Songwriting - A Complete Guide to the Craft Revised and Updated Edition

SONG
STEPHEN CITRON

WRITING
A Complete Guide to the Craft
Limelight Editions · New York

Limelight Editions
An Imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation
19 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10010
Copyright © 1985, 2008 by Stephen Citron
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without
written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote
brief passages in connection with a review.
Second edition published in 2008 by Limelight Editions
First edition published in 1985 by William Morrow
Reprinted in 1990 by Limelight Editions
Printed in the United States of America
Book design by Kristina Rolander
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to quote song lyrics and music as
detailed in the Permissions section, which begins on page 313.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN: 978-0-87910-357-6
www.limelighteditions.com

CONTENTS
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xiii
xv
xvii
FIRST CONSIDERATIONS 1
Concept 1
Which Comes First, Melody or Lyrics? 3
Collaboration 5
Finding and Working with a Collaborator 6
How Much Technical Training Do You Need? 7
Supplies 8
PART I: LYRICS
1 CONSTRUCTION AND FORM 13
How and Why We Label Form 14
How and Why We Label Rhymes 15
Verses and Choruses 16
Folk Songs 22
Spirituals 24
Blues, Classic and Pop 26
Operettas 30
1900–1920 34
1920s 37
1930s and 1940s 37
Musical Theater Since World War II 42
The Late Forties 42
The Fifties 44
The Sixties 48
The Seventies 49
The Eighties 52
The Nineties 52
The Twenty-first Century 53

vi / CONTENTS
Rock 53
Rock and Roll 53
The Beatles and the Revolution in Form 56
Rock 59
Acid Rock 60
Hard Rock 63
Bubblegum 64
Folk-Rock 65
The Seventies 66
The Eighties 67
Country 68
Your Style 72
2 TYPES OF SONGS 75
Starting with Parodies 75
Things to Remember When Writing Parody 76
Writing Lyrics to Songs in the Public Domain 77
Things to Remember When Writing Lyrics to Songs in the Public Domain 78
Writing a Lyric to Already Existing Music 78
Translations 79
Story Songs 81
Dos and Don’ts for Story Songs 84
Descriptive Songs 84
Situation Songs 88
Some Situations for Song 91
List Songs 91
Tips on the List Song 94
Social Message Songs 94
Birthday Songs 95
Foreign or Pseudo-Foreign Songs 96
Patriotic Songs 96
Holiday Songs 97
Gimmick Songs 98
Nonsense Songs 99
Suggestions for Writing Nonsense Songs 100
Punch-Line Songs 100
Inspirational Songs 102
Gospel Songs 102
Love Songs 103
Unsuitable Concepts 105

CONTENTS / vii
3 RHYME 107
What Makes Rhyme? 109
Paper Rhymes 109
Identical Rhymes 109
Regional Rhymes 110
Imperfect and False Rhymes 110
One-, Two-, and Three-Rhymes 111
Inner Rhymes 113
Non-Rhymed Lyrics 114
Rhyme Schemes 115
Original Rhyme Schemes 117
Words That Will Not Rhyme 119
4 WORD USAGE 123
Simile and Metaphor 123
Alliteration 124
Onomatopoeia 125
Words That Do Not Sing 125
Connecting the Words 126
Inverted Language 127
Filling Out or Telescoping a Lyric 127
Matching Accents and Meaning 127
Inappropriate Speech 128
Poets’ Handbooks and Rhyming Dictionaries 129
PART II: MUSIC
5 MELODY 133
The Basics of Notating a Melody 133
The Staff 135
Sharps, Flats, and Naturals 136
Bar Lines 137
Time Signature 138
Time Values 139
The Major Scale 142
Putting It All Together 143
Transposition 145

viii / CONTENTS
Key Signature 146
In Which Key Shall I Write My Song? 147
Accidentals 148
Intervals 149
Motives 155
How to Turn the Title into a Musical Motive 156
Single-Note Motives 157
Two-Note Motives 158
Three-Note Motives 159
Motives of Four or More Notes 160
Where to Take the Motive 161
How to Freshen a Worn Motive 164
Expanding the Motive into a Phrase 167
Expanding the Phrase into a Period 168
Range 169
Tessitura 170
Melisma 171
Sequence 171
Some Rules for Melody Writing 172
What Your Song Should Include 173
The A 1 173
The A 173
The Bridge or Release 174
The A 3 176
The B and C 176
The Coda 176
The Interlude (Trio) 178
The Extension 178
The Verse 179
The Fade 179
6 CHORDS 181
Triads 182
Major Triads 182
Minor Triads 182
Diminished Triads 183
Augmented Triads 183
Triad Abbreviations 184
Scale-Tone Triads 184
The Numerical Relationship 184
Seventh Chords 185

