Today’s article should be a lot of fun and hopefully we’ll all get something out of it. In my case, inspiration to write something. In your case? Well, I’ll leave that up to you. We’re going to discuss song stability and whether or not you want to leave the listener wanting more. Let’s begin.
Okay, first off, what is song stability? Well, we actually have song stability on two levels. The one level is lyrically by itself. This isn’t really the best barometer of actual stability of the song because once the music is taken into effect, it can totally change the feel of the song and suddenly unstable lyrics can turn into a stable song. Confused? You won’t be after this episode of…Oh, sorry, I drifted off into weirdsville.
Where was I?
Oh yes, music can turn an unstable lyric into a stable song. Okay, what makes an unstable lyric?
A lyric is made up of lines. Each line has a line length as far as syllables. So, if we combine all the different possibilities of lines (odd or even number) and line lengths (same, shorter, longer) we have the following possibilities as far as combinations.
Even number of lines and same line lengths – Stable.
Even number of lines and shorter last line – Unstable wanting more.
Even number of lines and longer last line – Unstable with spotlight.
Odd number of lines with any line lengths – Unstable.
So as you can see, the number of lines is the most dominating factor that determines whether or not a verse or chorus is stable or unstable.
In general, a stable chorus leaves the listener feeling satisfied and fulfilled while an unstable chorus leaves the listener wanting more.
Listen to the 1970 hit “Indiana Wants Me” By R.D. Taylor. The chorus is three lines, which is very unusual for a chorus. But even at the end when the tag line is left out and it’s just the two lines, the chorus is still unstable.
But why? Because the choruses second line ends on the dominant. Whenever you end a section on the dominant, it begs to go back to the tonic. This song never does. Plus it’s going in and out of key like a drunk composer. It’s classic R.D. Taylor. He clearly left the listener wanting more throughout the whole song. He never really let the song resolve, ever.
Is this a good thing?
Well, kind of depends on your perspective and what it is you’re trying to achieve.
If your goal is to leave the listener feeling satisfied after the song is over, then musically, “Indiana Wants Me” just doesn’t do it. It makes you want to sing that chorus over and over until you drop from exhaustion.
But if your goal is to do just that, make the listener sing your song over and over, then this song succeeds in spades. The tension continues throughout. The only thing that really resolves is the story, kind of. Look at the last verse.
“I hope this letter finds its way to you
Forgive me love for the shame I’ve put you through and all the tears
Hang on love to the memories of those happy years
Red lights are flashing around me, good Lord, it looks like they found me.”
They have found him but have they caught him? Did he maybe get away? We really don’t know. The last verse leaves us hanging. Absolutely brilliant songwriting. It should be required study for any songwriting course.
So why do most choruses resolve so nicely? The answer is simple. We as human beings like it when things are wrapped up in a nice tidy little bow. And this isn’t just true with music. it’s true with movies and TV too.
Don’t you just hate it when you watch a movie or a TV show and it doesn’t resolve? It’s one of the worst feelings in the world.
Remember when they had that Criminal Minds spinoff? Did you watch the last episode? The villain was counting down until he was going to shoot the one FBI agent while somebody else has a gun on another FBI agent and then suddenly it goes black and we hear a gun shot. We have no idea who has been shot. And that was the end of the series. It was canceled after that.
I don’t know about you, but that was just cruel.
Same thing with that remake of the Fugitive. At the end of the last episode, the cop catches Kimble with the one armed man, we hear a shot and go to black. That was the end of the series.
We don’t like that. We like things to have a beginning, a middle and an end. That’s why when TV shows today have season ending cliffhangers, we don’t mind as much as long as we know the show is coming back. And if they announce it’s the last season, at least these day anyway, they make sure they wrap everything up. It’s for that reason that I’m sure there’s going to be another season of “24” because they can’t leave us hanging like that.
Songs are no different.
Guy meets girl.
Guy gets girl.
Guy loses girl.
Guy moves on with this life.
It’s complete. It’s not a particularly happy ending, but at least it resolves, story wise.
Most songs will do this. But yes, there are exceptions. And those exceptions drive is crazy, to a degree.
How much of a degree will depend on the music. If the music at least leaves us feeling satisfied, it’s not so bad. R.D. Taylor did neither. The last verse makes us wonder if he got caught or got away and the last chorus, always going back to the dominant, never really resolves musically.
It’s plain torture. And I love it.
So, when you go about writing a song, think about how you want your listener to feel after they’re done listening. If you want them to feel satisfied, don’t do what R.D. Taylor did.
Because that’s a sure way to really tick your listener off unless they’re like me.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim