A Lesson in Songwriting

There's an old saying among writers that has great relevance to songwriting.  "Less is more." Using this in a story is much easier than in songwriting. When applied to writing, its uses are very obvious. Instead of "The grey dog with a mangy coat and a definite limp walked slowly down the street, full of pot holes and rain." a writer could say, "The mangy grey dog limped down the street, around the pot holes filled with last-night's rain." Its more succinct and really paints a clearer picture. But, applying this is much more difficult in writing lyrics.

Neither of the above lines would work in a song. They're much too long, and laden with awkward words. Sam Beam, of Iron and Wine, recently discussed how he uses well-known religious imagery to clarify and create images and stories.

"I could say, 'Joe and Bob, where one is jealous and cruel and one is innocent and everything we want to be, they represent the duality that lives in each of us.' Or you could say 'Cain and Abel went to McDonald's. . .' It creates an economy of language," 

(from NPR music)

I like the phrase he uses to describe it, "economy of language." How can a songwriter do that besides using religious metaphors?  Let's look at some of the lyrics to a song that I like.

you were a phonograph, i was a kid
i sat with an ear close, just listening
i was there when the rain tapped her way down your face
you were a miracle…i was just holdin your space

and

well you were a dancer, i was a rag
the song in my head, well was all that i had
hope was a letter i never could send
love was a country we couldn’t defend.

(Light Year by Gregory Alan Isakov)

I think in these two verses of the same song, Gregory Alan Isakov says a lot about both persons involved. It's apparent that this song (from other parts of the song that I did not post) is about a past love. The first stanza tells us that Gregory was mesmerized by this girl, he felt unworthy next to her, and he loved to just sit and listen to her. From these short lines, I believe, we can see more than just these facts, because of the economy of language we can begin to feel the admiration and love he felt for this girl. Much more than it actually says.

From the second stanza, we see how she was, in Gregory's eyes at least, graceful and beautiful, and he could never really explain to her how he felt. And, we know, that one day, whatever relationship they had, ended in heartbreak. Once again, the lines portray more emotion than facts and give us insight into the character of the songwriter and the lover that we couldn't have gotten if the words had been something like, "You were graceful, i was a klutz. The words in my head never came out. I could never really say how I felt, and so you left me one day alone." While those words would work to music, they are so much less emotionally charged, more awkward, and tell us far less about the narrator. They only state the facts. The shorter, more concise words mean a whole lot more than the ones I replaced them with.

I think these are two ways we, as songwriters should do to approach making our songs say more with less, and really let listeners into the events. Let them see, hear, and feel what really happened, even if the event isn't described action by action.