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Tips & Resources by Brent Baxter, Songwriting Pro on September 16, 2019
I didn't get it.
Back when the Steve Holy single, “Good Morning, Beautiful,” was climbing the country charts and getting a bunch of radio spins… I was stumped.
I mean, it was okay, but I didn’t really get what all the fuss was about. So I asked a female friend of mine, Heather, why she liked it so much. She just smiled and said...
“Because it’s what I want to hear somebody say to me.”
Ooooohhh… (I’m a little slow sometimes. Probably explains why I was so single back then.)
So a singer directly addressing the female listener and telling her something sweet that she wants to hear… makes her want to listen. (Note to self: Try this on my wife.)
Make your song more commercial by having your lyric say something the listener wants to hear.
Tell her she’s pretty. Tell him you want to kiss him. Yes, I know this should be pretty obvious, but if you’re like me… sometimes the obvious isn’t so obvious when you’re considering different ways you could write a given song title or hook.
And direct address is the best way to do this. Direct address is “I” singing to “you.” “You're beautiful” is a lot more impactful than “She's beautiful.” "I love you" is a lot more impactful than, "I love her." After all, if you like someone, which you rather hear them say? “I love YOU” or “I love HIM/HER?” Yeah. Thought so.
Here’s your homework.
Turn on the radio or your favorite playlist. Find a song or two that answers the question, “What’s in it for the listener?” with “It’s what I want to hear!” This can be either what you yourself as the listener want to hear or what a listener of the other gender would want to hear.
If you want YOUR songs to consistently connect with the listener (like "it's what I want to hear!"), I have a great event coming up for you! In October, I'm hosting a 4-night songwriting workshop called “Your M.A.P. To A Hit Song Lyric.” If you're tired of your songs NOT affecting your listeners, if you're tired of your songs not being noticed, if you want your songs to be more memorable, to connect with your listeners more, and to affect your listeners' emotions, this is the workshop for you.
CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND JOIN THIS CAREER-CHANGING EVENT!
God bless,
Brent
