STRATEGY FIVE
A Title With a Top-Ten Word: Heart, Night, If

Some Background

A virtual instant cure for the student syndrome “I've got no ideas,” results from the assignment to write a title from a “top-ten” keyword—especially when it's heart, or night, or if—three of the most popular in songdom. Innovative writers seem never to run out of fresh ways to treat these ordinary words. Let's start with heart and night.

Prewriting Suggestion

This is a good time to practice some of the right-brain techniques described in Part II—free writing and other-hand writing. Both can help generate a fresh title or two that'll give birth to a concept complete with viewpoint, voice, time frame and setting. Write the word heart on the first line of your page and just keep writing in short phrases rapidly one after another. Let random connections occur. If rhymes pop out, let them. Keep your pen or pencil on the paper—and free write. If you find you're pausing, it's because your left-brain editor is interfering. Try switching your pen or pencil to your nondominant hand. You may be surprised at the ideas that emerge–often a thought closer to your heart than your head. Here are two lyrics that sprang from this strategy. First, an example of the classic theme: “trying to get over you.”

Example No. 1: A Heart Title (AABA)
MY HEART HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN

My friends and relations
Say I mustn't think of you.
Well, that's easy to say,
But awful hard to do.
It wouldn't help a bit
If my brain were made of stone
'Cause MY HEART HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN.

I close the windows, pull the shades,
And lock the house up tight
To keep those memories of you
From haunting me at night.
I beg my heart be quiet,
And for once leave me alone.
But MY HEART HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN.

Nobody cries forever.
Sooner or later tears run dry.
I've seen others recover.
Why can't I?

Somewhere there's an answer
That will help me to forget.
I'm struggling for an answer
But I haven't found it yet.
Working free of your memory's
The hardest job I've known
'Cause MY HEART HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN.
© I990 Don Weill. Used with permission.

Comment

The lyric has all the ingredients of a chart hit–strong colloquial title and a singer in a universal situation with which millions can identify. Don was disappointed to discover that his title was not unique to him: A song with that title had been a No. 1 hit for Connie Francis in 1960. He felt reassured, however, that he was thinking commercially. And, of course, that title could make it again. After all, four songs with the identical title “Heartbreaker,” by four different writing teams have made it to the chart! Although we strive for originality, ideas are swimming around in the collective unconscious. And it's simply a matter of who reels them in–and when.

Example No. 2: A Night Title (AAA)
THE ULTIMATE NIGHT

I'll be dressed in gold lamé
Gardenias in my hair.
He'll be partly Tarzan,
Partly Fred Astaire—
Our eyes will meet and wordlessly
We'll start the big affair.
That's the scene I see—
The way it all will be
THE ULTIMATE NIGHT.

He'll glide across a ballroom floor
And sweep me off my feet
Whisk me to a limousine
And never miss a beat.
A private plane will take us
To his St. Tropez retreat:
There'll be a balcony
That overlooks the sea
THE ULTIMATE NIGHT.

He'll fill me up with Montrachet
(The rarest vintage year).
I'll hear his love words and the surf
Whisp'ring in my ear.
There'll be velvet walls, a canopy,
A crystal chandelier,
And perfumed satin sheets
And chocolate pillow treats
THE ULTIMATE NIGHT.

We'll light the lemon candlesticks
And when I count to ten,
He'll rub me down with jasmine oil—
Won't stop till I say “When!”
I'll give him my best femme fatale;
Then we'll do it all again.
We'll be so high on love
That we could fly on love
THE ULTIMATE NIGHT.

But meanwhile there are rooms to dust
And dishes in the sink—
A button off, a cavity—
A TV on the blink.
And meanwhile, there's a fellow
Who'd supply the missing link;

But I'm unconvinced he's it
And unwilling to commit.
'Cause there's still a part of me
That's holding out to see
What may be waiting slightly out of sight
On some magical, glamourous,
Fairytale, amorous,
Starlit ULTIMATE NIGHT.
^© 1989 May Caffrey. Used with permission.

