melody Archives – Page 6 of 8 – Songwriting Craft & Inspiration

Hit Songwriting: 3 Songs by Adele

Hit songwriting with Adele: Hello.

Adele had three back-to-back #1 hits on the AC radio charts – “Rolling In the Deep” “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire to the Rain”) Her powerful, expressive voice is a huge part of her success but her vivid, emotion-driven songs provide her with the perfect vehicle and it’s the combination that makes it happen. Adele has also been embraced by the Film & TV market, too. You can find a partial list of TV shows that have used her songs at TuneFind.com. It’s a long list!

I’m going to do something a little different in this “Study the Hits” post. I want to take a look at all three songs. They share similar lyric and melody writing techniques, yet they all sound quite different. I’m sure you’re familiar with these songs but I’ve included the videos to refer to as you read. Or… just watch and enjoy! 🙂

Set Fire to The Rain – Adele
Written by Adele and Fraser T Smith

Rolling In the Deep – Adele
Written by Adele and Paul Epworth

Someone Like You – Adele
Written by Adele and Dan Wilson

Lyrics are available on the Internet.
Shortcut numbers refer to my book “Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting” (“Hit”) and “Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV” (“Film/TV”). Both are available at Amazon.com.

GENRE (What is a genre?)
Adele’s songs appear on the Adult Contemporary (AC) and Hot Adult Contemporary (Hot AC) radio airplay charts. Her melodic writing style, emotional lyrics, and strong vocals appeal to a wide demographic, from teens to 50-somethings, which makes her perfect for the AC radio format. Although she’s considered a singer-songwriter she has co-writers on all three songs.

STRUCTURE
Each of these three songs sounds quite different, but all feature the same commercial song structure:

VERSE / PRE-CHORUS / CHORUS
VERSE / PRE-CHORUS / CHORUS
BRIDGE / CHORUS

Adele will often start the chorus right at the one-minute mark, which is just the right spot for a radio single. That’s about how long listeners are willing to wait for it. To keep listeners with her through the verse and pre-chorus, she fills the lyric with emotional details that draw them into the situation.

All My Days – Alexi Murdoch

Here’s a successful Singer-Songwriter song with simple production and an honest, emotionally moving lyric. Alexi Murdoch has sold over 50,000 CDs through CD Baby making him one of their biggest sellers of all time. He self-releases his music and has turned down several offers from major labels. Most of his sales came as a result of the film & TV uses of his songs.

You’ve probably heard the song “All My Days” without realizing it. It’s featured in a commercial for Sprint and has also been used in several TV series, including CSI, Scrubs, and The OC. Let’s take a look at why this simple, acoustic song is so successful.

Song Guide: Tattoos On This Town – Jason Aldean

Hit Country artist and songwriter Jason Aldean.

Songwriters: Michael Dulaney, Wendell Mobley, Neil Thrasher

Start with a great title

First of all, let’s take a look at this amazing song title:”Tattoos on This Town.” It’s a tremendous example of a short phrase that can support and inspire an entire song. It’s unique and fresh, and immediately made me wonder what the song would be about. Before even hearing the song, listeners are bound to ask: “What does this phrase mean?”

When you have an intriguing title like this, you’ve got to answer the questions it brings up and do it in a way that’s creative, yet clear and understandable. That’s just what these writers did: A tattoo is a permanent mark on the skin. The first line of the chorus is “It sure left its mark on us…” Got it! The town left its mark on the singer. The title is tied right into the lyric.

But these writers went even further: the images in the lyric show us the marks the singer and his friends left on the town. The whole song is framed by the title and satisfying the questions it brings up for listeners. (For more on answering the questions the title asks, read Shortcut #44.)

Listen to the song. Read the lyrics.

Watch on YouTube.

Read the lyrics to this song online.

(Shortcut numbers refer to my book Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting.)

GENRE: Contemporary Country

(What is a genre? Watch this video.)

Contemporary Country is a style that blends the melodic Rock sound of the 1970s with today’s songwriting techniques—vivid lyrics and melodies with a lot of momentum. We’ll take a look at both of these as we go through the song.

Fallin’ For You – Colbie Caillat

There are so many influences from Fleetwood Mac’s golden hits of the mid-1970s that it’s impossible to listen to this song without being reminded of those timeless, unforgettable hits. It’s a perfect example of how to take a style that had enormous appeal in an earlier decade and give it a fresh twist that makes it seem new again.

“Fallin’ For You” recorded by Colbie Caillat
Writers: Colbie Caillat & Richard Nowels
Lyrics are available on the internet.
Shortcut # refers to my book “Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting.”

STRUCTURE
The song structure is the current hit song go-to form…
VERSE / PRE-CHORUS / CHORUS
VERSE / PRE-CHORUS / CHORUS
BRIDGE / CHORUS

The pre-chorus begins with “I am trying not to tell you…” The chorus begins on the line “I’ve been spending all my time…” The bridge melody uses plenty of contrast, making it easy to spot. It consists of just two lines, beginning with “Ooh, I just can’t take it…”

Listen to the song and notice where the sections begin and end. Pay special attention to the way each section is “announced” by the melody. It helps keep the song organized and lets listeners know where they are in the song.

MELODY
In a Colbie Caillat song, the melodies are always catchy, memorable, and contemporary. Studying her melodies is a great way to get a feel for the current Pop/Singer-Songwriter genre.

This melody uses a simple technique that is characteristic of many songs in this style. There’s a lot of repetition in this melody.

King of Anything – Sara Bareilles

This song had a long run on the Adult Contemporary (AC) music charts. It has also been used in two popular TV series. Its fresh, insightful lyric paints a picture of a situation many listeners can identify with and the quirky melody is catchy and distinctive.

“King of Anything” recorded by Sara Bareilles
Writer: Sara Bareilles
Lyrics are available online here. Shortcut numbers refer to my books Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting (“Hit”) and Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV (“Film/TV”).

STRUCTURE
The song structure is:
VERSE / PRECHORUS / CHORUS
VERSE / CHORUS
BRIDGE / CHORUS

This song is a variation on a very popular hit song structure. Verse 1 is followed by a pre-chorus (“I hate to break it to you…”) then a chorus (“Who cares if you disagree…”). However, the song doesn’t have pre-chorus at the end of the second verse. Instead, the second verse goes directly to Chorus 2. This is followed by a bridge, then back for a couple repeats of the chorus to end the song. Possibly the second pre-chorus was cut in order to get to the second chorus sooner. The verses are quite long and the change in pace under the pre-chorus does seem to slow the forward momentum of the song.

MELODY
There are a lot of different tricks used in this melody to create an upbeat, catchy, fresh sound. The big attention-getter here is the unexpected jump up in the melody on the first word of the chorus (“Who…”). It’s used once more in the chorus – a good idea since listeners want to hear it again! Try a jump like this in one of your own melodies. It’s a great way to catch the listener’s ear!

Tag: melody