Step 1: How to start analyzing the lyrics of a song so that you get a general understanding of what it is about?
I've analyzed the lyrics of all the 82 songs of the seven studio albums of Placebo.
This analysis proved once again that the craft of telling captivating stories in songs or on albums truly matters in songwriting.
Content Overview:
Analyzing the lyrics of a song.
In this first article, I show you how I analyze the storytelling in songs so that you know what the most important storytelling criteria are that you have to look out for when writing songs.
Stories are in our DNA from the time we’re born. But for a story to resonate, certain elements must be present.
Songs are no different.
Memorable songs, or songs that “work,” fulfill certain criteria that belong to the craft of storytelling.
If you consider a song to be a chapter taken out of a book or a scene from a movie, then something needs to happen in your song.
Something must be on your character’s mind that he is trying to accomplish or solve.
That’s why I’m always looking for the problem that the character in the song faces.
Including a problem in a song that the character has to deal with is one of the most important factors to find out if the song is telling part of a story, or if it’s just a snapshot of a single moment in time in which nothing happens.
If the song addresses a problem, the character in the song needs to find a solution to the conflict he faces.
That’s his goal.
In every story, the main character needs to WANT something.
Otherwise, the audience would not invest themselves in hoping the character reaches (or not reaches) his goal.
When we talk about stories that work, chapters that work, or scenes that work, then there’s one factor that decides if we can say Yes or No.
After all, you don’t hit a note over and over again to play a melody because that would only create a rhythm.
But a rhythm does not change.
But a melody tends to change notes over time.
So whatever the problem is your character has to face, he will not face is over and over again as if it was a rhythm constantly challenging him.
Something needs to change for him.
If a story, a chapter, or a scene changes from its beginning to its ending, something happened that either led to the character being better off at the end or worse off.
If you hit a note, then that’s where your character might be in his life at one particular moment in time. That’s his starting point. It’s like the key of the song you’re using.
Now something unexpected happens to him, that either turns his world for the better, and he’s going up on the scale to something positive, or he falls down the scale, and life gets darker for him.
This unexpected event is the most important indicator to see if your story, chapter, or scene turned. In storytelling terms, we call this a turning point.
A turning point is like a crossroad moment.
Either new information comes to the forth that throws the character off his set path to reach his goal, or someone else does something completely unexpected - like breaking up with him.
This unexpected moment is the reason why there’s a change.
To show you how I analyze a song, let’s use Placebo’s single “For What it’s Worth” of the album Battle for the Sun.
For What It's Worth © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management
The end of the century
I said my goodbyes
For what it's worth
I always aim to please
But I nearly died
For what it's worth
Come on lay with me
'Cause I'm on fire
For what it's worth
I tear the sun in three
To light up your eyes
For what it's worth (x repeated)
Broke up the family
Everybody cried
For what it's worth
I have a slow disease
That sucked me dry
For what it's worth
Come on walk with me
Into the rising tide
For what it's worth
Filled a cavity
Your god shaped hole tonight
For what it's worth (x repeated)
No one cares when you're out on the street
Picking up the pieces to make ends meet
No one cares when you're down in the gutter
Got no friends got no lover
No one cares when you're out on the street
Picking up the pieces to make ends meet
No one cares when you're down in the gutter
Got no friends got no lover
For what it's worth (x repeated)
Got no lover
Got no friends got no lover
So now answer those five question to the song:
After you’ve figured out what the problem is that the character in the song has to deal with and if there was an unexpected moment that turned the tables, you could answer a bunch of other criteria about that song in a spreadsheet.
Next to the general information like:
I’ll also take note of
In the spreadsheet, you can make even more columns to answer a lot more about those different aspects.
And in the next post, I’ll tell you what the 13 most important criteria are to come closer to figuring out what your Uniqueness Factor is.
© Stories in Songs, Melanie Naumann
→ Next Article: The storytelling criteria for writing great songs. or write a Comment