Ticket 77: Repeat The Final Line

You can signal that this really is the end of your song and tie things up with a pretty bow by repeating the end of the chorus. This works best by singing the final line twice or three times.

Double Final Line

All I've Got To Do

When I Get Home

Think For Yourself

Yes It Is

Triple Final Line

Nowhere Man

One After 909

Please Please Me

Your Mother Should Know

If your final line ends on the tonic/root chord (I) - which it almost certainly will - you can combine this ticket with Aeolian Cadence (Ticket 10) by ending the penultimate line on the six minor (vi) instead of the root chord (I). Octopus's Garden is a great example of this (2:30)

In an octopus's garden with you (F G Am)

In an octopus's garden with you (F G Am)

In an octopus's garden with you (F G C)

She Loves You finishes on the I but then moves to the vi to set up further repeats (1:47)

With a love like that you know you should be glad (Cm D G Em)

The vi chord isn't the only substitute for the I chord when you want to delay the end and set up for a repeat of the last line. The iv, IV, bVI are just a few that would work (The False Picardy - Ticket 46).

I Want To Hold Your Hand is another great example (2:08), delaying the root first with the III (B7) then IV (C) before finally ending on the I (G)

I Want To Hold Your Hand (C D G Em)

I Want To Hold Your Hand (C D B7)

I Want To Hold Your Hand (C D C G)

I Will delays with the bVI before an altered version of the title line and a wordless coda (1:22).

Your Mother Should Know uses the VI to delay the end (twice) and I Saw Her Standing There has two lines ending on the I chord before delaying with the IV on the final line (2:30)

Since I saw her standing there (E B7 E)

Since I saw her standing there (E B7 E)

Since I saw her standing there (E B7 A E)

Sometimes the ending is better set up by repeating a lyric just before the end. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You delays with the vi chord but changes the penultimate line of lyric to better set up the original final line (1:37)

I've discovered I'm in love with you (A Baug C#m F#m G#)

Cos I'm happy just to dance with you (A Baug C#m F#m G#)

before five more “oh”s round the whole thing off. Adding a musical or lyrical phrase after the 'last line' like this can be just the ticket. It's Only Love adds a final “loving you...” (1:36) after the repeats (1:28) and P.S. I Love You adds a final, higher “I love you...” over it's repeated chord progression (1:49).

You can find more examples in the Ticket 77 Playlist.

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10:59 Cry Baby Cry (pt.3) Music

Having looked at the lyrics and the drama behind the song let's finish with the music. Cry Baby Cry has a beautiful natural sounding melody that sits easily on top of some pretty unconventional chords. That's something Lennon excelled at. Here his use of OoKCs (Ticket 28) is not as showy as I Am The Walrus, but just as effective.

Walrus Tears

To start with the chorus melody: Lennon uses the G major blues scale (G A Bb B D E) which means the overall tonality could be viewed as G major or G mixolydian (Ticket 51). The ambiguity comes from the lack of 4ths and 7th – there is no C or C#, F or F# in the melody (Ticket 40). There are lots of F naturals in the harmony which weights the overall tonality towards G mixolydian (G A B C D E F G) but whichever way you land there are out of key notes in both melody and harmony. The harmony favours C natural (in F major, Am and C7) but include C# as well (A7).

The verses makes a switch from G major to the relative minor (Em) and melodically the G major blues scale (G A Bb B D E) becomes the E minor blues scale (E G A Bb B D). Same notes, different starting point (or more accurately a different centre).

This switch to the RELATIVE key is common in songwriting - Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne) switches from a 'happy' A major chorus to a 'sad' F#m chorus. Arguably it's not even a real key change since you're only shuffling the notes around, rather than altering them.

But the Beatles much preferred changing between PARALLEL keys (like A major to A minor) which retains the same centre but alters three notes around it. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (1:07-1:28) is a prime example. (Lennon and McCartney's neglect of relative key changes probably explains why it's only now getting it's own ticket. Say hello to Ticket 75!).

Switching between B natural and Bb adds a piquant bluesy flavour (Ticket 22) which can be heard in the C7 chord*, the lead guitar fill (1:17) and the way melody 'sighs' and 'cries' (0:32 and (0:37) from Bb to A to G. This 'madrigalism' (Ticket 49) is also reflected in the “playing piano” line (at 0:20 – 0:28).