CONTENTS / ix
The Dominant Seventh 186
The Major Seventh 186
The Minor Seventh 186
The Altered Chords 187
The Diminished Seventh 188
Scale-Tone Sevenths in Series 189
Altering Scale-Tone Chords 189
Inversions 190
Added Sixth Chords 190
Ninth Chords 190
Eleventh and Thirteenth Chords 191
7 SCALES 193
Major Scale 193
Relative Minor and Parallel Minor Scales 194
Harmonic Minor Scale and Melodic Minor Scale 195
Scale-Tone Triads in Minor and Scale-Tone Sevenths in Minor 196
Other Scales 197
Modal Scales 197
Ethnic Scales 198
Color Scales 199
8 HARMONY 201
Two-Chord Harmony 202
Two-Chord Harmony in Minor 203
Three-Chord Harmony 204
Three-Chord Harmony in Minor 205
Changing Harmony for Intensification 206
Imperfect Cadence 206
II V I 208
I VI II V 210
Commercial Bridge 212
Bridges in the Minor 213
Bridges That Modulate to Foreign Keys 213
The Circle of Chords 214
Diminished Cliché 217
Old-Fashioned Ending 218
Bass Lines 218
Ascending 219
Ascending Through the Augmented 219

x / CONTENTS
Descending 220
Descending in Minor 221
Chord Substitution 221
Intensifying the Chords 222
Suspension 222
Anticipation 222
Scale-Tone Substitution 223
Turnarounds 224
Evasion 225
Blues Melody and Harmony 226
9 RHYTHM 229
Beat 229
Tempo 230
Meter 230
Rhythm 232
How Rhythm Fills the Music 234
Syncopation 235
Rhythms of Popular Music 236
March 236
Fox-trot 237
Modified Fox-trot 237
Shuffle 237
Boogie 238
Ragtime 238
Cakewalk 238
Polka 239
Alley Cat 239
Gavotte 239
Minuet (Menuet) 239
Waltz 240
Boston Waltz 240
Country Waltz 240
Jazz Waltz 241
Gospel Waltz 241
Charleston 241
Jazz Rhythms 242
Jig (Gigue) 242
9/8 243
12/8 243
Country 243

CONTENTS / xi
Disco 244
Tango (Habanera) 244
Tango (Argentine) 244
Bolero 245
Merengue 245
Cha-Cha 246
Conga 246
Guaracha 246
Rumba 246
Beguine 247
Mambo 247
Samba 248
Bossa Nova 248
Paso Doble 248
Reggae 248
Bo Diddley 249
Punk Rock 249
AFTER THE SONG IS COMPLETED 251
Getting a Song on Paper 251
Lead Sheets 251
When preparing a lead sheet 252
Three-Stave Arrangements 254
Things to remember about three-stave arrangements 255
Two-Stave Arrangements 255
Things to remember about two-stave arrangements 257
Arrangements for a Group 257
Professional Copies 257
Getting Your Song Recorded 259
Home Demos 259
Studio Recording 259
Copyright 261
How to Copyright a Song 262
Instructions for Filling Out Copyright Form PA 263
What You Cannot Copyright 266
How Much Can You Quote? 266
Language of the Music Industry 267
Unions, Agencies, and Organizations 273
AFTERWORD 277

xii / CONTENTS
APPENDIX 279
Bluegrass 279
Gangsta Rap 280
Heavy Metal 281
Hip-Hop 281
Hip-Hop in the Twenty-first Century 282
How to Go About Creating a Hip-Hop Song 283
Music-Notation Software 284
Public Domain Songs 285
Punk Rock 285
Rap 286
Reggae 288
Ska 289
GLOSSARY 291
BIBLIOGRAPHY 309
PERMISSIONS 313
INDEX 321

