Start With Great Song Titles: Some Advice

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Mike Freze

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I've been a published songwriter with London Records years ago. I'm getting back into my writing again and hope I still have the "juice" I once had (ha-ha).

Anyway, there's a theory out there (especially from old-schooled master songwriters like Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Paul Williams, Burt Bacharch, etc.) that you should start writing songs by coming up with great titles to work with before anything else. A great title leads itself to everything you set up in the song: it will give the lyrics focus, will dictate the type of melody or rhythm you use, will be a part of your hook (chorus), and so on.

In other words, get a great title and half your battle is one. It could be a play on words ("Sleeping Single In A Double Bed"), suggestive ("Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"), direct statement ("The Wreck Of The Edzmund Fitgerald"), funny ("A Boy Named Sue"), etc.

I agree: if you can start with clever or catchy titles even before you start writing lyrics or thinking of melodies, that's half the battle. That gives you (or MAKES you) focus on the song. Too many people start writing a verse or two to get a song going (or get a nice melody going), and then they wander from there and don't have a tight focus a 3-4 minute commercial song demands. Then they have to "force" a hook or chorus somehow or let their verses wander and try to "fit" a song title in there later on.

Yet many monster hits have been made from lousy titles, too: "And I Love You So," "Yesterday," "You're My Everything," etc. So you never know, right? If you have a lousy title, the rest of the music must be more than fantastic in order to pull it off.

Mike Freze
 
excellent advice. and just to sum up what you're saying: either start with a great song title or don't. will keep that in mind. thanks.
 
Me Again! Just Another Thought

Think of authors of books (or short story writers). Normally they don't start off just writing randomly with no purpose or direction. They usually have a book (or article) title in mind before they start writing. That keeps them focused on what they are going to say. How can you write a table of contents for a book, for example, it all the chapters don't relate to a book title they are working on? I guess the same principle can apply to writing songs, too. I know with songs, there's another element involved: the music (chords, progressions, melodies, instrumental hooks, etc.) But all that can work around the type of song title (and the music genre) you are writing for that song.

For us songwriters, is that hard to due when we always rely on inspirations of the moment, experimenting with chord progressions and melodies, using catchy one-line openers for the first verse? Of course.

But remember: songwriting is a learned CRAFT as much as it is inspiration. Writers that last year after year and generation after generation such as The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Smokey Robinson, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, Carly Simon, have their craft down. It's no accident that they write great songs 20 years ago and still do today.

Luck is a mjor part of success, but CONTINUED success with the public goes beyond lucK; then, you look to experts who know their craft and can work with that through the changes music faces for each generation. You can't fool the public more than once. You either know your craft (and are consistent), or you are quickly forgotten. The luck is the first big break. After that, you better know your craft to make it happen more than once.

In my opinion, although there are hundreds of thousand of hopeful songwriters out there, only a very few (maybe 5%) really know their craft on a consistent basis. Music business professionals know which ones of that 5% are: cream always rises to the top (eventually, even if it takes time).

So strive for consistency and not for a one-time great song that you just got lucky putting together one day. That opens a door, but it will close quickly if you can't follow up for a record company past that. Aim for the long run.

Mike Freze
 
I Almost Forgot

Here I am again, fellow songwriters! I'll shut up soon, I promise.

About song titles again. Old titles used to work but they've been done so many times that they won't cut it any more: "I'm In Love With You," "I Love You Truly," you know what I mean.

Yet you can still take common relateable songtitles and make them fresh or new by just adding a simple work to them; it changes the whole title attraction. Want any example? Olivia Newton John had a monster hit called "I Honestly Love You." Remember that one? If she would have just said "I Love You" as the title, it would be too old-fashioned, too over-used. Yet adding the word "honestly" in the title gave it that extra something that made it work. "I HONESTLY Love You" works where "I Love You" doesn't. So don't be afraid to add one extra word to a common phrase to make it sound fresh or new.

Another example. "Love Me For A Reason" by The Osmonds. They didn't just say "Love Me" or "Love Me, Baby," they said "Love Me FOR A REASON.' What a difference in the title!! And that suggested the entire lyrics: Love me for a reason, and let the reason be love. There you go: the obvious repetitive hook/chorus line right there. There's the kernel of the song, obvious for the chorus, obvious for building the rest of the lyrics around to lead up to that phrase. Simple, clever short phrases into the hook/chorus. That's what it's all about. Think of other top 40 hits and you'll see it over and over again. It's a method that has worked for decades. STICK TO IT!

Peace! Mike Freze
 
I agree with the title first if that's what works for you. The way I write (if that's what you want to call it) is have a theme and build around that. I writs sentences and latter put them into a song and build the music around that. My lead vocalist usually uses words from the chorus for the song title.
 
Yes, The Theme!!