The final kicker in the discombobulation stakes is the way Lennon ends his lead vocal on a very unresolved A over an Em chord. Most songs end on the root note and tonic chord which here would mean a G over a G major chord. But Lennon unexpectedly substitutes an Em chord (giving us the legendary Aeolian Cadence - Ticket 10). And A is the 2nd in the key of G major and the 4th in relation to the Em chord. So whichever way you slice it, very unstable and unfinished. And cool.

Contrast

The key change isn't solely responsible for the contrast between verse and chorus. The verse harmony is built on the 'line cliché' of E Eb D Db C B within the chords

Em - Em maj7 - Em7 - Em6 - C7 - G

while the chorus uses simpler chords with much more root movement.

G Am F G Em A7 F G

The verse melody is constructed from a repeated motif with a narrow range (E-B) over moving chords (Ticket 48) whereas the chorus is more expansive and free.

Mama's Little Baby Loves Short'ning

One of the ways Lennon generates tremendous forward momentum throughout the song (apart from omitting any intro, outro or solo) is by cutting out extraneous bars and beats (Ticket 37 – The Lennon Edit). The chorus is four bars long but the first chorus omits the last two beats and the last line of lyrics.

Similarly the verse are truncated. Any other writer would have hung on to G major for a fourth bar just to 'square things up' (0:19). But Lennon's in too much of a rush – so three bars it is. And then he outdoes himself the second time (0:20) cutting the three bar pattern down to two and a half. After all, the verse ends on G major and the chorus starts on G major so why play it twice? Let's edit the edit!

Lennon does it again in the double chorus finale (2:07). The chorus starts and ends G major. So he removes the beginning of the final chorus. Or is it the end of the penultimate one? Who cares! Snip!

By the way, about that verse. Repeating a chord progression is the most normal thing in the world. But the Beatles hardly ever did it. Interesting that...

Arrangement Hall Of Fame

The recording abounds with subtle, yet brilliant, arrangement ideas. Little painterly flourishes like the few seconds of flashy harmonium soloing from George Martin (0:05) never to be heard again, the organ (0:41), Harrison's lead guitar fills in verse three (1:17, 1:26), the piano bassline that brings out the spookiness of the verse progression (1:40). Along with other sonic touches like the gnarly phasing on the acoustic guitar (0:01) and recordings of birds (1:13) all betray crafting. And Ringo is the master craftsman, taking a different approach on every single verse. Check out the great bass/drums groove on verse two (0:39).

So that's Cry Baby Cry completely wrapped up. But there's still one more thing to look at with the track. Can you guess what it is?


*C7 is the bVI7 chord in the key of E minor – a very bluesified choice.

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Ticket 71: Write A Parody

In modern parlance parody has come to mean 'a comedic take on an existing song' - singing new words to the same tune which often take potshots at the original creator or theme. But in a wider sense any new work of art built on the musical or poetic structure of an existing work is a parody. So, for example, you could write deadly serious lyrics with the rhyme scheme and structure taken from a poem. Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 (My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun) is a parody of traditional love poetry forms. The hymn Love Divine All Loves Excelling (Charles Wesley) is a parody of King Arthur (Fairest Isle, All Isles Excelling) by John Dryden - a poem celebrating sexual freedom. You can also parody musical styles (sometimes referred to as pastiche).

This is a great way to push yourself out of your default patterns.

Back In The USSR
Happiness Is A Warm Gun (Doo Wop style in final section)

Also

I Got A Woman (Ray Charles) – A love song in a stylistic parody of gospel music
The Elements (Tom Lehrer) – The Major-General's Song (Gilbert and Sullivan)
Sowing The Seeds Of Love (Tears For Fears) – stylistic parody of The Beatles!

