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Popular song and narratology:
Exploring the relationship between narrative theory and song lyrics through creative
practice.
Andrew Ward
Master of Fine Arts
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Creative Industries Faculty
Queensland University of Technology
2019
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This page has been left blank for formatting purposes.
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Contents
Contents ......................................................................................................................... 3
Figures............................................................................................................................ 6
Statement of Originality ................................................................................................. 8
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 9
Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 10
Key Terms .................................................................................................................... 11
Links to Music Developed as Research ....................................................................... 12
Album One: An Exploration of Popular Song Structures ........................................ 12
Album Two: An Exploration of Narrative in Popular Song .................................... 12
Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................ 13
Chapter 2: Contextual Review ..................................................................................... 25
From Sonata to Sinatra............................................................................................. 26
From Adolf to Adele ................................................................................................ 33
Radio: Time and Instructions ................................................................................... 37
The Problem With Instructions ................................................................................ 39
But It’s Only Pop Music .......................................................................................... 47
Choosing 300 Songs ................................................................................................ 49
Applying Murphy’s Typology ................................................................................. 52
Chapter 3: Literature Review ....................................................................................... 57
Understanding Narrative Discourse ......................................................................... 58
Narrative Research and Popular Song ..................................................................... 63
Genette’s Model and the Instructional Literature .................................................... 68
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Narrative Theory-Leading Vocabulary .................................................................... 74
Narrative Progression and Musical Form ................................................................ 75
Genette and Todorov as an Analytical Model ......................................................... 78
Narrative Analysis of 14 Songs ............................................................................... 80
Understanding the 300 Songs Data .......................................................................... 80
A Closer/Content Analysis Using Genette .............................................................. 82
Observations on Narrative Discourse Progressions in a Set of 14 Songs ................ 86
Applying a Narrative Progression Typology ........................................................... 91
Comparisons and Finding Patterns Using Todorov ................................................. 92
Chapter 4: Methodology and Methods ........................................................................ 98
Practice as Research ............................................................................................... 100
300 Songs: A Contextual Review .......................................................................... 101
A Summary of Methods ......................................................................................... 106
Chapter 5: Practice One—An Examination of Pop Song Structures ......................... 108
An Outline of Album One...................................................................................... 109
Album One: An Exploration of Structure .............................................................. 110
Musical Form and the Creative Work .................................................................... 113
Locating Tacit Knowledge of Narrative in Practice .............................................. 118
Chapter 6: Practice Two—An Examination of Narrative in Pop Song Lyrics .......... 120
An Outline of Album Two ..................................................................................... 121
Album Two: An Exploration of Narrative ............................................................. 121
Effects of Practice One .......................................................................................... 125
Narrative Operation in the Creative Work ............................................................. 128
Visualising Narrative Progression ......................................................................... 132
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Chapter 7: Discussion and Conclusion ...................................................................... 137
A Narrative Analysis of Album One ..................................................................... 137
Album One and Narrative Equilibrium.................................................................. 140
A New Theorisation of Narrative in Popular Song Lyrics .................................... 142
Temporal Considerations and Musical Form ......................................................... 142
Positioning of the Narrator..................................................................................... 143
Narrative Equilibrium in Sectional Function ......................................................... 144
Sectional Narrative Functions in Pop Song Lyrics ................................................ 145
Scope for Future Research ..................................................................................... 148
References .................................................................................................................. 151
Appendix A ................................................................................................................ 166
Appendix B ................................................................................................................ 167
Appendix C ................................................................................................................ 168
Appendix D ................................................................................................................ 169
Appendix E ................................................................................................................ 170
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Figures
Figure 1. An example of pop song data collection. ..................................................... 53
Figure 2. Average percentage use of Murphy’s six forms. .......................................... 54
Figure 3. Average number of sections per song by territory. ...................................... 55
Figure 4. An example of analysis data collection using Murphy’s typology of form. 55
Figure 5. Biaxial grid of Randle and Evans’s (2013) categories. ................................ 66
Figure 6. Percentage of number one songs shared across territories. .......................... 82
Figure 7. An example of the data collection using Genette’s model for narrative
analysis. ................................................................................................................ 86
Figure 8. Total number of section types in the contextual review of 14 songs. .......... 90
Figure 9. An example of the data collation examining the progression of narrative
equilibrium using Todorov’s model..................................................................... 92
Figure 10. A visual representation of the progression of narrative equilibrium
according to the outline analytical model. ........................................................... 93
Figure 11. Number of sections using the four possible functions of narrative
equilibrium in the 14 songs analysed in the contextual review. .......................... 94
Figure 12. Number of each Murphian section used in the 10 songs created for Album
One. .................................................................................................................... 116
Figure 13. Number of each Murphian section used in the 10 songs created for Album
Two. ................................................................................................................... 126
Figure 14. Number of sections using the four possible functions of narrative
equilibrium in Album Two. ............................................................................... 134
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Figure 15. Number of sections using the four possible functions of narrative
equilibrium in Album One. ................................................................................ 141
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Statement of Original Authorship
This work has not been previously submitted to meet for an award at this or
any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the
document contains no material previously published or written by another person
except where due reference is made.
Signed: QUT Verified Signature
Name: Mr Andrew Benjamin Ward
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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deepest and most profound thanks to both principal
supervisors involved in this project throughout my PhD candidature: Professor Dr
Phillip Graham, for his inspirational scholarly knowledge and influential foundation
work and Dr Gavin Carfoot, for his ongoing support and profound insight.
For the passionate and driving support of Associate Supervisor Dr Lee
McGowan, without whose guidance this project would have never been possible; I
offer my humble thanks.
