Songwriting Craft & Inspiration
ROBIN FREDERICK TAKES YOU INSIDE TODAY'S HIT SONGS.
Taylor Swift currently has multiple songs on the charts. Each one is a master class in melody and lyric writing you can apply to your own songs in any genre. “Cruel Summer” is filled with songwriting goodies you can use to add listener appeal but still say what you want to say in your song. So let’s dive in!
The song “Bones” by Galantis and OneRepublic has been successful in three different music markets: a Dance Club hit, a Pop/Dance Radio hit, and Film & TV placements. Like many Dance genre songs, this one is the product of several talents including Swedish production duo Galantis and Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic.
In fact, there are nine songwriters credited with writing this song. You’ll see crowds of songwriters like these on many Pop and Dance hits, and even some Country songs. These songs are the result of a songwriting process called toplining.
Dermot Kennedy has written a great album. Hands down. No argument. That’s what it is. His debut album Without Fear was released in 2019 and has been hanging out on the Triple A music chart ever since.
There have been Film & TV placements, tours, and accolades for Kennedy’s unique blend of musical styles. He mixes a passionate Pop vocal sound with insightful Singer-Songwriter lyrics and Hip-Hop rhythms. So let’s take a look at a song from the album that shows off all three: “Outnumbered.”
For a while now, I’ve been wanting to do a Song Guide on a Lewis Capaldi song. I first heard “Grace” on Grey’s Anatomy and I was struck by its rhythmical melody and simple, powerful hook. Next thing I knew, Capaldi had a radio hit and Grammy nomination for “Someone You Loved,” a piano/vocal song with a lyric that evokes the Titanic of relationship disasters. Capaldi’s current single, “Before You Go,” is well on its way to a billion listens on Spotify. So I start wondering who is this guy?
Well, it turns out, Lewis Capaldi the artist currently consists of himself and a production/songwriting team called TMS (Tommy Barnes, Benjamin Kohn, and Peter Kelleher). You can find out more about their collaboration in this interview.
Their cowrite with Capaldi,”Before You Go,” seems an unlikely hit in these days of unrelenting dance beats. Its dark, confessional Singer-Songwriter lyric and huge, emotional chorus, set it apart from most commercial radio hits. So I want to take a deeper look to find out what makes it work.
WHY THIS SONG?
“Driver’s License” is the debut single by Olivia Rodrigo. It got a lot of attention for the way it raced up the music charts and piled up millions of listens on stream-on-demand sites like Spotify and Apple Music. It quickly rose to #1 on the Pop music charts in the U.S and U.K with double platinum sales.
Rodrigo already had a throng of fans from her roles in successful Disney TV series like High School Musical, and there was a strong marketing push for the song from the record label as well (which is one reason artists still sign record deals).
But all of that does not take away from the fact that the song has a ton of appeal and is extremely well crafted. So, let’s pull it apart to see what makes it work and get some ideas for songs of your own.
