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What Makes a Hit Song?
By Mary Dawson
We hear them every day. We sing them in the shower and whistle them at work.
We surf the car radio hoping to hear our favorites. We're amazed at how quickly
they can turn 'nobodies' into celebrities. What are these magic musical marvels?
They are HIT SONGS -- the Top Forty -- the Saturday Countdown -- the Billboard chart-toppers,
and they are most certainly what every aspiring songwriter hopes to write.
Hit songs are also essential for every aspiring vocalist/artist -- especially those
who do not write their own material! No matter how great a voice may be, it must be
coupled with a Hit Song to launch the artist into the Music Galaxy. As an aspiring
singer, you may think that if a song comes from a big publishing company, or a
famous songwriter, it is bound to be a Hit, right? WRONG!
No matter how successful a publisher or writer may be, not every song in their
catalogs will be a Hit -- and they know it. That's why they have their "A" Songs, "B"
Songs and "C" Songs. If you are an unknown artist, the publisher may happily allow
you into the C Catalog, but believe me…they are saving the slamdunk Hits for the
major artists. On the flip side of that scenario, however, if you are able to
identify Hit material yourself, you may find gems in unexpected places -- perhaps
right under your nose in your own music community. It's up to you to know how to
choose songs that fit you and have the potential to take you to the top.
Perhaps we songwriters/artists/musicians should take a step back and strike a
more professional perspective about our "product" -- the songs we write and sing.
If we were shoemakers, but we didn't quite know what a shoe looked like or how to
identify a "real shoe," we probably wouldn't be too successful in the Shoemaking
Business. The same is true for us in the Business of Music. We must know exactly
what a Hit is before we can write one or find one that will launch our careers.
One of the best ways I know to identify the ingredients of a Hit is simply to
dissect it. If you want to know what makes a clock tick, take it apart. If you
want to know what makes a Hit "hit home" with millions, study the songs that are
in heavy rotation on the radio. And don't just study your favorite genre. Even if
you don't particularly like a certain style of music, there just might be something
you could learn from a song that is selling millions of copies! Humble yourself.
Open your mind. Listen not only as a listener, but as a professional. Learn what
it is that makes a song work!
Let's practice a little. Take a song like LeAnn Rimes' first chart shattering hit,
"Blue", written by Texas radio legend, Bill Mack. Personally, I first met LeAnn
when she was nine, and even at that young age, there was no doubt that she had
what it took to make it as a singer. It is probably fair to say that if "Blue"
had not been put into her hands at age 12, she would have "made it" with another
song -- sometime -- somehow. But "Blue" was THE song! Written by Bill Mack for Patsy
Cline over thirty years before, Patsy died before she could record it. When Bill
heard LeAnn's remarkable voice, he dug it out of the vaults for her.
We all can probably still hum that famous yodel that identifies the hook/title, but
if you need a refresher, you can download the song at iTunes for 99 cents and hear
it again. The lyrics can be found here.
What can we learn about this song as we dissect it?
First, "Blue" is in the very listener-friendly AABA song structure. It has two
verses ("A" sections) followed by a contrasting "B" or bridge section -- leading
back to another "A" section. After a slight instrumental interlude, Bill Mack
created another B section with the same melody as the first but different words
to lead back one more time to the magic "A" section that has become so memorable
Secondly, the hook/title, "Blue", is the first word in each "A" section -- a
very strategic location for the most memorable musical and lyrical moment of the song.
That very first word. "Blue", is sustained and allows the magic of LeAnn's yodel to
blow the audience away!
The melody and lyrics for the song are extremely simple. The melody definitely
passes the "whistle test" so that ordinary listeners can remember and whistle it,
and the lyrics simply focus on one thought...being blue...a feeling everyone on the
planet can identify with.
In summary, we could conclude that this song is completely distinctive and yet
completely universal. It has a strategically placed distinctive hook/title. The
melody and lyrics are distinctively simple and presented faultlessly by LeAnn's
amazing and distinct voice. But the song is also universal -- quickly connecting
with most listeners. It uses a familiar song form (AABA) which most listeners
understand. Everything about the song - both music and lyrics -- focuses on one
thought, "Blue".
