How to Song Write: Developing Song Verses.
Ok, in the first part of How to Write Songs, I talked about my thought process in creating a chorus from a poem I was given. This time I'll talk about the verses. Here's the material that became the verses, for reference.
Will you be my angel?
When you cross to the other side.
When those pearly gates swing open wide
When Jesus' Glory shines upon your face
Will you be my angel, brother?
When a shout welcomes you home,
When Jesus heals your every hurt
When you look down from the majestic throne.
Will you be my angel, next of kin
When kisses cover your cheeks from your mother
When pride glows in your father's eyes
When you are crushed in hugs and bathed in tears
Ok, I didn't do much to the first stanza, I just reversed lines 3 and for and removed some syllables so it would fit the musical phrase of the song. One thing I'd say about a lot of poems or "songs" that people write, especially if they don't sing, is that the lines will often have wildly varying syllable counts. At the very least they should be easy to speak, but the simpler the poetic rhythm, the easier it will be to sing. Again, for verse two, I removed some syllables here and there to make it more singable.
How to Song Write: Verse 3, Overcoming Cliche.
For verse three, I couldn't come up with a way to elegantly fit all the imagery in without making it stilted. The tears/fears rhyme is cliché, but you don't often hear of tears getting rid of fears, usually it's fears causing tears, so I flipped the idea around to soften the cliché. I kept the mother imagery, but I probably should have put the father imagery into another verse, and I'm still not happy with what I have.
Now obviously the decedents mother and father had preceded him in death and were there waiting, but you don't quite get that with what I have. There's probably a more elegant solution, but I didn't want to stray from the original words too much. I did keep the "Will you be my angel" as each first line of the song as it's what the poet had, and it drives home the theme. The "When" starting every other line was a little much though, so I removed a few of those.
How to Song Write Using Universal Song Themes.
Now this obviously is a religious poem, filled with religious imagery, which has become familiar to the point of cliché. However, that familiarity seems to resonate with the people who listen to this kind of music. But it's part of the reason I don't like much contemporary Christian music, because it ends up being so much "God your are so big" type of thing. There are so many personalized faith songs, that by sheer number they become generalized and have a sameness to them. Of course the same could be said for love songs, protest songs, etc. Still, that's the fine line a good song has to walk, being personal, but general enough that everyone can relate.
This song however, talks about a loved one looking down as a guardian, which to me is a pretty basic human theme, still this song will obviously have a niche market. As an aside, while listening to some Christmas music, my wife commented that Amy Grant's voice was plain. Which it is, it's a good voice but nothing unique or exceptional. I think she became so popular because she was the first to fill that niche of religious music that was pop flavored. It's now the pop sub-genre known as "inspirational", but never discount the niche.
How to Song Write: Staying True to the Poet.
I will say I was given free reign by the poet to change anything I wanted, which helps, many times people are in love with their words and don't want to change a single thing. Unfortunately that can lead to a stilted, difficult to sing melody. The melody and lyrics have to give way to each other, that's why I think it makes it so much easier if the poet sings. That being said, I like to keep as much original material as possible, and if I can't, I can at least stay faithful to the spirit of the original. Those are some things I try to keep in mind when I am writing songs for other people.
After playing it for various people, I found they were a little confused about who the angel was. They didn't get that it was somebody who had died, and after thinking about it I agree. I know the backstory, but I the song doesn't really tell you that. However, I didn't write it.
I hope this series on How to Song Write has helped you, here is the finished product, Will You Be My Angel.
