Hats Off to Songwriters: So Much To Learn From Great Lyrics
March 7, 2011
Ever wondered…
What makes a good song
so incredibly moving
or catchy
or memorable?
“It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them. The words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page.” ~Joan Baez
What is it about the words, for example, of “Bless the Broken Road” (lyrics by Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd and Jeff Hanna) that gives us no choice but to pull the car over and have a good sob?
For those of us in Nashville, it’s THE topic of discussion. The guy who serves you your pizza on weekends spends his midnights with his guitar trying to crack the code. The Target cashier who seems a little spaced out has just jotted down on a napkin the lyrics she is sure will be her big break. It’s all around us. The question, that is; the answers…they’re more elusive.
Particularly since moving here six years ago, I’ve been far more aware of what lyrics catch my attention and the All 
Important WHY–as well as the gifted songwriters behind them, quietly strumming at the Bluebird Cafe while Rascal Flatts and Faith Hill make their words famous.
Unlike those of us (non-song) writers of us who have whole books to fill with our words–a luxury that can lead us into temptation of being long-winded and slow to get rolling–songwriters operate with a tight limit to their number of lines –and must make every word count. Images have to be painted in a handful of words; stories must run their full arc in a matter of three minutes.
Whether you’re a songwriter or song-lover-listener, tell us what you think ALL writers could learn from your favorite lyrics about storytelling or capturing and holding someone’s attention or….
Please feel free to comment with video or audio links to singer/songwriters whose lyrics have something to teach other writers about the craft of a story arc:
Here, for example, is singer/ songwriter Kyle Matthews‘ powerful “Been Through the Water,” put with visuals by an unnamed individual:
And here’s a peek into one of Nashville’s legendary songwriting watering holes, The Bluebird Cafe, with “Let’s Go to Vegas” (lyrics by the funny and always insightful Karen Staley and made famous by Faith Hill) being performed:
For an ongoing discussion of great lyrics (as well as books, food, faith and friends, be sure to see Milton Brasher-Cunningham’s wonderful blog Don’t Eat Alone.
What insights do YOU have?
What can good songwriters teach every writer?
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Connect with Joy
Joy, Thanks for all of this. Such excellent points. I heard Marcus Hummon sing that song acapella in a little church wedding where my oldest daughter was the flower girl (she is 20 now). It was so moving.
I am always amazed at how a songwriter can use so few words to tell an entire story that so often brings tears to my eyes. Living in Nashville really is a special gift I forget to be thankful for. Good job putting that into (so few) words.
Suzanne
You’re so right, Suzanne, about Nashville. After hearing Marcus Hummon speak somewhere–at a forum for songwriters, I think, that Kyle Matthews arranged–I feel in love with that song and its genius storytelling. I mentioned to my brother in NC the next day. He said he’d not heard it. Then, that very weekend, he was officiating in a wedding in which both bride and groom were coming from previous disastrous, abusive marriages. As the bride walked down the aisle, “Bless the Broken Road” was sung. My brother reported that, of course, there was no dry eye or a hundred mile radius.
The flower-girl wedding/marriage only lasted a year or two, so the song and setting had no magical qualities, as it turned out. Elizabeth and I were in a wedding about 14 years ago where they used the song — that one seems to be sticking.
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