by Mark Brinkman
The Songwriting 80/20 Rule
Songwriting is both fun and rewarding. It is a labor of love for most all of us songwriters. When we finish a song it is like a new baby. We love it and tend to overlook all the flaws that may be apparent. If you are a songwriter trying to break into the market (whatever market you write for) there are a few basic things you need to understand about writing songs that others will want to record.
First of all, there are a million "good" songs that have been written. Good songs tend to be a dime a dozen. They are liked by our Mom's, Dad's, and friends but tend not to stand up to the scrutiny of artists and bands looking for quality material. While there are exceptions to every rule, for the most part, only "great" songs will get recorded by an artist or band on a national level. One of the areas where writers fall down is where they write a tune fairly quickly. Maybe have a killer chorus and a killer verse or even more. BUT, writers tend to want to get the song "finished right away" and compromise a killer verse and chorus by adding a verse that is filled with "clichés", "filler" and just drags the entire song down with it. In my opinion even one weak line in a song will cause a song to fall down to the "good" level. So herein lies the 80/20 rule. That is:
The first 80% of the song will be written in the 20% of the total time. The final 20% of the song will take 80% of the time.
The compromise of the last 20% of the song is one of the biggest mistakes that songwriters make in an effort to "finish" the song. Getting the last 20% of the song perfect will go a long way to creating a "great" song.
Secondly, people tend to write songs with all kinds of "ands", "buts", "withs" etc. These are filler words and most times are not needed. These take away from the smooth singing of the song and also muddy the waters. He is an example of a tune that I have co-written with fine writer Mike Evans. It is called "I Beg You Little Darlin' Not To Cry". © 2004 Mike Evans & Mark “Brink” Brinkman. The first verse could be:
I beg you little darlin' not to cry
For the stories that you hear are only lies
I know you're feeling blue
But I swear that I've been true
So I beg you little darlin' not to cry.
While it may seem not to be important we can remove several words that are just filler and it makes the song stronger. Take out the "for" in line 2, the "but" in line 4, and the "so" in line 5. This leaves this for the verse:
I beg you little darlin' not to cry
The stories that you hear are only lies
I know you're feeling blue
I swear that I've been true
I beg you little darlin' not to cry
This way the song sings better and we haven't compromised the meaning of the verse. While this may not be a tremendous example it does make the point. So many of the songs that people send me to critique have "filler" words throughout the song. Make every word count for something.
Lastly, make sure that there is a perfect marriage between the "meter", "lyrics" and the "melody". The words should fit PERFECTLY into the meter of the song. It should sing in a conversational way. You should not have to put an emphasis on wrong syllables or have to fit too many words into a musical phrase where it won't fit. Write lines as you converse. On my song Tennessee Backroads there is a bridge that I wrote originally and during my 80% tweaking period I was guilty of writing in a non-conversational way. The line I had was:
“I see my Momma waving from the cabin through the trees"
"I know that I am home again never more to leave”
No one talks like that!! J During my “tweaking” session the line was changed to:
“That weather-beaten cabin sure looks
good to me.
Now that I am home again I know I’ll never leave”
Much more conversational and more like people “talk”.
Well I hope this may help some of you when you are thinking about adding filler to a song just to finish. Make every line strong, write in a conversational way, make sure that the meter, lyrics and melody have a perfect marriage and you’ll be well on your way to writing “great” songs J
Good luck!
Mark “Brink” Brinkman
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