Part 7 - more Tension and Release

Spock: why is that music playing?
Kirk: Tension Spock! Atmosphere.
Spock: It's space; there is no atmosphere.
Kirk: Hence the tension!

There's an old saying about writing a novel that the sequential passage of events is the story, but how you chop up and present that sequence of events is your plot. And one of the key ways in which you can dice up your novel is to simply chop things out.

This idea applies double to lyrics, it also applies to the music and the production as well. We'll come back to production later, but before we delve into lyrics, let's talk briefly about the music.

Subverting structures

To keep people interested you obviously need an attractive melody but, unless you're writing for the Baby Shark audience, you also need some variety and contrast. 

In terms of song structures an easy way to add a bit of variety is to extend or contract a segment. If you've established a verse-chorus structure, then adding an extra bar or two to the second verse sets up an expectation to the listener but then delays that gratification by a few seconds. This adds a moment of tension before rewarding them with the release of the chorus. But it's important to establish the norm before subverting it. Well, it is for pop music; if you're writing for the avant garde audience you can do what you want.*

Obviously you don't just have to add bars in to play with the structure. Having a double-length first verse is common, but splitting that with a half-length chorus or middle 8 is less so. 

Crowded House's Weather With You is a fairly standard pop song structurally but by reintroducing the intro riff after the first verse it sets the listener up for another verse (assuming a repeat of the earlier pattern), instead we burst into the chorus.

And adding a bit of variety isn't always about trying to be clever or edgy. Say you've got a chord progression that's largely steered clear of the old four-chord-trick, don't be afraid to let a bit of that back in. It's the melodic equivalent of a warm, comfy blanket and sometimes that's what's needed.

The opposite of bad is worse - the lyrical bait and switch

OK, let's look at a couple of lyrical devices to add a bit more variety, contrast, tension and release.

"I've made bad decisions sober," sings Tom McRae in Let Me Grow Old With You, setting us up with an expectation of some good decisions. Instead we get, "and worse ones when I'm drunk." This then creates the tension that surely there must have been some good decisions somewhere along the line? The rest of the verse then delivers the release against that initial tension.

The English language is full of word pairings like this, sometimes as opposites like black and white, sometimes as partners like dark and rainy. This makes it easy to corrupt them as a lyrical hook. How often do you hear about a bright and rainy day? Or a difference that's black and dark grey?

Short story arcs

We've talked previously about story arcs, and sometimes you have the luxury of being able to tell a complete story in the lyrics, Hurricane by Bob Dylan or The Curse by Josh Ritter being a couple of personal favourites, but often we need a shortcut or two.

The first one is to let people fill in the gaps themselves. If you want people to relate to your song's protagonist, don't try and describe them, just shift it into the second person and use "you" a lot. Suddenly the listener knows everything about the key player in the song, and this can often be easily extended: "The last time your mother hugged you at the door, holding on a bit too long" introduces two characters and a scenario that needs no further description to be immediately relatable. 

Again though, this is a power that can be subverted and used for evil; my brother has been known to say, "The best lie is the one people tell themselves." Set up enough of a story and let people fill in the bits that make it make sense to them. Pull the rug away in the last verse or chorus as you see fit.

We've already talked about just not finishing the story in the manner of Bruce Springsteen, but another common way of trimming down your story arc is 'in media res' or 'start in the middle'. Maybe your song is a variant of the old boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to win back girl story, well do we really care how they met? Is it pertinent to the story or can we actually start with the moment she steps out the door. Or even later on after the first attempt at winning back has failed and a new plan is required?

I can vaguely recall a song based on someone trying different ways to win their partner back but it escapes me at the moment. Answers in the comments if you have any ideas.

You have to be small to go big - a brief foray into production

We're going to talk more about production later but I thought it was worth touching on here as we talk about contrast and variety, because it's something you see often when people are asking for feedback on a mix or song. 

A lot of 'mix' problems are actually arrangement or production problems. People are wondering why their songs lack punch or excitement and the simple answer is because everything is happening all the time. Instruments come in gradually through the first verse and chorus but then stay in throughout the song. So more stuff is added on top until there's nowhere left to go.

The easiest way to make something seem loud is to make the section before quiet. Don't add, cut. The easiest way to make something seem wide is to make the previous section narrow. Don't add a stereo widener (that might mess up your mono mix), take out some of the wide content from the previous section. 

My rule of thumb (and all rules are there to be broken), is that no instrument should play all the way through a track once it has entered. I'm always looking for the chance to drop something out, because a) it allows something else to shine, and b) it'll then have impact when it comes back in.

A word of warning

There are dangers when thinking deeply about songwriting, the two that spring to mind are:

1) Falling into formula. If you have a standard set of tools that you apply to a standard set of problems you'll get a standard set of outcomes. Great if you're a furniture builder, not what you're after as a songwriter.

2) Trying to be too clever. I was at a Tom McRae gig a couple of weeks ago, one of my all-time favourite artists, and at one point he said, "If it's nothing else, art is an empathy machine." Empathy is what makes a song resonate with the listener. If you delve too deep into the mines of interesting musicality then you risk creating something that is technically brilliant but emotionally void. Great if you're a virtual instrument tester**, but again, not what you're after as a songwriter.

Next time we're going to talk about co-creation and the benefits and pitfalls thereof.

P.S. The opening star trek dialogue never actually took place... ;)

* As far as I can figure out at any rate, not my area of expertise! :D

** I had to work quite hard to come up with this.