I extend my ongoing gratitude to Dr Kiley Gaffney for her ear and wisdom as
support in times of academic need.
I would like to thank the technical services office in the music discipline, and
specifically Mr James See, at the Queensland University of Technology for their
exemplary advice and assistance at all times.
This research would not have been possible without the support of the
Australian Postgraduate Award Stipend Scholarship that was so generously provided
to me.
Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my brilliant and loving
wife, Tulsi, for her everlasting and unwavering support over the three-and-a-half
years this project has taken out of our lives together.
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Abstract
This project uses participatory action research methods to examine how narrative
affects, influences and informs the lyrics written for contemporary popular songs. I
argue for a new narrative-informed analytical typology in songwriting using elements
of Todorov (1969) and Genette’s (1981) typologies. This new typology acts as a lens
for the examination of song lyrics as a unique and distinct literary form. In the review
process I begin with an analysis of musical structures used to codify musical form
across a 300-song body of contemporary work. From this analysis, the review selects
14 works as case studies and performs a broad narrative reading using Genette’s
(1981) typology of narrative voice. The resulting data are used to construct a new
analytical typology informed by Todorov’s (1969) concept of narrative equilibrium.
Following this review process, a creative practice is employed to explore and
interrogate the findings of the review. My creative practice manifests in two distinct
artefacts. The first is an album of original music that is created prior to and during the
structural analysis. This is offered as a foundation work that explores and interrogates
the nature of musical form in popular songs. Using practice as research (Doğantan-
Dack, 2016), the findings from the first practical stage of research are used to inform
the theorisation for a second body of work. The resulting second album is presented
as a representation of the theory and findings in practice. The outcome of this process
is threefold: a creative body of work that represents a practical experimentation of
form and narrative in popular song, an exegesis providing a new theory of lyric
writing and a model that practitioners and researchers can use to guide the
development of narrative in their work.
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Key Terms
Existent: any character involved in a narrative (Pier, 2010)
Extradiegetic: a homodiegetic positioning of the narrator as not directly involved in
the story being told (Genette, 1981)
Extradiegetic level: information contained in narrative pertaining to the narrative
discourse as defined in narrative theory (Edgar-Hunt, Marland & Rawle, 2015)
Focalisation: a concept used to explore the level of knowledge relationships between
a story’s narrator and non-narrational existents (Genette, 1981)
Form: the established structures contained in a musical work (Jones, 2017)
Heterodiegetic: a story in which there is a third-person narrator (Genette, 1981)
Homodiegetic: a story in which there is a first-person narrator (Genette, 1981)
Intradiegetic: a homodiegetic positioning of the narrator as involved in the story being
told (Genette, 1981)
Intradiegetic level: the information contained in a narrative pertaining to the story-
based elements as defined in narrative theory (Edgar-Hunt et al., 2015)
Lyric: words contained in pop songs and no other form or use of the word (Pattison,
2009)
Pop song: a shortening of the term ‘popular song’, referring to a particular field of
musical practice (i.e., pop music) (Murphy, 2011).
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Links to Music Developed as Research
Album One: An Exploration of Popular Song Structures
https://www.dropbox.com/home/Andrew%20Ward%20PhD%20Recorded%2
0Material/Album%201%20-%20An%20Exploration%20of%20Structure
Album Two: An Exploration of Narrative in Popular Song
https://www.dropbox.com/home/Andrew%20Ward%20PhD%20Recorded%2
0Material/Album%202%20-%20An%20Exploration%20of%20Narrative
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Chapter 1: Introduction
The contemporary popular song is everywhere (Murphy, 2011), permeating
modern Western culture with stories that engage and entertain on a mass scale.
Despite this ubiquity, the narrative located in song lyrics is an area of research still to
be explored in detail in academic research. My participatory action research (Kemmis
& McTaggart, 1988) project is concerned with the nature of storytelling located in the
lyrics of popular songs. More specifically, it examines the function of narrative in
relation to the established musical structures located in contemporary popular songs
(Murphy, 2011). Within these established musical structures, lyrics play a key role in
establishing the narrative voice (Fludernik, 2009). Consequently, lyrics are
instrumental in the development and delivery of story within popular songs. Davis
(1989) states ‘No one can legislate creativity, or would want to’ and it with this
sentiment in mind that this research approaches the study of lyrical narrative in
popular song, not with the intention of finding a maxim to standardise creativity, but
instead a new lens through which songwriting can be viewed.
This project consists of two clearly defined parts: Part A is an investigation of
musical form and narrative behaviours therein and Part B is a collection of creative
works that responds to and tests the findings of Part A. My exegesis begins with an
introduction to the research problem (see Chapter 1) and then discusses the context in
which this research problem exists (see Chapter 2). Following this is a review of
academic work that addresses narrative and songwriting; this helps outline how the
research problem might be addressed (see Chapter 3). A methodological model of
approach for the research (see Chapter 4) follows before the creative works developed
as the main site of research are outlined (see Chapters 5 and 6). Finally, this
manuscript ends with a discussion of the findings and proposes possible future
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research (see Chapter 7). Importantly, the music created as part of my project is core
to the understanding of the research; therefore, links that provide context are included
at the beginning of this manuscript so that the reader might listen to the creative work
prior to and during reading.