Weird Al Yankovic is the master of parody. Compare the following tracks to the originals to appreciate his skill in matching phrasing, rhyme schemes etc

A Complicated Song (Complicated - Avril Lavigne)
Jerry Springer (Two Weeks – Barenaked Ladies)
Ode To A Superhero (Piano Man – Billy Joel)
The Saga Begins (American Pie – Don McClean)
White And Nerdy (Ridin Dirty - Chamillionaire)
Word Crimes (Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke)

See also

Serious Like Weird Al (pt.2)

Ticket 19: Different Bar Blues
Ticket 33: Subvert A 12 Bar Blues By Altering The Chord Sequence
Ticket 34: Disguise A 12 Bar Blues Song By Avoiding The AAB Lyric Structure

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Links

The BeAtletudes
About Beatles Songwriting Academy
Let's Build An Airport EP

Ticket 65: Build Up On The V Chord

Nothing gives a sense of building to a glorious inevitable climax like hanging out on the V chord (or better yet the V7) for a few bars till you resolve to the root (I).

Back In The USSR - intro
Birthday
Day Tripper - solo
Here Comes The Sun - bridge
Twist And Shout - bridge

also

Do You Love Me? - The Contours
Suffragette City - David Bowie

See also

Ticket 1: The Flat 6 Chord
Ticket 43: Use The Fourths Luke!
Ticket 44: Use the Minor 5 (v) Chord

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 61: Don't Bore Us, Get To The Weirdness

If your song has something really unique consider using it in the first 20 seconds. Got an unusual instrument, weird riff or complex time signature? Resist the temptation to introduce it gradually. Grab your listener with the cool stuff right out of the gate.

Honey Pie (Cm 2nd bar Eb7 3rd bar)
Martha My Dear (key and time signature)
Strawberry Fields Forever (mellotron and out of key chords)

also

Everything In It's Right Place - drumless weird time signatures (Radiohead)
Goodnight Girl – jazz chord intro (Wet Wet Wet)
Living On A Prayer - talk box (Bon Jovi)
Pyramid Song - drumless weird time signatures (Radiohead)

See also

Ticket 25: Transplant Cliches From Other Genres
Ticket 37: The Lennon Edit
Ticket 42: Have A Completely Unique Concept For The Song
Ticket 49: Employ Madrigalism
Ticket 52: The Lennon Extension
Ticket 53: Write A 'Jazz-Style Intro' Verse

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 58: Write a Descant

A descant is second contrasting vocal melody, often with more or less the same lyrics, but with a different rhythm, that happens at the same time as the main vocal. Writing and performing one takes a lot of skill to make it work, but it's worth it. You can achieve a similar effect but layering the vocals to one section over another (e.g. Eleanor Rigby, Djimi Traore)

Eleanor Rigby
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Hello Goodbye
Help
It Won't Be Long Now
She's Leaving Home

also

California Dreaming (Mamas And The Papas)
Djimi Traore (Matt Blick)
Good Vibrations (Beach Boys)
Ignorance Is Bliss (Jellyfish)
Sloop John B (Beach Boys)
The Ghost Of Number One (Jellyfish)

See also

Ticket 3: Make Everything A Hook
Ticket 4: Recycle Your 'O's
Ticket 11: Play The Vocal Rhythm
Ticket 23: Write Fewer Lyrics
Ticket 24: Use Parallel Lyrics


See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 53: Write A 'Jazz-Style Intro' Verse

Whether you use a verse/chorus structure or a tradition AABA form, try kicking off the proceedings with an introductory section that differs from the other verse sections. This can be a completely different musical section or include a spoken part.

Do You Want To Know A Secret
Here There And Everywhere
Honey Pie
If I Fell
Julia
P.S. I Love You
Rocky Racoon

also

For Those About To Rock (AC/DC)
Here At The End Of The World (Matt Blick)
I Got Rhythm (Gershwin)
Night And Day (Porter)
Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution (AC/DC)
Secret Door (Arctic Monkeys)
That Old Black Magic (Porter)
The Lady Is A Tramp (Gershwin)
When The Sun Goes Down (Arctic Monkeys)

See also

Ticket 4: Recycle Your 'O's
Ticket 5: Make Sections Contrast With The Other Musical Sections
Ticket 25: Transplant Cliches From Other Genres
Ticket 26: Use An AABA Structure
Ticket 55: Two Become One
Ticket 62: Write Two Bridges

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 52: The Lennon Extension

Create a momentary time signature change by simply adding a beat (or bar), especially if you need extra space to fit more words into the vocal line. This is the opposite trick to the The Lennon Edit (Ticket 37) and is common in the same genres of music – solo blues, folk, TV themes and advertising jingles.

