Hit Chorus = Hit Song
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My article first appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of Songwriting Magazine and reprinted here with thier permission.
Chorus First
You can’t have too many tools in your songwriting toolbox and this is one of my favorites. So you’ve hit a wall, your approach to songwriting is starting to seem like too much of the same thing, the usual method is getting stale. Try forgetting about everything else in your song but the chorus. Seriously. Just focus on those huge 4 to 8 lines that are going to be the most memorable part of what a listener hears.
I would call myself a title writer and could also add that I’m a chorus writer first a lot of the time. I’m looking for an interesting title and I know that title is going to be an integral piece of the chorus and I also know I’m probably going to use it more than once. Not a hard and fast rule by any means but a good place to start. In coaching songwriters, I’m always pointing them to the idea of settling on their title followed by writing a short bit of prose. What’s the song going to be about? The big idea? That’s you're prose. That’s also going to be what your chorus reflects.
It’s common knowledge that a listener picks up on the melody of your chorus first followed closely by the title of your song and as much of the chorus lyric as they need to sing along. Only makes sense that if something is that important it’s worth being your main focus. I was told a few years back by a pretty well-known hitmaker that he always starts with a chorus. When I asked why he replied, “If you don’t have a hit chorus you don’t have a hit song”. Again, not suggesting this is the only way to go about writing your own hit but it’s one great tool to try.
Almost Home
I’ve always felt that if I had a chorus that felt great that I was 75% home. Almost as if I could fill in the blanks in the verses, pre-chorus, post-chorus, or bridge. I’ve even gone so far as to start right out putting my chorus idea in bold print so my eye always comes back to it as I write the rest of my song. Am I still following my prose? No rabbit trail detours from my main point? And most of all is my chorus all about the big idea?
Repetition is another valuable option as you’re putting together your chorus. For instance. You might try drawing four lines and putting your title in line one and line four. Now you only have two lines to fill in. Take the same approach with an eight-line chorus. The title is the first line, 4th line, 5th line, and 8th line. Just one way of going about it but you can see the major role your title might play in your chorus. Can you overuse the title? Maybe, but the more you can use it in your chorus the easier it is for a listener to instantly learn your song.
Listen to your favorite songs to see how these choruses are put together to help you build your own. No rules here and there are tons of exceptions to the idea of the importance of the big, fat hit chorus but it is hard to deny the role it plays in most popular music.
Multiple Hooks
We’re in an age of multiple hooks. Your intro should be a hook along with every other part of your song but, there is no more important hook than your chorus, so why not start there? Hit chorus hit song.
Mark Cawley
Nashville, Tennessee
Image: Shutterstock
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Mark Cawley iDoCoach.com
Mark Cawley is a hit songwriter, best-selling author, in demand speaker, songwriting coach, and popular blogger. As a songwriter his songs have been on more than 16 million records to date with cuts ranging from Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Chaka Khan and Diana Ross to Wynonna Judd, Taylor Dayne, Paul Carrack, The Spice Girls and many more. Through his coaching service iDoCoach.com, he has coached thousands of songwriters worldwide.
His book, Song Journey, was released in April 2019 and went to #1 in 6 categories on Amazon. Mark is a past 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, InTune Magazine, Songwriter Magazine, a sponsor for the Australian Songwriting Association, and a past mentor for The Songwriting Academy UK. Born in Syracuse, New York, Mark has lived in Boston, Los Angeles, Indianapolis and London. Mark now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. The Daily Song Journal is his second book.
Here is a link to “ The Daily Song Journal” on Amazon
You can also find Song Journey on Amazon.
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