Songwriting is an emotional medium, a vehicle for the expression of feelings. Emotion is the soul of a song.

The cartoon character Kathy hears her boyfriend Irving, in the next room, cry out with passion, “You’re beautiful! I love you!” Moved, she goes to him, only to discover that he was talking to a football player on TV. Now she’s hurt. She mentions that Irving has been neglecting her lately. He replies, “Can I help it if I’ve never learned to express my feelings?”

Express Yourself
Jimmy Webb, in his book Tunesmith, writes, “I have never heard of a great song wherein the writer proclaims that he or she is not upset or excited about anything in particular.”

Music critic Lester Bangs writes, “The main reason we listen to music is to hear passion expressed.”

Billy Joel says, “I write in hot blood.” So should you if you want listeners to care enough to play the song again.

Consider the great cries of a worshiping soul, “Oh, For a Thousand Tongues (to sing my great Redeemer’s praise!)” or “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” When a song touches our emotions, and does it well, it has a built-in ingredient for success and longevity.

The Built-in Cry
For maximum emotional impact, give your song a built-in cry. This is usually a line of longing or triumph or passion, accompanied by the highest, most emotional music in your song. Think of “Memory” from the musical “Cats,”“Jesus, Mighty God,” or the aria “Un Bel Di” from the opera “Madama Butterfly”— no matter what style, each has a soaring built-in cry that carries us right into the feeling of the message.

“I Will Always Love You” was written and recorded back in 1974 by Dolly Parton and recorded again in the 1990’s by Whitney Houston, and featured in the film “The Bodyguard.” It hit the charts again in 1982 and 1995, and is on Parton’s 2008 album. Houston’s version was a massive worldwide success and appeared in 2013 at number 49 on Billboard’s “Greatest Songs of All Time.” What all these songs we’ve mentioned have is emotion, the heartbeat of a song to remember.”

Our goal in songwriting is to create a mood compatible with the meaning of the message, to help the listener feel what we feel, to experience it with us. We do this by using all the devices at our command to bring to life the emotion of the message.

So express yourself. Feel it—and go for it!

Written by : Jimmy & Carol Owens

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