Comment

“The Ultimate Night” was designed for a character in a revue whose mundane world is sustained by her fantasy life. The revue writer can, of course, sprinkle lyrics with such non-pop words as Montrachet (pronounced Mohn-trah-SHAY). I also want to point out the extended final A. Unlike the pop lyricist who generally adheres to the major song formats (outlined in Part I), the revue, cabaret and theater lyricist is concerned about creating a theatrical moment and thus giving the singer something to perform that builds to applause. The writer could have ended the verse: “Cause there's still a part of me/That's holding out to see/The Ultimate Night.” It's okay, but flat. Trust your intuition (which the intuitives of course do naturally). Sensates, who tend to adhere closely to traditional forms, may need encouragement to bend the forms when appropriate. So follow any hunch that suggests that you stretch or add or shorten or twist a verse or bridge or chorus. Song forms are not sacred shapes: When you've learned the “rules,” you've earned the right to bend them.

The Big Little Word

Since the word if has begun almost as many hit song titles as the word love, it rates its own category.

Prewriting Suggestions

The foregoing examples illustrate that an “if”concept can express various attitudes—rueful, hopeful, playful, and so on. To connect you with your own significant “if,” the brainstorming process will generally do the trick. Or, you could work from specific viewpoints; for example, try three columns headed “Mine,” “Yours,” “The World's.” The first would naturally emphasize personal “ifs,” the second, interpersonal, and the third, social/global.

Small Craft Warning

A grammar refresher: The use of if or as though in contrary-to-fact statements requires the verb to be in the subjunctive mood; for example, “You look at me as if I were (not was) crazy.” The subjunctive mood is also required in statements expressing a wish as in “If I Were (not was) a Rich Man.” Be mindful too that in using the conditional, you'll most likely be employing the helping verbs could, would, should rather than will, shall.

Example No. 3: An If Title (Verse/Chorus/Bridge)
IF I'M GONNA BE LONELY, I'D RATHER BE ALONE

The phone is ringing and I know it's you.
You're with some friends having a drink or two.
I'm not worried about when you'll be here
It's how you'll treat me when you appear:
Without emotion you'll kiss me hello.
But tonight is the night
I'm gonna let you know:

IF I'M GONNA BE LONELY,
I'D RATHER BE ALONE
I've never been frightened
Of being on my own.
This place we're sharing,
Doesn't feel like a home
And IF I'M GONNA BE LONELY,
I'D RATHER BE ALONE.

I can remember how I used to turn you on;
We'd make love into the dawn.
But now at night instead of reaching for me,
You're reaching out to turn on TV.
It's an empty feeling living this way.
So tonight is the night
I'm gonna have my say.

(repeat chorus)
© 1991 Noel Cohen. Used with permission.

Comment

Noel Cohen's opening lines thrust us right into the moment. They immediately show that the singer is alone and thinking about the lover/singee. The flashback device of the second verse helps to develop the plot. The lyric written for a woman, would make feminist/songwriter Holly Near cheer: She once said, “If you write love songs … write positive … as opposed to themes that are not useful to the population. If songwriters begin … to make the listener feel some sense of self, of dignity and pride, of hope … that can be the beginning to being a conscientious songwriter.”

Three little words, three big possibilities. After you've tried these three strategies, you'll have had practice using a conceptual device you can rely on time and again. And you'll undoubtedly discover a few more top-ten keywords to shape into songs.

I can't resist adding a relevant note about Randy Newman and the Oscar. Although over the years Newman had received sixteen (!) Oscar nominations for the best original song for a film, it took “If I Didn't Have You” from “Monsters, Inc.” to finally capture for him the Oscar Award in 2002. So there're no “buts” or “maybes” about the potential success of “ifs.”

WrapUp

In closing, it's worth noting that your title can consist of only one word. As proof of that strategy's hit potential, consider the fact that the Billboard Pop 100 Chart of March 28, 2009 featured seven one-word titles: “Heartless,” “Mad,” “Circus,” “Beautiful,” “Sober,” “Diva,” and “Halo.” So why not give yourself an assignment to come up with some fresh one-word titles.