Waking up to the radio…
Waking up to the radio and hearing “If you Want it Come and get it” by Badfinger reminds me, that song writing is all about familiarity.
One of my favorite things to do is take a common phrase or saying, something that most people know, and see if I can write a song from it. This is a great exercise and one that builds your songwriting chops. Who knows, it might even turn out to be your next hit. Most songs on the radio are very relatable, meaning that you can put yourself in the situation or the story being told and are often written using a common saying or phrase.
I took a look at the iHeart Radio Top 40 songs to see how many of the song titles listed represented a common phrase. Here’s the Top Ten: Beautiful Things, Lose Control, Lovin on Me, Feather, Agora Hills, Greedy, We Can’t Be Friends, Texas Hold ’Em, and Stick Season. As I look at the list, I see six out of the ten song titles I would consider common phrases. How many do you see?
As songwriters, we are always looking for new and unique ways to tell a story or get a message across in our songs. Starting with a common phrase, is just one method to get the ball rolling and one, that’s proven. In addition, the more vividly a phrase can be supported, the better. Writing the expected as you support your phrase is one way to do it however, I would suggest going for the unexpected. This makes your song unique and in the end, it makes it more interesting.
Have an awesome day. Cheers!