Issue link: https://takingitglobal.uberflip.com/i/1350781
S O N G W R I T I N G 1 0 1 77 LESSON 4: BREAKING DOWN LYRICS "I think you should really come sort of locked and loaded when it comes to not only topical music, like political songs, protest songs, but I was just really proud of how all of those words got me to the first chorus, because it builds up a tension and it builds up this anxious feeling, the feeling of the pains of futility." HOW EVAN WORKS WITH LYRICS "Some people have the idea that you're born with talent when really it 's just chipping away. It 's all about just rolling up your sleeves and chipping away at the song." Evan explains how the trickiest part of any song is writing that first verse that just really sets up the tune and gets you to that first chorus. If you have all the right ingredients, the chorus is just that much better. What about rhyming? Evan says "It's nice to rhyme. It's pleasing to the listener. It's pleas- ing on the ears." BREAKING DOWN STANZAS AND RHYME Evan breaks down the lyrics of his song. He labels the similar lines A and B to show how he has created the rhymes. He doesn't go for obvious rhymes so he can avoid cliches. His first verse is broken down accordingly as A, A, B, B. He varies this for his next verse. As for the instrumental, he chose chords that were similar to the chorus but in a different pattern. "There's no hard and fast rule. I just think that when you write a verse, it should stick to some structure."