Hey, geat hearing from you. You're right: a good theme for a song will work to create a focused lyric/melody/hook/ etc. Of cousre, if you stick to a theme, a good title that is focused on the theme should come out of that. It's a natural blend. I guess it's one or the other: work with a great title that suggests the theme of the song, or have a SPECIFIC theme in mind for a song (not many, but one per-song) and a speciific title can come out that way too. I think titles and song themes work hand-in-hand: both need to be together, but you can start from either approach. If you start with a theme, I would suggest not going too far along in your song creation without getting that title to reflect the theme. Again, you don't want your theme to drift lyrically and wonder how you tie it together with the title that is the pay off in your hook/chorus. Get them both down together early in your song (like by no later than your first verse or no later than your chorus if you start your song out that way). Then you have the direction to complete your song.

Keep in touch!

Mike Freze
 
Then you have the Beatles "Love Me Do" and "Oob La Di Oob La Da."

I always thought "Yesterday" was a good title.
 
Hi chaps. Newbie here.

Agree with what you're saying re: titles. But then again, I would because that's exactly how I write!
A good example of this came recently when I overheard someone say 'Hey Lord, I'm still trying.' And I thought: Wow! I like that.' I have no idea why the phrase captured my imagination, I suppose it's just one of those things that for some reason or another just sticks in your mind.

I also get inspiration for song titles by reading those huge billboards you get up in town centres, etc. You know, advertising some new car on the market, or a particular washing detergent? I find anything like that can fire my imagination.

I always wondered why, when I was a kid that nobody else did this. Nobody seemed to take an interest in phrases, titles, things like that. But I suppose it's what we do as writers, eh?
 
Replies To Your Responses/A Chance To Hear My Songs

Thanks for the responses, guys!

I agree that "Yesterday" (Beatles) was a great title. I love the song. Yet that same title was a HUGE hit back in the 1940's (written by either Jerome Kern or Hogey Carmichael, can't remember now). It became a standard. So Paul was lucky to re-use that title and come up with perhaps the most recorded song in history. Then again, different style, different era. You couldn't pull off a "Yesterday" song nowadays, I don't think.

As far as what songs I had radio play on when I had them published with London Records years ago, none. I tried. I had some close calls on recordings of those songs but none came through. People who cam close to recording them (and I met them all) were: Sony Bono (Sony & Cher), BW Stevenson (who wrote "My Maria,"), Johnny Mathis, and Davey Jones. Wrong timing, I guess.

I did get one black group (Pure, Fun, & Pleasure) to record on their album and tour with my song called "Can You Feel It?" (no radio play).

The songs I had published that came close to being recorded were: "Yellowflower" (BW Stevenson), "Morning In Her Eyes" (Davey Jones), "Hung Up On A Feeling" (Sony Bobo), and "Cynthia" (Johnny Mathis).

I do have a number of my songs I recorded demos of those songs (and others) while I worked for London Records back then (1973). If anyone wants to hear them, I have them ready as donwloadable files (attachments) vis my e-mail. Let me know if you want to hear them. REMEMBER: I was only 19, it was 1973, and what I did was cool for that era. But I wrote them all and a few are still really good (I think). My recordings are just solo (vocal/guitar).

Here's my e-mail address if you want to write me and ask to send you attached files of those songs to listen to:

mike.freze@yahoo.com

I would have like 2 songs per-attachment (e-mail limits on size) and send several e-mail letters separately so you could here quite a few of them.

I think you will see strong song structure in all of them (even if they're outdated now) concerning verses, choruses, bridges, etc.

Mike Freze
 
i've had at least 3 songs break the top 10 in major market radio play and i just write a bunch of garbage.
 
ez willis

Wow! That's great! What type of songs are they? What radio markets did they work with?

I'd love to hear some of your material. Any chance you could send them to me as song file attachments to my e-mail address?

mike.freze@yahoo.com


When you say what has worked for you with radio play as "garbage songs," I don't understand. You must have something going on with your music if radio stations are picking up on it. Again, let me hear what is happening for you.

Mike Freze
 
I think any kind of formula to make up a song will ultimately fail. For every song with a great title there's a successful one with a stupid title.

Every rule you come up with you'll find the opposite is also true.

It's about something else that is intangible. People are always looking for "the secret". There is no secret, that's the secret.
 
dintymoore said:
I think any kind of formula to make up a song will ultimately fail. For every song with a great title there's a successful one with a stupid title.

Every rule you come up with you'll find the opposite is also true.

It's about something else that is intangible. People are always looking for "the secret". There is no secret, that's the secret.
Click to expand...

yep. agreed.
 
dintymoore

Thanks for your insights. I really aprreciate it.

Of course, I tend to disagree about the "formula" thing you said here. I'm just suggesting tools for songwriters to work with that might help them create better songs.

Structure IS important. Check all the hits out on the radio today (or decades ago) and structure/form is always there. Maybe some of the rhythms or melodies are strange when compared to yesterday, but even those songs have some form and structure behind them (I'm not so sure about rap on this).

