Having attended the ‘Introduction to Songwriting’ workshop at The Songwriting Academy in London, where we learned about the structure of a pop song, I came up with my own advice in the form of lyrics – melody not included (yet). All you budding songwriters take note, it’s a tough old world out there, but if you follow my advice you might get lucky!
STRUCTURE OF A POP SONG © 2017 István Etiam
Intro starts with killer hook
Straight out of Paul McCartney’s book
Then the first verse OMG
Sets the scene for you and me
Please remember that the chorus
Should hit the sweet spot and not bore us
Pure magic, yum as treacle tart
To lift the soul and please the heart
Second verse heightens the tension
To hold the listeners’ attention
A change of key, a crazy beat
Should make this verse sound pretty neat
Second chorus comes darn quick
And lands just like a ton of bricks
Upside down and inside out
Pogo like a Brussel sprout
Not too early, nor too late
Here’s the bridge or middle eight
It can be sparse, it can be terse
Should rock you even in your hearse
Let us repeat now chorus one
While everyone’s still having fun
It would be clever, really great
To end the song at 2’58”
Follow these steps, easy peasey,
Pop song written, lemon squeezy
Come on baby bite my tyre
Hit the top spot and retire
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