Back In The USSR - second chorus
Don't Let Me Down
Helter Skelter – at 0:30 the G chord is delayed while McCartney sings 'tell me” four times (compare 1:10 where he sings the line three times and the G is a bar earlier)
Revolution 1- at 3:24 (due to a mistake in tape editing)

also

Coney Island Baby – chorus (Tom Waits)
I'm Shakin' (Jack White)
Let Me Roll It (Paul McCartney) (again, due to a mistake in tape editing)
Soundcheck Song – 'keyboard' verse (Matt Blick)
The Key - 3rd verse (Sonny Boy Williamson)

See also

Ticket 2: Put Your Song On A Diet
Ticket 15: Change Time Signatures Between Sections
Ticket 29: Use Polyrhythms
Ticket 37: The Lennon Edit
Ticket 53: Write A 'Jazz-Style Intro' Verse
Ticket 57: Use Rhythmic Displacement

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 49: Employ Madrigalism

Try reinforcing the meaning of the lyrics through the music either in the groove, arrangement, melodic shape, chord progression or structure. This songwriting trick is covered in much more depth here

A Day In The Life – alarm clock
Piggies – SFX, grunting celli
The Long And Winding Road – avoiding the 'home' chord

also

Apache (The Shadows) – rhythm, pentatonic melody
Brother Bull (Matt Blick) – instruments represent animals, 'three rings'
Everything Is Broken (Matt Blick) – 'broken' time signature, cut off ending
Glitter and Be Gay (Candide) (Leonard Bernstein) - major & minor changes



See also

Golden Ticket: Madrigalism
Ticket 11: Play The Vocal Rhythm
Ticket 24: Use Parallel Lyrics
Ticket 27: Place Your Main Lyric On The Highest Point Of The Melody
Ticket 30: Emphasise Key Lyrics By Having The Whole Band Drop Out
Ticket 36: Emphasise Key Lyrics By Changing Chord On Every Syllable Or Word
Ticket 42: Have A Completely Unique Concept For The Song
Ticket 54: Unify Your Lyrical Imagery/Extended Metaphor

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 47: False Ending

This post has been updated HERE

 

It might annoy radio DJs but it's fun to do. Also works well if you go to a non root chord like a IV, vi or VI

I Will
Piggies
Something
Strawberry Fields Forever - end of solo

also

Born To Run (Bruce Springsteen)
Shang Ding Hong Song (Matt Blick)
We Were Born To Be Loved (King's X)

See also

Ticket 4: Recycle Your 'O's
Ticket 10: The Aeolian Cadence
Ticket 16: The Picardy Third
Ticket 20: End With A Couple Of Triplets
Ticket 46: False Picardy

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 46: The False Picardy

'Picardy Third' (Ticket 16) refers to the baroque music trick of finishing a minor key song or section on the major root chord, but there are lots of other options to give your final moment a fresh twist. Any chord that contains the tonic works well, as the melody can still land on the root note while the harmony supplies the twist. So in a minor key the iv and bVI would be diatonic options and the IV and vi would be non diatonic (out of key). In the key of C minor that would mean you could finish on

Fm, F major, Ab major or Am

All of these chords would 'work' in C major, especially vi (Am) which is the famous Aeolian Cadence (Ticket 10).

If you use extended chords the options increase. The easiest way to think about this is adding the tonic note into each chord. For example (again in C major).

C major
C#maj7
Dm7
D7
Eb6
Emb6
F major
Fm
F#dim7
Gsus4
Ab major
Am
Bbsus2
B7b9

If you're happy for your melody to land on something other than the root note, the choices are infinite.

As with the Picardy, you can use this trick to end a section (Something), or the whole song (And I Love Her).

It's an art to finish well on something other than the root chord.

A root chord say “THE END” or “FULL STOP (PERIOD)”.

Picardy Third says “SURPRISE HAPPY ENDING!”

The tape cut off ending, whether accidental (Her Majesty) or deliberate (I Want You She's So Heavy) says “HEY THE LAST PAGE IS MISSING DAMMIT”.

Anything else may just say “TO BE CONTINUED...”