The existing popular instructional literature on songwriting provides insight
into how a practitioner might develop this narrative (Pattison, 2009); however, there
is limited advice on how narrative is executed within the established musical
structures (Randle & Evans, 2013). Bennett (2011) notes that ‘the relationship
between songwriting practice and song product is an under-explored one in popular
musicology’. In academic research, considerable work theorises the nature of
narrative within popular songs (Negus, 2012; Nicholls, 2007); however, this thesis
argues that the existing research regarding the relationships between musical forms
commonly found in pop songs and the ways in which narrative is developed therein is
an area that remains under-researched (Randle & Evans, 2013). My research bridges
the gap between the instructional literature (Blume, 2011; Murphy, 2011; Davis,
1992) and the investigative and theoretical work of narrative theorists regarding
popular music (Negus, 2012a; Nicholls, 2007; Randle & Evans, 2013; Long &
Barber, 2014).
My practice as a commercial songwriter presents an opportunity to examine
the theoretical and practical considerations of developing narrative in popular song
lyrics. Both my songwriting practice located in industry, and the songs that make up
this research are developed with a broad appeal in mind. My professional remit as a
songwriter is established by my record label whom instruct me to write a hit song, or
songs that can be played on high rotation on commercial radio. Therefore, this
research project identifies the relationship between the established musical forms
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located in high charting commercial popular song and narrative theory to investigate
how narrative can affect, influence and inform the lyrics of popular songs with
specific intention of writing songs that fit a commercial aesthetic and production
approach.
This project responds to the question through a practice-as-research
(Doğantan-Dack, 2016) approach that is informed by narrative theory and musical
structure analysis, resulting in a new theorisation of narrative in popular song lyrics.
The project draws on action research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988) as an overarching
framework that exploits the practice of songwriting itself as the fundamental inquiry
lens. The result of this approach contributes creative work that presents a significant
part of the project and serves to contribute to and further inform the research. For the
purpose of investigation, this creative output comprises two albums of original music:
the first is a foundational work that informs the analytical process and the second is an
audio illustration of the effects of the analysis. Therefore, the creative works serve as
both the research site and research outcome. Album One is offered as an experiment
in the implementation of musical structures, as outlined by a contextual review.
Album Two serves as an interrogation and exploration of the findings that result from
a narrative analysis led by the literature review. These components are brought
together in an exegesis (30,000 words) that, for examination, is weighted 30%; the
creative work comprises the remaining 70%.
While this research project represents the development of a scholarly
understanding of song lyrics, the journey of the research starts much earlier when, as
a two-year-old child, I was taken by my parents to see the film Amadeus, which is a
semi-fictitious biography of Wolfgang Mozart (Forman, 1984). After leaving the
session I am told I said, ‘I want to be like him, I want to play music!’ The next week,
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I was attending violin lessons and my career focus has never shifted from the musical
realm. Therefore, one could say that it was the combination of written narrative in the
form of a movie script and Mozart’s music that started me down my current path.
Piano training followed violin lessons and opera; singing and theory studies came
some years later. This formal music study introduced to me the most ubiquitous of the
common practice period (Bazemore, 2006) or classical music structures: the sonata.
This musical structure or form enjoyed an era (Rosen, 1988) as a key compositional
device of musical work of the time (Bazemore, 2006). From classical string quartets
to romantic piano concerti to the modernist neoclassical symphonic works of
Stravinsky, the three-part convention of the sonata form influenced the structures of
musical composition (Irving, 2017). During this research, the similarity that this
musical form shares with the Aristotelian or romantic concepts of narrative
(Fludernik, 2009) implied a key underlying idea: that they share a fundamental three-
part structure that loosely follows the same dramatic principles of a beginning, middle
and end. While the lexicon changes between music and narrative, the fundamental
tenets remain consistent (McClatchie, 1997).
The invention and subsequent proliferation of recorded music in the early
twentieth century allowed for new structural influences to shape popular music
(Meadows, 2010). The resulting stylistic progression from rhythm and blues (R & B)
through vaudeville, jazz and rock-and-roll helped to popularise a new short form of
music that was accompanied by lyrics. This was the birth of the modern pop song and,
in the ensuing decades, its delivery format helped shape its structure in the
conventions that are the subject of this research (Cook & Krupar, 2010). Like many of
my musical peers, in my late teens, I lost interest in classical music and a career as a
concert violinist, instead choosing to focus my attention on popular music. My
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experience led me to singing in and writing songs for various local bands and it was
through this that I became entangled with songwriting and the problem that this
research explores.
While the interpretive paradigm of this research takes its understanding of
Western art music from a formal learning and music conservatoire education
tradition, my personal practice of narrative design and storytelling in songwriting was
informal and somewhat haphazard. This resulted in a personal lyric writing practice
that demonstrated limited knowledge of how stories were implemented in the pop
song form. After a contextual review of some instructional literature on the subject, I
came to the understanding that my interpretive paradigm was predicated on three
major tensions: 1) pop songs did not adhere to the simple three-part musical structure
of sonata form to which my classical ear was accustomed, 2) the construction of pop
song lyrics is often led by the musical structures, not narrative structures, and 3) from
these factors, the narratives contained in pop songs do not follow linear three-act
conventions. This set of issues was further compounded by the assertion regarding
narrative structure that was made by many authors of instructional literature: namely,
some authors ascribe that ‘a good song must have a beginning, middle and end’
(Blume, 2011, p. 89), while others take a less rigid and lyric based approach to
songwriting structure (Davis, 1992). Given this is the case, how does one present a
structured narrative in a musical form that does not consist three obvious and distinct
formal sections? At this juncture, it is important I acknowledge that when I use the
term ‘pop song’ I am referring to songs that charted on ‘pop’ charts from three major
English-speaking territories. Later in this thesis I will further explore the reasoning for
this terminology and the data set itself.
