Andrea Stolpe Berkley Music

A while back, this question was posed and I thought it well worth a blog.

What would you do with a song that stubbornly refuses to offer up a chorus, or am I expecting something too substantial (other than just repeating the song title)? Sometimes, within one or two verses the point is made, and I’d rather be sharp and concise than meandering or boringly repetitive.

If verses are the veins and arteries of a song, the chorus is the heart. It pumps life throughout the whole tune, and when that section is struggling, the whole song struggles too. Without going too deep within the study of choruses in a blog setting, I’d like to offer up some simple ideas that may help our choruses come easier, and serve the song more effectively at the same time.

Let’s first define the function of the chorus. Very simply, the chorus delivers the main message of the song. Sometimes it’s one word, or one phrase, repeated over and over. Sometimes it’s a section as long or longer than the verses with the title set in various power positions such as the first line and last line. Another important idea with the chorus is that it’s singable for the listener. The more singable, the easier it will be to remember.

When a song is stubbornly refusing to offer up a chorus, I think a good first step is to take a look at the verse sections. When our verse sections seem to ‘say it all’, what can be happening is they have overstepped their boundaries as verses. The function of a verse is to set up the scenario for the chorus. If the chorus is the answer, the verse is the question. More clearly stated, the verses tell ‘how’ the story happened, and the chorus tells ‘why’ that story matters. Check to see whether your verses are making big statements that seem to sum up the bigger picture rather than provide details about what happened within the smaller moments leading to that big picture.

One neat technique taught to me by Pat Pattison is flipping the verse sections. The tendency is to write that first verse with kid gloves – gentle and vague instead of specific. Second verses (after the first chorus) often carry that quality of becoming less specific, more centered around the big picture. As writers, it’s often this second verse where we start to become brave enough to give away specifics, and really delve into the details of our story. So in this idea of ‘flipping verses’, we might try using verse two as the real verse one, and verse one as the real verse two. Or, try using verse two as verse one and writing a new verse two for after that first chorus. The main idea here is to make sure we stay specific in verse one so that we don’t tread on that big message chorus material.

Sometimes it’s helpful to write the chorus first. To do this, you might try talking out loud, as if you were in a conversation with a good friend. Sum up the moral of the story, and why this story is important to hear. Think about what you want your listener to walk away knowing. I like to record myself talking, so that I can play it back and copy many of the phrases word for word into my lyrics. Many times it’s my internal editor that tries to convince me the way the words came out is not ‘clever enough’. But for choruses, often the most effective lyrics are those that just say it like it is.

One final thought about choruses – don’t beat around the bush. Use that section to speak boldly and clearly to your listener. If you’re finding this difficult to do, then take a few moments to clarify what you’re really trying to say. If we’re not clear as writers what our main point is, then the listener won’t be either. One main point is stronger than several smaller points. Don’t be afraid to lay it all out on the line. You can always draw the language back later if you need to.

For anyone interested in deeper study and practice writing choruses, I suggest the online course ‘Writing From the Title’. In it, you’ll discover how rhythm, rhyme, structure, and other tools provide excellent brainstorming fuel for that critical song section.

Happy writing,

Andrea Stolpe