Tag: study

Hands Tied – Toni Braxton

This is a great example of a current Urban AC (Adult Contemporary) song. Toni Braxton needed something to put her back on the charts – something with a current sound after her mega-hits of the 1990s. This song has a melody with loads of rhythmic interest and a fresh approach to the lyric theme. Take a listen and then we’ll discover what made this song so appealing to today’s listeners.


Recorded by Toni Braxton
Writers: Heather Bright, Warren Felder, and Harvey Mason, Jr.
Lyrics are available on the internet.
Shortcut # refers to my book “Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting.”

STRUCTURE
Here’s a perfect example of the VERSE / CHORUS / VERSE / CHORUS / BRIDGE / CHORUS hit song structure! The repetitive verse builds rapidly to a HUGE chorus with tons of catchy hooks and a wonderful payoff line at the end that keeps going and going and going… only to fall immediately into the start of the second verse.

Try this trick in a song of your own: extend the last line (the payoff line) with repetition or by stretching out the words until it leads right into the next section. 

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The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert

There are many reasons why this is an unlikely hit song and yet it found it’s way to the top spot on the Country charts and it’s rapidly becoming a standard. The song itself sounds more like an album cut than a hit; while the chorus has a beautiful payoff line at the end, it lacks the huge hooks and big emotional release that usually drives a song to #1. So let’s see what it has that makes people want to hear it.


Recorded by MIRANDA LAMBERT
Writers: Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin
Lyrics are available on the internet.
Shortcut # refers to my book “Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting.”

THEME
This song explores an emotion we’ve all felt: a yearning to go back to the place where we grew up, to reconnect with the sense of security or simpler times we once knew, especially when our lives are troubled. There’s tremendous appeal in this theme and it’s handled well here. We’re right there with the singer as she knocks on the door, talks to the people who live in the house, and describes the things that happened there as she grew up, all the while hinting at the troubles that have driven her back home to try to heal.

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Why Don’t We Just Dance – Josh Turner

Josh was looking for Country hits for his new album and found this one through a Nashville publisher. I know a lot of songwriters who pitched for this so it’s interesting to hear what the artist finally chose.

Recorded by JOSH TURNER
Writers: Singleton / Beavers / Brown
Lyrics are available on the internet.
Shortcut # refers to my book Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting.

RHYTHMIC FEEL
I want to start this song analysis with the underlying rhythmic groove of this song. It’s a shuffle. (Count 1-and-uh, 2-and-uh, 3-and-uh, 4-and-uh.) This is an old-fashioned groove you just don’t hear in today’s hit songs. Mid-tempo shuffles have a laid back, down-and-dirty feel. The lyric says, “Hey, let’s just dance” and, with this beat, you get the idea that the dancing is probably on the sexy side.

Grooves are essentially physical things; they “speak” to the body. Try dancing along with this track and feel how it makes your body move. This is an important aspect of the song that we’re not consciously aware of but makes a big difference in how we experience it.

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