You're right about some songs that make it with lousy titles. Either the artist with the lousy title has already made it and has a certain freedom that others don't have, or the song is so damn great that the title is secondary to the great overall song (like "Yesterday" with Paul McCartney). But that's rare.

For those just trying to break into the business, it still makes more sense to use great/original/provacative/picturesque titles than to use lousy ones. You are working against the competition of wanna-be's if you go that route when you're tyring to get noticed.

Yes, formulas actually do work: look at the success of Burt Bacharch, Paul Simon, Jerome Kern, Paul Williams, Jimmy Webb, Tobi Keith, etc. The list goes on and on of succesful songwriters who do use formulas, forms, and structures to created hit after hit, generation after generation.

It's not the ONLY way to succeeed, but it cuts the odds down dramatically if your know your craft, have a niche, and consistenly poroduce great material. I'd rather bank on that method that the "anything goes, do your won thing, hope for inspiration, see what happens" approach. You'll never write consitently great songs that record companies accept and radio stations play going that route. That's a hit-and-miss type of thing, a "hope for the best" appproach."

The only reason I say these things is because that was what I was taught by a successful publisher I worked with from London Records in L.A. for a few years. He published and produced many successful hits, and he taught me that these tools of the craft really don't change that much from decade to decade.

I even read an article by members of Metallica that they too use formulas for all of their albums and all of their commercial, radio-friendly songs. Listen to the Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, U2, Tom Petty, Lionel Ritchie, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, ZZ Top, etc. They are ALL formula artists that know their craft, have certain forms and structures they adhere to, and make great hit music out of it. They have their own formulas, but they are fairly consistent with them if you listen to all of their albums. Nothing wrong with that!!

Take a good look at any great song and really analyze it. Say, "One Of These Nights" by The Eagles. If you really listen and break down every verse, chorus, bridge, instumental hook, repeats, sound effects, arragements, etc., you'll see solid structure in the form of patterns, repeats, internal rhymes, when the harmonies appear, how the volume changes at key points of the song, And the verses, choruses, bridge do follow a set format for a short song. But this true with ALL The Eagles songs. Listen to others and you'll see a tightly organized song structure and format for each hit even though the lyrics and melodies are different from song to song.

Final point: luck has a lot to do with success and so does money backing. But great talent that knows their craft is NOT luck. They always get noticed and signed at some point or another.

Mike Freze
 
dintymoore said:
There is no secret, that's the secret.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's exactly what the duck said in Kung Fu Panda!!! :D But it's true.

No formula but there are some comonalities among hit songs, though:

AABB rhyming scheme for verses,
CDCD for choruses,
hard rhymes,
V1 V2 Ch V3 Ch solo/bridge Ch for the song structrure or something very similar,
and one other thing I can't remember. Ah, luck, that's it.
 
Chili said:
Wow, that's exactly what the duck said in Kung Fu Panda!!! :D But it's true.

No formula but there are some comonalities among hit songs, though:

AABB rhyming scheme for verses,
CDCD for choruses,
hard rhymes,
V1 V2 Ch V3 Ch solo/bridge Ch for the song structrure or something very similar,
and one other thing I can't remember. Ah, luck, that's it.
Click to expand...

But there is a formula for luck, sorry to be redundant:

luck = preparation + opportunity

Trying to make hits by formulas reminds me of university thinking. The best way I know of learning about form and songs is by transcribing them. After you've done a few hundred, the intangible will start to sink in, and you still won't be able to convey it to anyone else.
 
Of course formulas work. They may not work forever, but they do work, repeatedly. That's why they are formulas. I would agree that, in the overall scheme of an artists' life, certain formulas can have a shelf life.
It's intriguing that a formulaic approach to music is almost always perceived as a negative. They're not, necesarilly. Given that there are so many different ways of writing, sometimes formulas are actually unconscious. And even if they ain't, so what ? As long as the resultant song is good and memorable, who really cares ? I'm not going to disregard a song simply because it didn't hit the writer as a bolt of inspiration. Many writers put in bits that they know their listeners are likely to dig. Having said that though, in certain genres, formulaic songwriting can be really wearing and boring and irritating unless one finds the song in question to be mesmerizing.

As for the 'writing around titles' bit, if you want to do that, bon chance ! I remember once reading something the late Rick Wright said when he pointed out that titles were unimportant, simply a way of diffrentiating one song from another. I see where he was coming from. There are loads of songs I listen to (especially instrumentals or songs in languages I don't understand) where I don't know the titles. Having said that, I do like a catchy title. Very rarely have I written a song to one though. Titles usually come after I've finished or am part way through what I'm writing. Instrumentals are easier to name ! Often, because the pieces of music I come up with have no lyrics, they're given dumb working titles. Once in a while, the dumb title has stuck.

By the way, Obladi Oblada means "life goes on".
 
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