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A paradox begins to emerge in the following lines of thought. Some
instructional literature on songwriting (Blume, 2011; Murphy, 2011; Pattison, 2009)
prescribes the three-part narrative as a foundation element to narrative developing in
lyric writing; however, the same literature offers typologies of form that are not
constructed in three parts with Murphy’s (2011) typology being particularly
disconnected narrative understanding. The instructional author solution to this
contradiction is to engage in practice to explore the relationship between form and
storytelling. This practice-informed process is mirrored in academic research on the
subject of narrative and popular songs. Negus and Astor (2015) argue that the practice
of songwriting is essential to the study of narrative in popular song. Similar to the
popular literature, existing academic work argues for examination of narrative
through practice, but it does not bridge the gap between narrative theory and the song
forms commonly found in popular song.
Nicholls’s (2007) work approaches questions regarding the nature of narrative
in pop songs from a musicologist and narrative theorist’s perspective. His assertions
largely rely on the prosody between lyrics and melody as being central to popular
song examination. While this may be the case through a musicologist’s lens, it does
not answer the issues that a practitioner familiar with the musical conventions of the
pop song might experience when developing narrative within this form. Similarly,
explorations of song lyrics in a general or ethnographic sense (DeWall et al, 2011;
Tagg, 1982) offer little to no insight into the nature of narrative within these confines.
While this research does not seek to diminish the importance of prosody of lyrics and
music in popular songwriting, or in musicological research, it is an investigation into
lyrical text and the narrative discourse therein. Therefore, I acknowledge the
importance of prosody in text and music and argue that the nature of prosody in
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popular song does not yet allow for narratological discourse analysis in the model of
Genette (1981).
This research aligns itself with Randle and Evans’s (2013) understanding that
narrative in popular song lyrics is underrepresented in research and that significant
room exists for further examination. Their synthesis of semiotics (Barthes, 1974) and
narrative theory (Bal, 2009) proposes a codification of four types of song that are
outlined later in this research. While this analytical model offers further insight into
the relationships between musical forms and narrative, it remains a precursory inquiry
that provides no practice-based examination of the theory. Rather, it offers a
rudimentary framework from which this practice-as-research (Doğantan-Dack, 2016)
project can draw.
This research argues that both the instructional literature and academic
research are limited and that this limitation can be addressed by a more nuanced
reading that considers creative practice the site of meaning and knowledge creation
(Smith & Dean, 2009). Specifically, existing research efforts to examine narrative in
popular song lyrics argue for, but do not emphasise, an approach that uses creative
practice to interrogate each posited theory. Randle and Evans (2013) argue
songwriting is a creative practice, this research aligns itself with the position on
Negus and Astor (2011) that songwriting practice must be undertaken to properly
examine narrative within popular songs.
The uncertainty regarding the relationship between narrative and popular song
structure can be divided into two equally important sub-questions based on the initial
assertions outlined in this research. First, does popular songs really adhere to a linear
beginning/middle/end and if so does this indicate that there is a dissonance between
narrative and musical structures? Second, if there is a dissonance, how can a narrative
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operate within the most common pop song structures? In framing these questions it is
important to note that all songs, and indeed linear progression as a whole, can be
viewed as having a beginning, middle and end, however, for the purposes of this
research, ‘beginning/middle/end’ specifically refers to the ways in which the lyrical
narrative operates.
To help ascertain the nature of the relationship between narrative and pop
song structures, this research examines the common musical structures of the
contemporary pop song through a contextual review of popular song forms. The
review examines the structural music composition of 300 number one songs from the
most relevant English-speaking markets (ARIA, 2016). This analysis contributes new
data regarding contemporary musical forms and is used to guide the practice-based
components of this project. I argue that tension in knowledge is created by the
assertion that lyrics are led by musical structure (Randle & Evans, 2013) and the
assertion that song lyrics do not follow a linear three-part narrative convention
(Murphy, 2011). Initially this research seeks to clarify if songs located in recent ‘pop’
charts are led by musical form by undertaking a baseline analysis of 300 popular song
forms from that group. In seeking to further explore the tension posited above, this
research asks the question: how can narrative operate within the convention of pop
song structures? The research explores this question by using elements of Genette’s
(1981) narrative theory to examine narrative patterns that are contained in the
identified musical structures within the lyrics of 14 songs selected from the contextual
review. To further triangulate this data, the project argues for a new typology of
analysis that borrows from both Todorov’s (1971) work on narrative equilibrium and
his formulaic distillation of Genette’s focalisation (Pier, 2010).
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Two collections of creative work are presented as an illustration of how these
findings might be implemented and how they affect the creative practice of
songwriting. These collections are presented as two 10-track albums. The first
collection acts as an interrogation of structure, while the second explores narrative
operation based on new theorisation that was informed by the review process. Each of
these sound recordings has been developed to a point in which they are acceptable as
demonstration recordings (demos) for major record label artists and repertoire (A&R)
departmental reviews. The songs have then been submitted to the A&R department of
an industry partner (Sony Music Entertainment Australia) and were subjected to an
interrogation of their perceived commercial value. While the resulting feedback
represents a possible parameter for the efficacy of the practice-as-research (Doğantan-
Dack, 2016) outcome of this project, it is not used as a metric in this research. Instead,
industry feedback is included anecdotally in Chapters Five and Six in which a
reflective process is used to further outline the research findings.
These experimentations are not designed to deliver a definitive answer to the
research question, but to offer a point of theoretical and practical engagement with the
research problem (Randle & Evans, 2013). This engagement acts as a medium to
encourage future discourse on the subject and motivate further research in the field.
The proposed research methodology offers a model for broader examination through
practical research that can be used to produce creative artefacts for testing in both the
academic and commercial arenas. Consequently, this project helps address the issue
identified in both the instructional and academic literature by using the argument that
the nature of narrative in the lyrics of popular songs cannot truly be examined without
engaging in the practice of songwriting itself (Negus & Astor, 2015).