2 TYPES OF SONGS
The first section analyzed form and the different styles of song lyrics so that
when you wrote something, it would sound professional. This section will be
devoted to the different types of songs that professional composer-lyricists write.
Sometimes it is an assignment for an industrial show, sometimes a needed flip
side of a record. Occasionally, a performer asks for a piece of special material.
Sometimes a songwriter goes beyond the purely creative because of a desire for a
record that will hit the charts.
I believe, and would suggest, that the beginning songwriter should create
several songs in each of the following categories. Advanced songwriters may use
this section when they are scrounging around for ideas or looking for a concept.
STARTING WITH PARODIES
I have found in my classes that the easiest way to approach lyric writing for the
first time is through writing parodies. Parody is a wonderful exercise for putting
the correct number of syllables against a given melody.
So many lyricists are fascinated with word games (after all, they are constantly
fitting syllables into a given number of notes). They fall naturally into parody.
Anyone interested in working in advertising will need to be able to write parodies,
for many commercials are parodies of songs we know. If you are an amateur
lyricist, parody is useful for organization meetings, goodbye luncheons, and
other occasions. Parodies to melodies that are in the public domain (not under
copyright) can be published but must have the approval of the original creator.

76 / LYRICS
Things to Remember When Writing Parody
l. The song you parodize must be well known. There is no sense parodizing
an obscure song like “London in July” because the listener must be able
to imagine the original song as the parody goes by. “Hello, Dolly” could
become “Goodbye, Ronnie” or “Bonsoir, Fifi,” or “Shalom, Molly.” “New
York, New York” could become “L.A., L.A.” or “Detroit, Detroit.”
2. The accents must match. Nothing is worse than humor handled clumsily.
“Newark, Newark” as a parody for “New York, New York” would make any
listener cringe.
3. The rhymes must come in the same places as the original. Analyze the
rhyme scheme of the song you are parodizing, and be sure your song follows
it (see below).
4. As a general rule, treat your subject with humor or irony. Topical references
make amusing parodies, but of course they don’t have a long life. Nothing
is duller than yesterday’s news.
“New York, New York” (Music by
John Kander, Lyric by Fred Ebb)
Start spreadin’ the news (1)
I’m leavin’ today (2)
I want to be a part of it (3)
New (4) York, New York.
These vagabond shoes (1)
Are longin’ to stray (2)
And step around the heart of it (3)
New (4) York, New York.
I want to wake up in the City that
doesn’t sleep (5)
To find I’m king of the hill, Top of the
heap (5)
My little town blues (1)
Are meltin’ away (2)
I’ll make a brand new start of it (3)
In old New (4) York.
If I can make it there (6)
I’d make it anywhere (6)
Come on, come through (4)
New (4) York, New York.
“Attack Iraq” (Lyric by Lizanne Feller)
When critics chimed in (1)
Complained I talk bad (2)
Found me a way to make ’em quit (3)
A(4)ttack Iraq.
Convinced ’em I’d win (1)
Outdo dear old dad (2)
While TV spread the news of it (3)
A(4)ttack Iraq.
Got re-elected with a mandate for
four more years (5)
By simply wavin’ the flag; playin’ on
fears (5)
My schoolboyish grin (1)
Still makes folks feel glad (2)
The press don’t guess the ruse of it, (3)
A(4)ttack Iraq.
To get a first-class war (6)
You’ll be remembered for (6)
I tell you, suh, (4)
A(4)ttack Iraq!

TYPES OF SONGS / 77
WRITING LYRICS TO SONGS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
As will be discussed in more detail in the section on copyright, every song goes
into public domain (that is when its music or lyrics or both can be used by anyone
without payment of royalty) seventy years after the death of its author. If the song
is a cooperative effort, it remains under copyright until seventy years after the
death of the last collaborator (see note on public-domain songs in the Appendix).
To you, the lyricist, this means there are thousands of melodies written by classical
or long-since-deceased composers that are fair game for popular songs.
This idea was born way back in the nineteenth century, when French words
were added to Chopin’s theme for his Etude in E Major (Op. 10, #3), and
“Tristesse,” as it was called, became a favorite of the Parisian salon. Chopin would
have cringed, especially had he realized the amount of money being made from
the sheet sale of his music, but of course this was a time before copyright laws.
Early in the twenties, “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” was adapted from
Chopin’s Fantasie-Impromptu. Then the favorite composer for music stealing
became Tchaikovsky. His “Moon Love” (Fifth Symphony), “Our Love” (Romeo
and Juliet Overture), “Tonight We Love” (Piano Concerto), “This Is the Story of a
Starry Night” (Sixth Symphony) were all well-known hits of the forties and fifties.
This Russian composer’s mine of melody was the basis of all the songs used in Walt
Disney’s full-length animated feature Sleeping Beauty as well. “The Anniversary
Song,” one of the big hits of the forties, is a Russian waltz by Ivanovici to which
words have been appended. Nor were French composers immune. Debussy was
tapped for his “Reverie,” which became “My Reverie.” Ravel’s “Pavane (for a Dead
Princess)” became “The Lamp Is Low.”
When Wright and Forrest succeeded with “Song of Norway,” using the music
of Edvard Grieg, they were launched into the big time. They continued with
Kismet, using Borodin’s music, and had a song that hit the charts — “Stranger
in Paradise.” They followed this with an adaptation of the Anastasia story, using
Rachmaninoff’s music, but by this time both the vogue and their inspiration had
flown.
Classically trained singers have always enjoyed classical melodies whose range
shows off the breadth of their voices. For Mario Lanza, the traditional Neopolitan
folk song “O Sole Mio!” was adapted to become “There’s No Tomorrow.”
Simon and Garfunkel had one of their greatest successes with “Scarborough
Fair,” although this was a revival of a medieval melody, and not strictly in the
realm of adaptation. The most successful of all is probably Elvis Presley’s “Love
Me Tender,” which is merely a new lyric for the old song “Aura Lee.”
More recent adaptations have included Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic,”
which is based on the chords of Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor; Walter Murphy’s
“A Fifth of Beethoven;” and Eric Carmen’s adaptation of Rachmaninoff called
“Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.”

