STRATEGY TWENTY - FIVE
Love as Plot Device

This time the subject is love, with or without allusions to its three-letter counterpart. In contrast to the song titles in the previous strategy, the following ones speak of commitment.

Approach to the Treatment

Writing about commitment is rather like serving vanilla ice cream–in itself it's bland. It virtually demands an added ingredient or topping to give it some texture, some crunch. You may find it helpful to run your eye down the table of contents (Parts III-VI) as a refresher for treatment strategies. The two songs on the subject of sex (“Early Bird Special” and “2 Hot 2 Handle”) each applied a colloquialism as a fresh topping. So give some thought to how a title might garnish your subject.

Two earlier lyrics, “The Strength of Our Love” and “Staying in Love” both embody the subject of commitment. Here come two more.

Love as Subject: Example No. 1 (Verse/Chorus)
WITHOUT YOU

If it wasn't for your body
If it wasn't for your brain
If it wasn't for your rainbow smile
That eases all my pain,
If it wasn't for your patience
And your understanding too,
I'd get along real nicely
WITHOUT YOU.

If it wasn't for the comfort
If it wasn't for the doubt
If it wasn't for the troubles
And the way we work them out,
If it wasn't for the million
Daily miracles you do,
I'd get along real nicely
WITHOUT YOU.

WITHOUT YOU
I wouldn't be worth a damn.
WITHOUT YOU
I wouldn't be who I am.
I wouldn't know where I'm goin',
Where I've been
Or what to do.
I'd be without within me
WITHOUT YOU.

If it wasn't for your laughter
If it wasn't for your tears
If it wasn't for your carin'
And your sharin' all these years
If it wasn't for your open arms
That say you need me too
I'd get along real nicely
WITHOUT YOU.

(repeat chorus)
© 1980 Words by Jim Morgan/Music by Alan Cove. Used with permission.

Comment

The repetitive device of anaphora (in the phrase If it wasn't) scaffolds the lyric by beginning successive lines in each verse. This structural tool appeals more to thinkers–NTs and STs–than to feelers–NFs and SFs. Perhaps it's because syntax functions in the left brain. I encourage all Fs, however, to value the power of purposeful repetition and add an occasional touch of anaphora for emphasis.

To support the country tone, the lyric takes liberty with grammar; hence such phrases as, if it wasn't (for weren't), where I been (for I've) and the (substandard English) colloquialism real nicely. With irony typical of the intuitive/thinker (NT), Jim Morgan chose a title phrase to celebrate commitment that's associated with the aftermath of breakup. He wraps up the chorus with a subtle pun: the line “be without within me” uses without as an adverb meaning lacking something which plays against the title's use of without as a preposition meaning with the absence.

Although pop tradition holds that titles of verse/chorus songs restrict themselves to the chorus, we find many successful country V/C songs that also place the title at the end of the initial verse and sometimes every verse–as in “Without You.” Be alerted, however, to the danger of boring your listener by too many title references and/or blurring the distinction between the verse and the chorus. As always, there are no “rules,” only useful guidelines.

Love as Subject: Example No. 2 (AABA)
A PERMANENT THING

Sunlight may fade into moonlight,
And winter may melt into spring,
As the wise men have found
What goes up must come down.
But our love, baby, our love is
A PERMANENT THING
Our love, baby, our love is
A PERMANENT THING.

No one can count on tomorrow.
Who knows what the future will bring?
Iron may rust,
Diamonds crumble to dust,
But our love, baby, our love is
A PERMANENT THING
Our love, baby, our love is
A PERMANENT THING.

When we kiss in soft surrender
Time goes drifting away.
Feeling like this is what keeps us together
Day after day 'til the end of our days
You and me, forever.

Flowers may lose all their sweetness
And birds may forget how to sing.
Honey, we'll still be here
'Cause it's perfectly clear that
Our love, baby, our love is
A PERMANENT THING
Our love, baby, our love is
A PERMANENT THING.
© 1988 Words by Maureen Sugden/Music by Barry Wittenstein. Used with permission.

Comment

Although the bridge includes satisfactory sex as a major component in their ‘permanent thing,’ the subject under discussion is clearly the total relationship. So there is no confusion as to what the term love here refers.

It's worth pointing out the way that well-crafted lyrics organize ideas into logical groupings and place them in ascending order of importance: Here, nature references begin with two polar-opposite abstractions spring/winter, sunlight/moonlight, develop in the second A to two concrete references iron and diamonds; and in the third A, to living aspects, flowers and birds. Perhaps it was Maureen's intuitive perception (NP) that gave her the freedom to stretch her AABA lyric to an added line, immediately repeating her title line, making it almost a refrain. It's unusual, but a very useful device to give the AABA form a “hookiness” equal to the verse/chorus form. Note to S and J writers who tend to stick closely to conventional practice: Once you've mastered your forms, it's okay to loosen them up a bit.

WrapUp

Relative to type and writing style, it seems worth noting that both examples of this strategy happen to have been written by intuitive/thinkers who share a quality common to NTs: an optimistic outlook. In the next section, some of the optimism may fade as infidelity rears its ubiquitous head.