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This exegesis begins with a discussion of musical form in the historical
context. This brief review serves to highlight the development of popular musical
forms and how we have arrived at today’s pop song conventions. Following this
review, a discussion of musical form investigates the typologies that will be used for
the analysis of musical structures and will begin the exploration of the associated
lexicon. It serves to establish musical forms that are cemented in the development of
the contemporary pop song. Additionally, the review also highlights that while
narrative and song are intimately linked, significant instructional literature on
songwriting does not describe how its prescribed musical structures relate to narrative
development, while others (Davis, 1992) prescribe detail worthy of practice-as-
research testing. The research does this by borrowing lines of arguments from
academic studies on narrative and popular music and contextualising them within this
research project.
Chapter 2 frames a review of the instructional literature in songwriting that
establishes storytelling and narrative as being central to the form and lyrics of a
popular song. Using this frame, this chapter contextually reviews a collection of
popular song creative works that are curated to represent the charting number one
singles from three major territories. A collection of 300 songs from Australian, United
Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) markets is subject to a structural analysis
informed by the typologies located in the instructional literature. This review of the
surrounding creative work serves a dual purpose: 1) to identify the most common
musical forms located in pop songs and 2) to establish a structural framework that
allows for the application of a narratological lens. The contextual review also serves
to frame an analysis of the literature that informs the research methodology.
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Chapter 3 examines the broader field of narrative theory, beginning with a
brief discussion on narratological thought. The literature review then refines a
discussion regarding elements of Genette’s (1981) and Todorov’s (Genette, 1981)
typologies to establish a potential analytic for popular song. This research then takes
elements from Genette’s (1981) work and develops a functional analytic for the
examination of narrative in popular song lyrics, as well as proposes a further method
of investigation by introducing a typology based on Todorov’s (1971) understanding
of narrative equilibrium. Additionally, this review explores existing work that
involves popular music and narrative theory, as well as further discusses the gap in
knowledge between the existing research and instructional literature. After
establishing this gap, the methodological thinking that forms the foundation for this
research is outlined.
In Chapter 4, an initial examination of the methodology outlines Kemmis and
McTaggart’s (1988) participatory action research spiral as an appropriate
methodological framework. Using this framework as a guide, this chapter debates the
implications of certain research methodology involving practice (Candy & Edmonds,
2018; Smith & Dean, 2009) and outlines a hybrid comprising of various approaches.
Following this discussion, I deconstruct the research design’s constituent parts and
describe how both the analytical process and resulting data act as informers to a
creative practice site of interrogation. This combination of narratological and musical
approaches draws on our understanding of common musical conventions of form and
provides insight into how narrative can operate in common popular song structures.
After the approach is outlined, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 document the
development of this research’s creative components. These chapters discuss the
creative process and provide insight into the outcomes resulting from this practice.
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While the first set of creative works explores the findings about musical form, the
second explores narrative operation and development in musical structure. Using the
established vocabulary on narrative and songwriting theory, the research observes the
similarities and differences between the initial baseline collection of songs and the
creative works of this research that were informed by the narrative review process.
This chapter then examines the creative works through the same analytical method
that was used in the contextual and narrative research, discussing how these results
may be valuable to future creative processes.
Chapter 7 contains a summary of works, including a completion of analytical
work in which the artefacts resulting from the creative practice are subjected to the
typologies outlined in the review process. This chapter discusses the key findings and
research design as well as leads to a conversation on how this research could be
furthered in the future. The two albums exist both as an exemplar of the research in
practice and as the subject of its focus. These research outcomes provide a deeper
understanding of narrative in songwriting and offer an analytical framework for its
future exploration.
In summary, this chapter has outlined the interpretive paradigm and how the
research question has developed as part of a creative practice in songwriting. Further,
this chapter has guided the reader through the manuscript’s components and has
provided a precursory indication of the key theoretical discourse that guides the
project. In Chapter 2, the contextual review develops the context regarding the
research’s significance and how the practice of songwriting is situated in modern
popular song.
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Chapter 2: Contextual Review
To answer the question of how can/does narrative operate in the lyrics of
popular songs, I commence by examining the nature of different musical forms and
how they have developed throughout the history of Western music. Specifically, the
Western common-practice period tradition is first examined, tracing a path from the
development of written music to the sonata form through to the contemporary popular
songs of today. This examination establishes the significance of musical form in
popular song and identifies the historical influences that have contributed to these
traditions of form. It is important to note that this thesis does not follow conventions
of academic structures in that a contextual review is performed and accompanied by a
study of 300 songs and an accompanying creative work examining the resulting
findings. Following this chapter another review of academic literature is performed
with another analysis of a smaller 14-song data set followed by another set of creative
works testing the resulting findings. Outlining this approach at the beginning of the
contextual review provides some context for the research methodology that is
explored in greater detail in Chapter 4 of this thesis.
I begin by examining the development of the sonata form and identifying its
key similarities to three-act narrative structures (Reid, 2014). While Sonata form has
little to do historically with the development of the contemporary popular song, I use
this musical form as a discussion point to demonstrate historical musical forms that
use a three-part structure. Then, I examine how the emergence of American musical
traditions, European folks songs, and recorded music influenced musical form and
contributed to the contemporary popular song. Further discussions provide context for
how changes in technology and the delivery mediums of music in the twentieth
century continued to influence the development of strongly defined sections and
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structures in musical form. The definitions and terminology of these aspects, as they
are defined in the instructional literature on songwriting and in related academic
research, are then reviewed.