78 / LYRICS
Things to Remember When Writing Lyrics to Songs in
the Public Domain
1. Check with the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., to be sure the
song is in the public domain. Very old songs like “Tea for Two,” “Alexander’s
Ragtime Band,” and “Happy Birthday” are, surprisingly, still under
copyright. Don’t risk a lawsuit.
2. Check for singability. Some songs may be in the public domain, but have
too broad a range for successful adaptation (Puccini arias). They may have
too many notes per square inch, which makes them more instrumental than
vocal (Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” or “Maple Leaf Rag”).
3. Go back to the original melody and adapt your lyric to this, not to some
other lyricist’s or composer’s version, which may be different enough from
the original to be under copyright. If you follow the published version of
“Down in the Valley,” which varies slightly from the original folk tune, you
would be liable for copyright infringement.
4. Do not use the entire melody of a classical piece. Be sure you adapt by
taking out any sections difficult to sing. Adapt means simplify.
5. Give credit to the original composer (under the title). Too many songwriters
are shy about mentioning that their original melody came from another
source. I believe it takes a certain sense of originality and a great feeling
for what is timely to create an adaptation. Most musicians will know the
origin of the melody anyway, so be big about it, and approach adaptation
as an art.
WRITING A LYRIC TO ALREADY EXISTING MUSIC
Throughout the forties and fifties, movie themes were wordless. Every one of
the big bands had its own wordless theme song. Sometimes the public clamored
to sing some purely instrumental songs, and lyricists were assigned (with varying
degrees of success) to versify the music. The technique is not easy to master, for
instrumental music can often have wide skips that are hard to sing, or a bunch of
notes strung together that sound marvelous as part of a saxophone riff but make
words impossible to understand.
“Laura” (music by David Raksin, lyric by Johnny Mercer) has become a standard
of the jazz repertoire, and it started life as a movie theme. Johnny Mercer aimed
to distill the leading character’s fabulous beauty and mystery, and he succeeded
notably:
Laura, is the face in the misty night
Footsteps that you hear down the hall,
The laugh that floats on a summer night

TYPES OF SONGS / 79
That you can never quite recall.
And you see Laura on a train that is passing by
Those eyes, how familiar they seem
She gave your very first kiss to you
That was Laura,
But she’s only a dream!
The theme from a successful Bette Davis movie, Now, Voyager, became a song
entitled “Wrong, Could It Be Wrong to Love?” and the expansive theme from
Gone with the Wind became “My Own True Love.” Of course, today movie songs
come complete with lyrics, but there are still successful instrumentals that need
words.
Johnny Mercer did a masterful job of setting Erroll Garner’s theme song “Misty,”
noteworthy in the section where Garner’s melody sweeps up to a sustained note.
He handles these spots cleverly by using throw-away words on the quick notes
leading to strong words like clinging, sound, and right foot.
In the “One-Note Samba,” his task is even more complicated, because he must
get so many notes into the rapid tempo. I print the bridge opposite.
All these rapid-fire pitches are intelligible because Mercer has chosen short
syllables.
TRANSLATIONS
When a song becomes successful in one country, its record may be released
internationally. Aware that most people want to sing it in a language they
understand, the publisher and the recording company will hire a lyricist to
translate the song. (It is rare indeed for a song like “Volare (Nel Blu, Di Pinto Di
Blu)” to reach the top of the charts when sung in its original Italian, as was the
case in 1958.)