1963 Ask Me Why - The Beatles (2:16) - iii
1964 When I Get Home - The Beatles (2:02) -VI
1964 And I Love Her - The Beatles - VI
1965 And Your Bird Can Sing - The Beatles - IV
1965 You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - The Beatles - V
1966 For No One - The Beatles - IV of minor key bridge, or V of major key verse
1968 Let's Make the Water Turn Black - Mothers of Invention – VI
1968 Piece of My Heart – Janis Joplin - ii
1969 Because - The Beatles (0:00) - bii dim
1969 Something - The Beatles (2:45) - VI
1969 Badge – Cream - iv (Em) or v (D mixolydian)
1970 25 or 6 to 4 – Chicago - II/I
1973 The Ocean – Led Zeppelin - V
1971 Wind-Up – Jethro Tull - V
1976 Silly Love Songs - Wings - iii
1980 Steeler – Judas Priest (4:14) - bVII
1980 Lately – Stevie Wonder - VI
1985 Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins - V
1995 New Test Leper – R.E.M. - ii

See also

Ticket 1: The Flat 6 Chord
Ticket 6: Stay Off The Root Chord
Ticket 8: Use The Minor 4 (iv) Chord
Ticket 10: The Aeolian Cadence
Ticket 13: Make The Vocals Stay On Non-Chord Tones
Ticket 14: Write An In-Key Melody Over Out-Of-Key Chords
Ticket 16: The Picardy Third
Ticket 18: Finishing On A Single Ringing Chord
Ticket 28: Use At Least One Out Of Key Chord
Ticket 44: Use the Minor 5 (v) Chord
Ticket 45: Change Keys Between Sections
Ticket 47: False Ending
Ticket 49: Employ Madrigalism

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 40: Don't Use All Seven Notes Of The Scale

Create some deliberate ambiguity by what you DON'T play. Let people assume they're hearing notes and then mess with those assumptions.

Come Together
Love You To
Rain

also

The Riddle (Steve Vai)

See also

Ticket 6: Stay Off The Root Chord
Ticket 7: Avoid Using All Three Major Chords Early In The Song
Ticket 14: Write An In-Key Melody Over Out-Of-Key Chords
Ticket 45: Change Keys Between Sections
Ticket 50: Stay Off The Root Note In The Melody
Ticket 51: Use The Mixolydian Mode
Ticket 56: Write Your Melody Over Phantom Chords

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

10:35 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (pt.3 Contrasts, Chords And Words Again)

A Song Of Two Halves

I mentioned last time the lyrics reference both the mundane and the massive. That sense of contrasts is fabulously highlighted by differences between the A (verse) and B (bridge) sections (Ticket 5).

Verse

Key of Am
Repetitive melody, small melodic range
Simple rhymes on '-ing'
Vocal harmonies
Mostly piano (McCartney)

Bridge

Key of A major (Ticket 45)
More meandering melody, larger range (eg the big jump on know WHY and UnFOLD)
Extended rhymes (some might say OVERextended!)
No vocal harmonies
Mostly organ (McCartney and Harrison)


Chords

The chord progression in the verse is brilliant, every chord perfectly sets up the next, the initial Am Am/G D/F# F (giving us R b7 6 b6 in the bass - ticket 68) has a grim inevitability to it but the second time it subtly morphs into Am G D and finishes on E (the V) which leads us strongly back to the beginning. We begin to suspect we're in for a straight repeat, but the second time round Am and G resolve to C (the relative major) - a temporary respite from the gloom. But then the E major sets us up to plunge back in.

Everything hinges (literally) on the E major chord in this song. Not only does it set us up for the Am in the verse but when we get to the bridge it seamlessly prepares the way for the new tonic – A major. And how does the major bridge bring us back to the minor verse? You guessed it – E major.

Lyrics

Many people acknowledge this lyric is a mix of the brilliant and spectacularly bad, though there's debate about where to draw the line. For me the second bridge is a horrific case of rhyme fever - where a desire to rhyme pushes you to say things you didn't necessarily want to say and takes the listener out of the song, by drawing attention to a writer who is trying too hard to be clever. On the other hand the verses work wonderfully for me because they convey the same sense of numb detachment that songs like Because or Blue Jay Way achieve.

