Love this! Prince was my first, evergreen lesson in telling stories via song, though The Rolling Stones and The Beatles were technically there before. Barry Manilow's "Copacabana," Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam's "A Face in the Crowd," Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom," and Wham!'s "Young Guns" have made special guest appearances for me over the years too. :)
I loved this, thank you, Jennifer! I wrote poetry for years (used to be pretty good, ran workshops), and I LOVE the concise storytelling in song lyrics. I grew up with “Escape”, loved “Fast Car” and “Betty” is probably my favourite Swift song. I always thought it was from a woman’s perspective! “Stan” is a great song (using Dido’s song so well), and I enjoy blowing my young colleagues’ minds that it’s the origin of the verb “to stan.”
This was so great, and I love your examples! Btw, you'll appreciate that before I read this, I had rewatched "Music & Lyrics" for the umpteenth time :)
I had forgetten all about that Fountains of Wayne song! Great post!
Thank you! That song is so dreamy.
Love this! Prince was my first, evergreen lesson in telling stories via song, though The Rolling Stones and The Beatles were technically there before. Barry Manilow's "Copacabana," Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam's "A Face in the Crowd," Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom," and Wham!'s "Young Guns" have made special guest appearances for me over the years too. :)
I was so thinking about "Raspberry Beret," too! And I could not love you more for mentioning Barry Manilow, Lisa Lisa, and Wham!
I loved this, thank you, Jennifer! I wrote poetry for years (used to be pretty good, ran workshops), and I LOVE the concise storytelling in song lyrics. I grew up with “Escape”, loved “Fast Car” and “Betty” is probably my favourite Swift song. I always thought it was from a woman’s perspective! “Stan” is a great song (using Dido’s song so well), and I enjoy blowing my young colleagues’ minds that it’s the origin of the verb “to stan.”
This was so great, and I love your examples! Btw, you'll appreciate that before I read this, I had rewatched "Music & Lyrics" for the umpteenth time :)
Thank you! We need to do something on that movie sometime, such an underrated classic!
Great examples! Agreed—writers can learn so much about narrative arc from pop songs!
LOVE THIS ANALYSIS. But...dare I tell you I also LOVE the Apple Music update that makes the car into a club with its DJing ability?
Hahahaha, it has its moments, like when I'm on the treadmill, and not listening to story songs whose ending is revealed in the final seconds ...
Practically a mini-masterclass in songwriting (lyrics)! LOVE it!
Thank you! Now I need to learn how to write lyrics this good …