After examining the importance of musical structures in the Western popular
song tradition, a detailed review of surrounding creative works is performed. This
review examines the nature of musical form in 300 popular songs from three major
English-speaking commercial markets. This review uses popular instructional
literature on songwriting to inform the terminology and typology that is used in this
analysis. Therefore, the contextual review provides data on popular song structure that
subsequently informs the creative practice presented later in the document. Both the
review of the instructional literature and the analysis of 300 popular songs provide a
detailed context for this research and suggest a methodological path for the continued
examination of narrative theory and popular song lyrics.
From Sonata to Sinatra
This section is a historical account and critical reading of key social and
cultural factors that influenced the development of the contemporary popular song,
beginning with an examination of the written musical form’s development in Western
art music. It was in the religious temples of the Eastern Roman Empire during the
ninth century AD that the first modern musical notation emerged (Loris, 2012). While
some accounts of Western music history have positioned the development of musical
notation in the Gregorian monastic traditions of northern Italy during the eleventh
century (Loris, 2012), the Byzantine Empire was the true origin of modern musical
notation and form (Loris, 2012). During this time, a rudimentary notation system
known as neumes was used to transcribe the melodies of religious texts (Helsen,
2015). Here, the structures of the written religious texts governed the musical
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structures of these works. Even at this early point in Western music history, we see a
symbiosis between story and musical structure; these structures were the basis of
written musical form for another six centuries, until the beginning of the Western
European renaissance (Neume, 2002). This historical point is when this research’s
examination of the relationship between storytelling and modern song structures
commences.
During the rise of feudalism in Europe (Blum, 2017), the growth of court or
chamber music as a key source of entertainment for the aristocracy developed in
parallel (Baron, 2010). As empires expanded and exotic cultures came in and out of
fashion musical practices proliferated through travel, from wandering minstrel
traditions of central Europe, to various folk song traditions formed around oral modes
of communication (Loris, 2012). In the early Renaissance European courts a
collection of diverse musical forms known as the Suite (Loesch, 2004) grew in
popularity. The Suite’s main function was as a form of dance music that was not
based on lyrical inspiration, but rather on rhythmic devices (Kerman, 2005). The
different nation states and empires of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries developed
distinct dance rhythms and, due to the diplomatic relationships between these states,
these rhythms permeated the courts of Western Europe. By the baroque period (1600–
1750) and J. S. Bach’s experimentations in temperament, these influences had
established several commonly accepted musical structures that were based on
rhythmic devices (Baron, 2010). The two most common overarching forms were
binary (A/B) and ternary (A/B/A) (Adrian, 1990); the sonata form began to emerge
from the latter. It is important to note that the Suite operated as court music for the
elite members of a class based European society, and are not the focus of this
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discussion due to their cultural representation but rather the readily available
documentation resulting from their associated status.
Although the sonata (A/B/A) was a common framework for compositions in
the baroque era, these works were written mostly for solo instruments. J. S. Bach was
a significant contributor to the form in this era, with his exploration of keys that were
most famously developed for the violin, cello and clavier (Leichtentritt, 1951).
Furthering the development of the form, the leaders of the Western classical period in
music truly forged a path for the sonata. Clamenti and Mozart used the popular form
to develop entire symphonic works, but it was Haydn who became known as the
father of the symphony and string quartet, which were the two mediums that
cemented sonata as the leading musical form (Jones, 2017). This form was adopted by
early romantic-era composers (e.g., Beethoven), who used it as the basic framework
for almost all first movements of symphonies, until the last great romantics of the
early twentieth century (Samson, 1991).
Within the confines of its basic three-part structure, the sonata form provided
the basis on which modernist works were built, such as the hour-long tenth symphony
of Shostakovich (Volkov, 2004). Given its longevity as the most common of Western
instrumental music structures (1700–1910), one could argue that the sonata
framework had a fundamental and structural function when it came to presenting
musical ideas to an audience (Schmidt-Beste, 2011). This fundamental function is
governed by the form itself and is broken into three main elements by most common-
practice period musicologists (Hill, 1987): the exposition, which is the initial delivery
of the primary themes and motives; the development, which involves the transforming
of the primary themes and motive to another musical perspective; and the
recapitulation, which is the delivery of the initial themes and motives that have been
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influenced by the development section (Schmidt-Beste, 2011). This is where the
research draws its first significant comparisons between music and narrative. A clear
similarity exists between the sonata form and the three-act structure that is discussed
in narrative and screenwriting theory (Adams et al., 2005). This three-act structure
breaks storytelling into three similar sections that are outlined by Troitter (1998) as
follows: the first act is mainly used for exposition and establishes the main characters,
themes and the equilibrium of the story; the second act serves to introduce
confrontation or some kind of thematic disturbance to the equilibrium established in
the first act; and the third-act creates a climax and resolution to this disturbance,
establishing a new equilibrium that contains information acquired by the second act.
This elaboration of each act’s function within the three-act structure of
narrative mirrors that of the sonata form in music and indicates possible links between
how audiences of the time consumed both music and story. Similarly, narrative theory
has developed alongside twentieth century technology and screenwriting, while
popular music has equally been affected by the evolution of electronics and recording
technology. To reflect this evolution, many modern screenwriting theorists argue for a
more in-depth structural model (Campbell, 1988; Heyes, 2007) of narrative
development within cinema. While this research argues for Sonata as a demonstration
of the link between three-part narrative and musical forms, it does not assert that the
Sonata played a significant role in the development of contemporary popular song.
This research project argues for a new model of the theorisation of pop song lyrics.
The research first examines how popular musical forms turned away from the
Western classical music tradition to develop into today’s contemporary pop song; this
is to gain contextual insight into the similarities between narrative theory and musical
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form. This chapter, therefore, further highlights the links between musical structure
and narrative function.
