Destiny's Child)
Some words are best avoided for your first line. Non-committal words such as 'probably' or 'maybe' can sound very weak. Similarly, words that generalise are not attention grabbing eg, recently, generally, usually
Many great songs use the title in the first line eg, 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police. This is a good way to ensure that your audience remembers your song title and buys your CD too.
Start singing early, preferably within 16 bars. Long instrumental sections at the start of songs can be very tedious, especially for the first time listener.

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Earlsdon Jack, Coventry
The thing to remember about song writing is that record companies DON'T KNOW the secret to successful song writing - if they did, they'd throw tons of money at it and produce fantastic singles and albums all the time - but they don't, so they run around desperately looking for "the next big thing" before the other record companies get there first. What that means is, you have as much chance of making the next hit single as the next guy (lots of famous songs written by guys in their bedrooms!)- but you have to persevere, and keep on doing it - you will get BETTER at it, the more you TRY. Someone once said, in being creative, "there are NO MISTAKES" - try, mess around, do something different, go in different directions, explore. No one can tell you it's rubbish - it's not, it's a process you have to go through to BREAK THE MOULD, try something DIFFERENT in order to make something NEW. Write about a brick, the sun, an earring, a postcard, a grave digger, a colour. Anything. Just write - but be different, find your OWN VOICE. In other words, "if you want to be a songwriter, WRITE SONGS". And somehow, in the midst of all the chaos and failed experiments and fragments of your creativity, you will find a good idea. Or maybe two, or three. And as time goes on, you will find you are collecting a bagful of good ideas. Then, a truckful. Then, suddenly you will find that ideas come out of the woodwork, everything you pick up or hear or read will give you ideas. In other words, you are starting to get GOOD at recognising ideas when you see them. And you realise, they were all around you, all the time. You just weren't attuned enough to see them. So, PRACTISE - write lyrics, write chord progressions, jot down ideas (no matter how silly), rearrange the old order, see what falls out. Then, like me, you'll have a truck load of ideas and half finished songs and starting off points. I call it "my compost", and it fills 2 big lever arch files - most of it is cr*p but mixed in with it there are some great ideas, some of which will become songs. I used to say that "my compost" was 95% rubbish, but 5% of it was good stuff, which might eventually become songs. But, I'm getting better. Now I think that 50-60% of it is good stuff that might become songs. And - I also have some SONGS. Of course, they might not SELL, but that's a whole 'nother ball game!

kyle MW
im sorry to say this, but one of the best bands of all (oasis) time created one of the best songs of all time(live forever)...the first line is "maybe i dont really want to know how your garden grows" and often use maybe in many other of their great songs...wonderwall...

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