Lyrical hooks come from parallel lyrics (ticket 24)

I look at the world/floor/you all
I don't know why/how 

and the direct repetition of

Still my guitar gently weeps

That central concept itself is a totally original phrase, a unique lyrical hook, conceived from a kind of metaphysical poetic exercise (Ticket 59). Harrison, quoted in the Anthology book

I was thinking about the I Ching, the Book of Changes… the Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be, and that there’s no such thing as coincidence – every little item that’s going down has a purpose.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps was a simple study based on that theory. I decided to write a song based on the first thing I saw upon opening any book – I picked up a book at random, opened it, saw ‘gently weeps’, then laid the book down again and started the song.

Coming soon - Dear Prudence.

Ticket 30: Emphasise Key Lyrics By Having The Whole Band Drop Out

Nothing provides drama like the band dropping out to let the vocals shine. Go through your lyrics and look for key moments to introduce this songwriting trick.

Can't Buy Me Love, Come Together, Don't Let Me Down, Help, One After 909, The End, The Long And Winding Road, Two Of Us, Why Don't We Do It In The Road

See also

Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Diana Ross), Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), Bold As Love (Jimi Hendrix Experience), God Give Me Strength – bridge (Bacharach/Costello), I Hate Myself For Loving You (Joan Jett), Kiss (Prince), Nobody's Fault But Mine (Led Zeppelin), Roxanne (Police), Shakin' All Over (Johnny Kidd & The Pirates), Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin), Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran), Teddy Bear
(Elvis Presley), Tutti Frutti (Little Richard), Twenty Flight Rock (Eddie Cochran)

See also

Ticket 11: Play The Vocal Rhythm
Ticket 13: Make The Vocals Stay On Non-Chord Tones
Ticket 27: Place Your Main Lyric On The Highest Point Of The Melody
Ticket 36: Emphasise Key Lyrics By Changing Chord On Every Syllable Or Word
Ticket 67: Repeat Verse 1

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Thanks to Martin Quibell, Geordie Robertson & Nancy Rost on the BSA forum for examples

Ticket 41: Use The Same Ending For Two Different Sections

Using the same musical material to conclude different sections can can give help to unify contrasting parts. This could involve anything from wholesale chords, melody and lyrics (Golden Slumbers, Let It Be) to merely a chord sequence (Blackbird ) or guitar riff (Back In The USSR)

Back In The USSR, Blackbird, Golden Slumbers, Let It Be, Julia, Martha My Dear (bridge 1 & 2)

also Hedwig's Theme (John Williams), Hotel California - chord progression (The Eagles), Imperial March (John Williams), We Wish You A Merry Christmas (trad.)

See also

Ticket 4: Recycle Your 'O's
Ticket 5: Make Sections Contrast With The Other Musical Sections
Ticket 9: Recycle Musical Cells
Ticket 53: Write A 'Jazz-Style Intro' Verse
Ticket 62: Write Two Bridges

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 26: Use An AABA Structure

Only verses and a bridge. NO chorus. The title should be at the beginning or end of the verse.

Title first

A Hard Day's Night
Do You Want to Know a Secret
Hey Jude
Julia
Honey Pie
Lady Madonna
The Long And Winding Road
Something


Title last

I Saw Her Standing There
From Me To You
One After 909
P.S. I Love You

Also
Piggies
Yesterday

and almost everything on first two albums.

also 

Blue Moon - Rodgers/Hart
Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel
Monday, Monday - The Mamas and The Papas
Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
Save the Last Dance for Me - The Drifters
The Christmas Song - Mel Torme
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? - The Shirelles
Like I Can - Sam Smith
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
Friday I'm In Love - The Cure
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Fields of Gold - Sting



See Also
Ticket 25: Transplant Cliches From Other Genres
Ticket 38: Use An ABCCC Rhyme Scheme
Ticket 41: Use The Same Ending For Two Different Sections
Ticket 53: Write A 'Jazz-Style Intro' Verse
Ticket 62: Write Two Bridges

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

See also Songwriting for Dummies

Ticket 19: Different Bar Blues

Because the majority of blues have a standard 12 bar structure it hard not to become entirely predictable when writing one. Adding or subtracting bars is a great way to freshen things up just as your listeners are being lulled into a false sense of security.