A key site of development in modern musical form originates in the Atlantic
Slave Trade that proliferated between the sixteenth and nineteenth Century (Thornton,
1998). With the over 12 million people stolen from the western coastal nations of
Africa, came a diverse set of languages, religious, and cultural practices including a
plethora of musical practice and tradition (Christopher, 2006). During this period of
American history significant effort on the part of slavers was placed on breaking
down these traditions in an attempt to control the slave population (Thornton, 1998),
however, while many elements of cultural identity were successfully destroyed the
commonality of musical practice allowed for the survival of functional music by way
of work and spiritual music (Hobson, 2013). The musicality of the West-African ear
and tuning system survived through this functional music and developed into a
diverse set of musical forms including field holler, honky tonk, and early blues
Hobson, 2013). Most notable of these forms was the call a response nature of field
holler, where the workers in the field would toil to the call of another slave often
given the elevated title of ‘caller’ (Anderson, 2008). This musical practice is arguably
the birthplace of the first truly American musical form, the 12-bar blues that uses an
AAB structure built on a set of harmonic practices (Bransford, 2004). While sharing
some similarities to the AABA form of some European folk song structures, the 12-
bar blues is built on a foundation of West African harmonic practice and the context
and function of its original use (Clarke, 1995).
In the late nineteenth Century the American Civil War arguably furthered the
emancipation of the West African slave labour force in the US, and brought with it
vast swathes of military equipment including military music instruments that would
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build the foundation of early New Orleans Jazz (Anderson, 2008). The West African
harmonic and structural systems developed over centuries of slavery were overlaid on
European instruments that operated in a Classical European tuning system. This
established a key influential musical development of the twentieth century where a
whole new musical language was being developed and popularised (Hobson, 2013).
Many of the early iterations of this music used the popular 12-bar structure, but as the
influence of New Orleans’ diverse trade port culture influenced the music being made
in the city, folk song conventions of AABA began to emerge as a common structure
(Hobson, 203). This AABA structure became elongated where each section would
make up 8-bars, 32 bars in total, and eventually would become the standard song form
in American popular music for much of the first half of the Twentieth Century
(Appen, 2015).
In the early twentieth century, several technological developments altered how
music was communicated. The emergence of the phonograph boosted the existing
commercial music publishing marketplace and generated the lyric-centric songwriting
traditions of Tin Pan Alley (Shepherd, 2016). In the small rooms of West 28th Street,
between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan, New York, popular African-
American music traditions were translated from a ‘blacks only’ exotic form to a more
sanitised ‘commercially’ appropriate aesthetic (Charlton, 2011). Simultaneously,
vaudeville introduced this aesthetic to the wider white-American public, often in a
heavily satirised form akin to the blackfaced mistrals of the Al Jolson era (Musser,
2011). As such, the Tin Pan Alley and vaudeville traditions were responsible for the
spread of the form common to that of 12-bar blues and the AABA form. Appen &
Frei-Hauenschild (2015) views the influence of Tin Pan Alley as follows:
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In the 1890’s, the typical verse/chorus form of the early Tin Pan Alley era
emerged as these formal components were expanded and subjected to musical
and lyrical variation. In this new form, a chorus consisted of a 16- or 32-
measure cycle based on an ABAC structure. Following World War I, the 32-
measure AABA form, in which the A-section now began or ended with a
refrain, prevailed as the standard. Employing various styles of harmonization
from the Tin Pan Alley bag of tricks for the A-sections became an important
method of differentiating these sections from one another. (Appen, p.7, 2015)
Appen’s (2015) work unpacks the nuanced step-by-step development of this
32-bar form and how it progresses into various forms that can be located in numerous
popular song forms today. Furthering the commercialisation of this Tin Pan Alley
influenced song structure, vaudeville stars like Fred Astaire and Al Jolson crossed
over from touring acts to the big screen and paved the way for the singing movie stars
of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, such as Crosby and Sinatra. While white songwriters
and personalities were behind the spread of the popular 32-bar informed AABA form,
this structural device had also proliferated in traditional jazz arrangements. Common
in traditional jazz, this 32-bar structure was repeated and used as a harmonic-based
structural framework that instrumentalists could improvise over. This form was
further developed in the modern jazz era as part of a countercultural offering from the
African-American community of New York (Jackson, 2001). However, while this
form was popular in many forms of music in the mid-twentieth century, another form
was developing in parallel.
The birth of rock-and-roll is often cited (e.g., Pegg, 2002) as being Chuck
Berry’s Maybellene (Berry, Fratto & Freed, 1955). This was America in the 1950s,
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which had a growing youth culture that was energised by the employment
opportunities provided to them by a booming post-war economy; this became the new
market for commercial exploitation (Acknowledgement, 1983). Rock-and-Roll
became the soundtrack of this movement and established itself as the symbol for a
new rebellious generation (Friedlander, 1996). This is the site where modern music
traditions began to formalise their structural language beyond the simple terms used
in Tin Pan Alley and pushed towards the structures we recognise today (Appen, p.28,
2015). It is important to note that this summary of forms and structures is not intended
to represent a comprehensive history of Twentieth Century American music but
instead acts as a discussion of some key points of context that might help build
understanding for the research to come. To further the understanding of how modern
pop music structures came into existence, this research next examines the effect that a
collection of delivery mediums had on songwriting.
