A Songwriters Candy
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iDoCoach.com blog
First of all, I hope you’re all staying safe and sane during this challenging time. Like you, I’m looking for ways to stay creative as well as picking up some new interests. I came upon Masterclass and decided now was the perfect time to dive into courses being taught by experts. I wanted the creative writing classes but will also be checking out ones on cooking, the advertising world, comedy and my favorite…one taught by a former FBI hostage negotiator!
First up was author Malcolm Gladwell’s writing class. If you’re not familiar with him think “The Tipping Point” and “Outliers”. I’m always looking for parallels between songwriting and other creative forms. Malcolm talked about the theory of giving the reader “candy”. In his analogy just giving them the main meal was not enough. Think of it this way. When you tell a friend about something you’ve heard, seen or read you’re not inclined to give them the whole story, you’re gonna give them the candy. Just a moment or line that was particularly memorable. You need to give them something to talk about. The more he talked about candy the more it made me think of the songwriting equivalent, color.
How many times have you heard a song and remembered a line? I’m talking about the lines that are not the title of the song but just so good you can’t wait to hear them again.
Examples: The ring falling into the spaghetti line from the Kenny Chesney hit The Good Stuff written by Jim Collins and Craig Wiseman
From the Bruno Mars mega hit Uptown Funk “I’m too hot (hot damn) make a dragon wanna retire man”.
You get the idea, great songs but these are the type of lines that are absolutely the candy. You’ve probably heard lots of songwriters discuss color and detail, painting a picture with your lyric. Think of these things as the candy in your full meal of a song. Sometimes that’s the part of the song that your listener will remember most. Let’s not forget my personal favorite “smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy”.
That reminds me, I need to add peanut butter to my Instacart list.
Mark Cawley
Nashville, Tennessee
Mark Cawley iDoCoach.com
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Check out this interview in M Music and Musicians Magazine for stories behind a few of my songs!
SONG JOURNEY BOOK
Mark Cawley is a hit songwriter who coaches other writers around the globe through his one-on-one, online service iDocoach.com. His songs have been on more than 16 million records with cuts ranging from Tina Turner to Wynonna Judd to The Spice Girls. His book, Song Journey, was released in April 2019 and went to #1 in 6 catagories on Amazon.Mark is a judge for the UK Songwriting Contest, Nashville Rising Star, Belmont University’s Commercial Music program, and West Coast Songwriter events. He’s also a contributing author to USA Songwriting, In Tune Magazine and Songwriter Magazine, a sponsor for the Australian Songwriting Association, and a mentor for The Songwriting Academy UK. Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Mark now resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
you can find Song Journey on Amazon.