In my consultation work with aspiring writers and artists, I am amazed at the
talent and music knowledge many of my clients possess. Many of the self-produced
CD's I receive for review are as good as or better than nationally produced
recordings. Why, then, are these talented people not at the top of the charts?
Here are some possible answers:
Expression vs. Communication
We artists often tend to become so enmeshed with our art that we become overly
preoccupied with "expressing" ourselves through our music. We pull out all the
technical, theoretical, vocal and musical acrobatics we have learned over the years,
in order to make our songs interesting and unique. In the process, however, we often
miss the essential "connection" with the listener. (And remember: most music
consumers know nothing about music or music theory. They don't even care that you
used an augmented fifth or a flat nine -- or that you have a 3 ½ octave range!)
Listeners want to "get" the song...not "get lost" in the composition. They want to
be moved...feel something...laugh, cry and identify with the song. If it fails to
make that connection, the song will NOT be a hit...no matter how well-produced or
performed it may be.
It's not just amateurs who fall into this quagmire! We have all known of successful
and very gifted artists who may have had several major hits on one record...only to be
followed by another record that totally bombs! Why? Perhaps because they start
allowing themselves the luxury of writing and performing esoteric melodies and
cryptic lyrics that, while personally profound and artistic for them, have absolutely
no connection with the average radio listener. And when the listener gets lost,
they change the channel! End of story!
Leading with Your Strengths
If you are a newcomer to the Entertainment Industry, you may be as surprised as I
was to learn that it is a very uncreative industry. Check out the new lineup of
television shows for this fall, for instance. If one network had a Hit with a
"spouse-swapping" reality show last year, there will be three more this year on
other networks...basically the same show with different titles. If there was a Hit
"crime scene investigation" drama a couple of seasons ago, there will be several
more this season -- the only difference being the city where the dramas occur.
The same is true with Music. If one record company has a major Hit that tops the
charts, you can bet a dollar to a donut that every other major company will be
instructing its artists and writers to "write one like that!"
In the hustle to clone last year's successes, the truly unique artist often gets
passed over. And the double irony is that clones NEVER make it as big as the
original!
A few years ago a very gifted Hispanic artist finally landed his dream "record deal."
As a singer-songwriter, this artist can sing and write eloquently and flawlessly in
not one -- but two languages. Many of the songs he brought to the label were clever,
fresh, and true to his ethnicity without losing the mainstream audience. When it came
time for the record label to release the first single, they had a choice. They could
release one of the exquisite songs in which this artist sang in both impeccable
English and Spanish, or they could go with a "vanilla" song that sounded like
several thousand other similar songs from other labels. Wanna guess which one
they chose?
The epilogue to this story is that this extremely multi-faceted artist is now
taking back the reins for his own career, writing the songs that are in keeping
with his strengths and that connect with his audiences.
Don't let the pressure of crafting or performing a Hit lead you away from your
strongest talents and abilities -- even if you aren't exactly like the artists that
"made it" last year. If you know that you are connecting...that people are responding
to one particular song or style of songs, go with your gut and lead with your strengths.
It may take a little longer to get there, but you will eventually reach the audience
that can bring your career to a whole new level.
What makes a Hit? The answers can be as many and varied as the artists and writers
who combine to create them. Analyze the Hits of today. Work to connect in every way
possible with your listeners and lead with your strengths. Gradually, you will
develop an intuitive recognition of what is and is not a Hit. You will choose to
write, re-write, network, search for and find the songs that will transport you to
your Destiny!
Write me when you make Billboard!
**From her earliest childhood years writing simple songs
and poems with
her father, through her twelve years as an overseas
missionary, to her present,
multi-faceted
career as an author, lyricist/songwriter and conference speaker,
Mary
has always been adept at using words to communicate her heart to
others.
She is the President of
CQK Records &
Music of Dallas, Texas, a company which creates and
produces songs in a panorama of musical styles for a
variety of audiences,
She is the host of "I Write the Songs,"
a nationally syndicated radio talk show,
especially created to
inspire and instruct the more than 40 million aspiring
songwriters in the U.S.
Mary is a frequent public speaker and seminar lecturer
and teacher of songwriting in her popular Living Room Seminars.
She is a Contributing Editor for The Internet Writing Journal
®. You can visit her website at:
www.cqkmusic.com. You can reach Mary
by email.
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