80 / LYRICS
The lyricist is provided with a literal translation. If you are ever hired to
translate a foreign song, I hope you will approach the project as most professional
lyricists do. They use the original lyric as a point of departure and often take off
from there. They get their ideas from the title and the musical line.
Johnny Mercer turned Jacques Prévert’s rueful poem Les Feuilles Mortes (The
Dead Leaves) into a splendid lyric called “The Autumn Leaves.” He observed all
the rules of lyric writing by starting with the hook or title and closing with it. In
addition, he assembled all the images to make a chronological climax at the peak
of the music. He was setting Prévert’s concept, and not translating exactly. Most
important, he was being led by the balance in the music and its emotion. Kosma,
the composer, had set the place where the rhymes should come. I quote from the
beginning and end of the song.
“Les Feuilles Mortes”
C’est un chanson
Qui nous rassemble,
Toi, tu m’aimais
Et je t’amais
Et la mer efface
Sur le sable
Les pas des amants
Désunis.
“The Dead Leaves”
(literal translation)
This is a song
That resembles us.
You, you loved me
And I loved you
And the sea erases
On the sand
The footsteps of the
Disunited lovers.
“The Autumn Leaves”
The autumn leaves
Drift by my window
The falling leaves
Of red and gold
But I miss you
Most of all, my darling,
When autumn leaves
Start to fall.
It is rare indeed, and usually sounds dreadful, when the translator uses a literal
translation, but it is advisable to come close to the original title, to capitalize on
whatever success the song may so far have achieved. “Two Loves Have I” is an
exact translation of “J’ai Deux Amours”; “Mon Homme” translates to “My Man.”
Conversely, “Duerme?,” which became “Feelings,” and “Que Reste-t’il” (literally,
“what remains”), which became “I Wish You Love,” have nothing to do with their
original foreign titles and were hits anyway. Perhaps they are the exceptions that
prove the rule.
Often it is better to leave evidence of the song’s foreign roots in the lyric. Edith
Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose” was retitled “You’re Too Dangerous, Chérie” and flopped
miserably, but when the intriguing French title was retained and a new, more
intimate lyric was written, it became a standard.
Other well-known translations are “Speak to Me of Love”; “Mack the Knife”;
“If You Love Me, Really Love Me”; “The Girl from Ipanema”; “Love Is Blue”;
“Pigalle”; “El Rancho Grande”; “What Now, My Love?”; and “Gloria.”

TYPES OF SONGS / 81
STORY SONGS
After parody, where the rhythm is laid out for the lyricist and even the subject
to be parodized is suggested, the next kind of song to try is a story song. Every
one of us has the ability to make up some sort of story. Sometimes the point of
departure can be folklore or fairy tale or even an intriguing article in a newspaper.
Often the story will need a twist, like the “Piña Colada Song” (“Escape”), in
which he doesn’t know that his “lovely lady” likes piña coladas; he advertises for
someone who does, and his “lovely lady” answers the ad. This switch makes the
story interesting. It also lends itself to three choruses. Country songs are frequently
story songs. “The Coward of the County” is a good example.
An original gem is Cole Porter’s “The Tale of the Oyster.”
A 1
THEME
Down by the sea lived a lonesome oyster,
Ev’ry day getting sadder and moister
He found his home life awf’lly wet
And longed to travel with the upper set
Poor little oyster!
REPEAT OF
A 1 THEME
A 1 THEME
ALTERED
HARMONICALLY
A 1 THEME
ALTERED
MELODICALLY
BRIDGE
Fate was kind to that oyster, we know,
When one day the chef from the Park Casino
Saw that oyster lying there
And said, “I’ll put you on my bill of fare.”
Lucky little oyster!
See him on his silver platter
Watching the queens of fashion chatter,
Hearing the wives of millionaires
Discuss their marriages and their love affairs.
Thrilled little oyster!
See that bivalve social climber
Feeding the rich Mrs. Hoggenheimer;
Think of his joy as he gaily glides
Down to the middle of her gilded insides.
Proud little oyster!
After lunch Mrs. H. complains
And says to her hostess, “I’ve got such pains!
I came to town on my yacht today,
But I think I’d better hurry back to Oyster Bay.”
Scared little oyster!