Bad Boy
Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
Come Together
Day Tripper
I Me Mine
I Saw Her Standing There
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
I'm Down
One After 909
Revolution
The Ballad Of John And Yoko
Yer Blues

also

Almost (Blues Brothers)
Black Country Woman (Led Zeppelin)
Bodhissatva (Steely Dan)
I Want To Break Free (Queen)
I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Muddy Waters)
Jesus Just Left Chicago (ZZ Top)
Kiss (Prince)
Mission Impossible Theme (Lalo Schifrin)
Oh, Pretty Woman (Albert King)
Pony Blues (Charlie Patton)
Pretzel Logic (Steely Dan)
Riverboat Song (Ocean Colour Scene)
Rock And Roll Music (Chuck Berry)
Subterranean Homesick Blues (Bob Dylan)
The Forecast (Calls For Pain) (Robert Cray)
Trigger Happy (Weird Al Yankovic)
Victim Of Changes (Judas Priest)
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (Jimi Hendrix)
Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock)
Neck Tie (Michelle Shocked)

and

Eight-bar blues like Sitting on Top of the World, Key to the Highway and Heartbreak Hotel

Many old country blues and folk songs, especially by solo guitarists like John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson have seemingly random numbers of bars.

See also

Ticket 33: Subvert a 12 bar blues song by changing the chord sequence
Ticket 34: Disguise a 12 bar blues song by avoiding the AAB lyric structure
Ticket 35: Use 12 bar long sections in non 12 bar blues songs

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Further Reading

The 12 Bar, 13 Bar, 14 Bar Blues
The 12 Bar Blues In Beatles Music Part 2

Thanks to Nancy Rost, T.C. Elliott, Aaron Krerowicz

Ticket 18: Finish On A Single Ringing Chord

Fade outs are often a sign you're lacking ideas. This will help you keep your songs short and sweet.

From Me To You, Help, I Saw Her Standing There, The End, Twist And Shout (and just about everything else!)

See Also

Ticket 2: Put Your Song On A Diet

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Ticket 2: Put Your Song On A Diet

Try cutting away all the excess – ask of each section/repeat “is this part really necessary?” Get rid of intros if you can. Remember, to paraphrase Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The song is not finished when there is nothing left to add, 
but when there is nothing left to take away"

From Me To You
Glass Onion
Golden Slumbers
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
I Will
I'm So Tired
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Oh! Darling
Piggies
Please Please Me
The Long And Winding Road

also

Accidents Will Happen (Elvis Costello And The Attractions)
Big Boys (Elvis Costello And The Attractions)
Demons (Imagine Dragons)
Great Balls Of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis)
Johnsburg, Illinois (Tom Waits)
Long Tall Sally (Little Richard)
Short Songs (Plastic Inevitables)
Song 2 (Blur)
Tutti Frutti (Little Richard)
Subliminal Fascism (Fishbone)
War (Edwin Starr)

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

See Also

Ticket 4: Create intros, outros and solos by mutating the main sections of the song
Ticket 6: Avoid using the root chord, especially as the first chord in the song
Ticket 7: Avoid using all three major chords early in the song
Ticket 18: Finish on a single ringing chord
Ticket 23: Write as few lyrics as you can
Ticket 24: Repeat words and sentence structures
Ticket 37: Create odd time signatures by removing bars or individual beats
Ticket 40: Don't use all seven notes of the scale
Ticket 50: Keep your melody off the root note
Ticket 53: Write a 'jazz-style' intro verse
Ticket 61: Introduce your song's most unusual compositional or arrangement ideas as early as possible
Ticket 67: Repeat verse 1




The BeAtletudes About Beatles Songwriting Academy
Let's Build An Airport EP

Ticket 5: Make Sections Contrast

...with the other musical sections. Fast/slow, loud/quiet, wide/narrow melodic range etc.

Martha My Dear (bridge 1/bridge 2)
Piggies (bridge and solos)
Please Please Me (bridge/verse)
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (chorus/verse)
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill (verse/chorus)

 Also Creep - verse/chorus (Radiohead)
Freewheel Burning - vocals (Judas Priest)
Smells Like Teen Spirit - verse/chorus (Nirvana)

See Also

Ticket 15: Change Time Signatures Between Sections
Ticket 41: Use The Same Ending For Two Different Sections
Ticket 45: Change Keys Between Sections
Ticket 53: Write A 'Jazz-Style Intro' Verse
Ticket 62: Write Two Bridges

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write