{"id":15324,"date":"2021-02-01T21:41:32","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T02:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=15324"},"modified":"2021-02-01T21:41:32","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T02:41:32","slug":"some-songs-dont-come-from-diaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2021\/02\/01\/some-songs-dont-come-from-diaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Songs Don’t Come from Diaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s the deal, guys. People think you have to have some deep emotional traumatic experience to write a good song. And sure, lots of angsty ballads are born from tear-stained diary pages, but not all songs have to be that complex. In fact, I find that sometimes the best songwriting exercises are writing about things that have no real significance whatsoever.<\/p>\n

For example, here’s a prompt to get you started.<\/p>\n

Write a chorus of a song incorporating numbers 1 through 10. You don’t have to use all the numbers, but write as many of them into your chorus as possible.<\/p>\n

Here’s my attempt:<\/p>\n

You’re the only one<\/strong>
\nI can call at half past ten<\/strong>
\nand I can hold onto<\/strong>
\nthrough all the could’ve and should’ve beens
\nBut you left at a quarter to 5<\/strong>
\nbaby, what were you yelling for?<\/strong>
\nDidn’t break the walls round my heart didn’t tear me apart
\ndidn’t realize what this was
\nuntil I walked out my door your car not there anymore
\nyou gave up on us
\nyou gave up on us<\/em><\/p>\n

Notice not all the numbers are in numerical form. But using the words “onto” and “for” give the illusion that I am continuing on with the numbers theme.<\/p>\n

An example of this in popular culture would be “New Rules” by Dua Lipa. The chorus goes:<\/p>\n

“One: Don’t pick up the phone<\/em>
\nYou know he’s only callin’ ’cause he’s drunk and alone<\/em>
\nTwo: Don’t let him in<\/em>
\nYou have to kick him out again<\/em>
\nThree: Don’t be his friend<\/em>
\nYou know you’re gonna wake up in his bed in the mornin’<\/em>
\nAnd if you’re under him, you ain’t gettin’ over him”<\/em><\/p>\n

This attempt at using numbers to tie together a chorus is much more structured than my attempt. It’s in list format, and the numbers are all ‘numerical’ and aren’t slipped in through the usage of other like-sounding words.<\/p>\n

Here’s one more try by me to create a different sounding chorus using numbers 1-10 as an inspiration:<\/p>\n

Lately<\/em>
\nI see<\/em>
\nAll the things<\/em>
\nI couldn’t see before<\/em>
\nYou walked out my door<\/em>
\nBaby<\/em>
\ntrust me<\/em>
\nwhen I say<\/em>
\ngoing my own way<\/em>
\ni’ve never felt so insecure<\/em>
\ndon’t wanna try anymore<\/em>
\ntake me back<\/em>
\ncome back<\/em>
\nquickly<\/em><\/p>\n

This one is different because the numbers themselves don’t appear in the lyrics. Instead they influence the number of words in each line. It goes 1-2-3-4-5 \/ 1-2-3-4-5 \/ 4-3-2-1. There was no inspiration behind this chorus whatsoever besides thinking of words that would fit this numerical pattern.<\/p>\n

Other ideas to base choruses on?<\/p>\n