Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do your lyrics lack powerful emotions? Do you want to learn how to write using stronger images? Take Mark Twain’s advice, “Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.” The first of Twain’s sentences uses abstract language, but the second uses concrete images instead. Simply put, when you describe a scene, you need to show it rather than tell it. Songwriting – Let Her Scream explains how.
This article uses literary terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
Mark Twain
Images and Songwriting – Let Her Scream
The last The Craft of Songwriting post, Overcoming Writer’s Block in Songwriting, talked about how you can use pictures to jumpstart the imagery in your songs. In Songwriting – Let Her Scream, we will focus on bringing power to your lyric writing with concrete versus abstract words.
Having said this, you might think of an image as just visual, like a photograph. However, any sense impression can become an image, not just the visible ones.
“The cold wind hit him in the face like an angry slap.” The image has the impact of remembered sensation. You feel the bite of the wind in your body and recall what it feels like to be slapped.
You create sense “pictures” through words that show sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and touches. Using images, by depicting details, engages your emotions through your senses.
“I smelled the fresh chocolate chip cookie aroma wafting from the bake shop. It took me back to grandma’s house.” Showing the character’s joy creates a more vivid event than saying, “I felt happy.”
Abstract Versus Concrete Language and Songwriting – Let Her Scream
In this part of Songwriting – Let Her Scream, we talk about abstract versus concrete language. Webster’s Dictionary has the root of the word concrete as, “to grow together.” Whereas, it has the root of the word abstract as, “removed from (concrete reality).”
Abstract words create distance, such as: love, hate, envy, and joy. Concrete words, though, have a solidity that links into a listener’s first-hand knowledge, such as: Porsche, moonlight, Fender Strat, and Coca Cola.
You need abstract words. However, if you use them too much, your lyrics can become like watered down, lukewarm tea. You risk that your work will lose its impact for the listener. Nevertheless, listeners will tend to respond to precise details over abstract generalities.
Examples for Songwriting – Let Her Scream
Learn to Play and Sing the Last Train to Clarksville
Now for my favorite part of Songwriting – Let Her Scream: we’ll look at examples of telling versus showing from actual songs. (Click the composer links below to hear the full songs. For guitar players, I have added a Last Train to Clarksville coaching video – just for fun.)
The Examples:
“Time passes quickly and someday we’ll die.” Versus “All we are is dust in the wind” (Kerry Livgren).
“No one can hurt me, and I stand alone.” Versus “I am a rock. I am an island” (Paul Simon).
“We’ll have a short time together.” Versus “We’ll have time for coffee flavored kisses and a bit of conversation” (Boyce and Hart).
“She has a drab and lonely life.” Versus “Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice where the wedding has been, lives in a dream. Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door. Who is it for?” (Lennon and McCartney).
The right side of the examples bring specific details about the characters’ that create windows into their lives. The left side of the examples suffer from being too general. They do not give enough details to draw the listener into the story.
You comprehend time passes quickly, but you can see dust in the wind. Likewise, we’ll have a short time together conveys the idea well enough, but you can feel coffee flavored kisses.
Conclusion
In Songwriting – Let Her Scream, we showed the basics of concrete and abstract words. Concrete images can be one of your most potent tools when writing lyrics. Use them to your full advantage.
© 2021 Geoffrey Keith
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