While a song’s title is often its strongest selling point, and the best way to attract the attention of music publishers, A&R executives and record buyers alike, coming up with a highly distinctive lyric line within a song can also instantly draw listeners in and hook their interest.
Most top songwriters confess to being envious of certain lyric lines written by other writers. The latest to join this group is US singer-songwriter Bruno Mars who has revealed the iconic lyrics that he most admires. They include lines from Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’, ‘You Sexy Thing’ by Hot Chocolate, and ‘Big Poppa’ by The Notorious B.I.G.
The Grammy award-winning writer has admitted that he wishes he had come up with lines like: “They try to make me go to rehab, but I say No No No” … “I believe in miracles since you came along. You sexy thang. You sexy thang you” … and “Cause I see some ladies tonight who should be havin’ my baby….”.
Bruno recently admitted that he finds it difficult to come up with new material. “You know how hard it is to write a big song?,” he said in an interview with GQ magazine. “It’s so hard to do. Might be one of the hardest things to ever do.”
Which classic lyric line do you wish you had written?
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“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
Emeli Sandé – who recently won two Brit awards for ‘Best British Female’ and ‘Best British Album’ – could be in line for more prizes at this year’s prestigious Ivor Novello awards in London on May 16.
She has been nominated for two awards: ‘Best Song Musically & Lyrically’ (for ‘Next To Me’, which she co-wrote with Hugo Chegwin, Harry Craze and Anup Paul) and PRS for Music’s ‘Most Performed Work’ award (also for ‘Next To Me’).
However, she faces stiff competition in the ‘Best Song’ category from Jake Bugg’s ‘Two Fingers’ and ‘Laura’ by Bat For Lashes (pictured below, right).
The annual Ivor Novello Awards are presented by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA), in association with the UK collection society PRS For Music.
The event will also see prizes presented for ‘Songwriter of the Year’, ‘Outstanding Song Collection’ and ‘Outstanding Achievement’.
The awards are judged by the British writing community and are designed to celebrate, honour and reward excellence in songwriting and composing. They are regarded as the most important awards for UK music writers.
Watch the official video for Emeli Sandé’s ‘Next To Me’ HERE…
Watch the official video for Jake Bugg’s ‘Two Fingers’ HERE…
Watch the official video for ‘Laura’ by Bat For Lashes HERE…
Which song do you think deserves to win this year’s ‘Best Song’ Ivor award?
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“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
Every new song you write and perform could be helping listeners to feel better, it seems. A new scientific study in Canada – published in the journal Science – has found that listening to new music is rewarding for the brain.
Using MRI scans, a team of Canadian scientists found that areas in the reward centre of the brain become active when people hear a song for the first time. And connections in the brain region called the nucleus accumbens “light up” and become stronger the more the listener enjoys what he or she is hearing.
“We know that the nucleus accumbens is involved with reward,” Dr Valorie Salimpoor, from the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, told the BBC World Service’s Science in Action programme. “But music is abstract. It’s not like you’re really hungry and you’re about to get a piece of food and you’re really excited about it because you’re going to eat it. The same thing applies to sex or money. That’s when you would normally see activity in the nucleus accumbens.
“But what’s cool is that you’re anticipating and getting excited over something entirely abstract – and that’s the next sound that is coming up.”
The study was conducted at the Montreal Neurological Centre at McGill University. The scientists played 19 volunteers 60 excerpts of new music while the participants were lying in an MRI machine. As they listened to the 30-second tracks, they were able to ‘buy’ the songs they liked in a simulated online music store.
Dr Salimpoor said: “As they are listening to this music, we can look at their brain activity and figure out how they are appreciating or enjoying this music before they even tell us anything.”
The researchers found that the nucleus accumbens was also interacting with another region of the brain called the auditory cortical stores – an area that ‘saves’ sound information based on music that people have been exposed to in the past.
Dr Salimpoor said: “This part of the brain will be unique for each individual, because we’ve all heard different music in the past.”
The Canadian scientists say they now intend to study how the ‘rewarding’ effects of new music can help to drive people’s music tastes – and whether brain activity can explain why people are drawn to different styles of music.
Maybe such advances in neuroscience will finally give aspiring songwriters a means of finding out whether the song they’ve just written and agonized over for weeks really is a potential hit!
(Image via Picgifs.com)
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“How (Not) To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
A new US TV commercial for Diet Coke shows Taylor Swift writing her latest single ‘22’ – supposedly being inspired by the can of Diet Coke that the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter is seen enjoying throughout the ad.
Filmed in Nashville, the TV ad – titled ‘Music That Moves’ – also features performances by Taylor’s fans singing and dancing along with the new song.
“Taylor is a true artist, deeply involved in the full creative process, from writing to production to release,” says Stuart Kronauge, general manager, Sparkling Beverages, Coca-Cola North America.
“The ‘Music That Moves’ ad shows Taylor in her natural element – penning lyrics that one day will speak volumes to millions of fans the world over … all while sipping on a Diet Coke. The commercial serves as a peek behind the curtain at an extraordinary day in the life of a true American superstar.
“Whether you’re writing a hit song like Taylor, or simply singing along, Diet Coke helps you Stay Extraordinary.”
You can judge for yourself HERE…
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“How (Not) To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
For a song to become a great song, it must be able to reach out and touch listeners and stimulate an emotional response within them. It should take them on a memorable and emotional journey. It should make them feel something.
That’s why Amy Grant, the Nashville-based Christian singer-songwriter, believes the greatest compliment a songwriter can receive is to have someone tell you that your song captures exactly what they’re feeling inside.
“The challenge of a songwriter is to articulate – in an accessible way – things we go through, if what you are trying to do is to make people feel connected to their own life, ” says Amy. “I’m inspired by specific situations and try to capture in a song what people feel.”
On May 14, the six-times Grammy award winner will release her first full album of all-new songs in 10 years.
Titled How Mercy Looks From Here, the new album was produced by Marshall Altman and includes guest vocalists James Taylor, Carole King, Sheryl Crow, Will Hoge, and Eric Pasley (who wrote the only song on the album not written by Grant). Amy’s husband, Vince Gill, also makes an appearance.
Watch the official video for Amy Grant’s 1991 hit ‘Good For Me’ HERE…
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“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music) and Barnes & Noble’s Nook store.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
SONGWRITING: THE HIT FORMULA 