From Adolf to Adele
Although this section is focused on twentieth century developments in music,
it is not intended to be a complete account of music history. Instead, this section will
highlight some key social and cultural developments that influenced the emergence of
contemporary pop song forms (Murphy, 2011). In Europe in the 1930s, the political
uncertainty left by the First World War led to the rise of the Fascists and resulted in
the Nazi occupation of France (Sailsbury, 2015). Hitler had implemented a
widespread ban on cultural content from ‘exotic’ sources, including those of the
forces that were allied against him (Zalampas, 1990). During the early twentieth
century, Paris’s progressive and accepting society welcomed many African-American
citizens migrating there (Chamberlain, 2003). This led Paris to develop a jazz culture
similar to that of the great American centres and a particular love of the musical style
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(Asukile, 2010). Since the occupying forces had placed a ban on jazz and most other
forms of popular live music, small groups of young French citizens gathered under
the cover of darkness in former music halls to listen to the latest recordings of their
favourite artists that had been smuggled into the country (Brewster & Broughton,
2006). These gatherings saw the birth of the disc jockey (DJ) and the term
discotheque, which means library of records (Hutton, 2007). This alternative way in
which groups of people consumed music spread to the US through the underground
dance halls of the working class and the progressive Manhattan house parties that
were the mainstay of New York’s artistic elite (Brewster & Broughton, 2006). In
these cultural spaces, the DJ would undertake a significant contributing role to the
development of contemporary pop song forms.
While the 32-bar AABA form exerted a significant influence on popular music
until the 1960s (Adelt, 2010), other musical forms were developing in the US’s
Midwestern states (Flory, 2013). During the first decade of the twentieth century,
industrialisation and a burgeoning manufacturing industry influenced the
development of some twentieth century musical traditions. The Ford Motor Company
based its manufacturing plant in Detroit, Michigan, and General Motors was soon to
follow. In the 1930s, Detroit was the fourth most populous city in the US, due to the
population boom that was prompted by the motor industry (Motown, 2013). During
this time, a large proportion of the African-American labour force from the south in
Mississippi traded their rural work for factory labour and migrated north to work
(Chamberlain, 2003). In addition to this internal migration, Latin-American
immigrants moved north to Detroit, creating a diverse cultural environment that was
ready to assert its own musical influence (Motown, 2013). This cultural environment
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existed prior to the popularisation of the DJ, but the two cultural practices were soon
to meet and be instrumental in the development of disco music.
Detroit became synonymous with the motor industry and the city earned the
colloquial name ‘Motor Town’ (Flory, 2017). Using the shortened version Berry
Gordy founded Motown, a local record label embraced the music resulting from the
multicultural environment that was created by the new manufacturing sector
(Fitzgerald, 1995). While rock-and-roll had become the mainstay of middle-class
white-American youth, the Latin and African-American labour force of Detroit came
together to create new genres of music. R&B and soul music formed around the
combination of incredible vocal talent and a new style of songwriting (McCarthy,
2013). This style, while still informed by 32-bar AABA and ABAC (Appen, 2015),
had moved away towards a more A/B binary form similar to that of rock-and-roll and
drew inspiration from the harmonic traditions of traditional jazz and rhythmic nuances
of Latin-American-influenced percussion to develop a new creative practice
(Fitzgerald, 1995).
As Motown grew in popularity, another musical style was emerging in the
recordings of James Brown. Often referred to as the godfather of soul, Brown was the
leading progenitor of soul and funk music, which was a style that functioned
predominantly as a dance music form. Consequently, funk is typified by a danceable
tempo centred on short, repeated musical or lyrical phrases that are often only one bar
in length (Thompson, 2001). While still using the A/B and AABA structures of other
popular song genres, Funk’s shortened basic musical phrase iterations of horn stabs
and loopable drum beats contributed, in part, to the repetition that is popular in
today’s musical forms, in which loops and repeated rhythms are used as a
compositional device.
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As the popularity of soul and funk swelled, disco dancehall culture became a
prominent feature of the American musical landscape. Disco clubs were designed
around the playing of records to mostly black and Latin-American audiences for
which a single DJ could play music all night with varied styles and instrumentation in
any discotheque (Brabazon, p. 116, 2012). At this time, several recording and
recorded technologies became more readily available to America’s burgeoning middle
class (Brabazon, 2012). The financial pressure placed on disco proprietors insisted
that the DJ play continuously, for fear of having patrons leave the dance floor and
their establishment. Therefore, DJs of the 1970s used magnetic tape machines to
create extended mixes of popular songs, often using tape loops to transition between
works (Brewster & Broughton, 2006). Sections known as breakbeats were taken from
recordings in which only drums were featured (Ewoodzie Jr., 2017). This looping of
beats and musical sections further contributed to the repetition found in contemporary
pop song forms. It must be noted that this research does not claim that repetition in
popular song is solely derived from these musical styles, but instead asserts that
turntablism and disco laid the foundation for Hip-Hop culture which goes on to be a
significant influence in Twenty-first Century popular song.
Facilitated by the short musical repetition provided in funk music, DJs used
multiple turntables to facilitate the continuous playing of music. This dual turntable
system provided the platform for beat mixing, which is a technique that involved
matching the tempo of two different recordings to play one song continuously into
another. Beat mixing was combined with the scratching technique of Jamaican dub
music to create the foundation for Hip-Hop to emerge as a genre out of New York in
the late 1970s (Brabazon, 2012).
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In the 1980s the emergence of several technologies may have influenced the
way in which songs were written. Protocols like the popular Music Instrument Digital
Interface (MIDI), the broader commercial development of the drum machine, and the
emergence of the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) expanded the possibilities of
how songs could be written and produced (Peres, et al. p.41, 2016). The ability to
achieve quicker compositional outcomes in a digital workflows using loops
(Anderton, p.50, 2011), and the influence of distribution mediums setting commercial
boundaries on popular song forms throughout the Twentieth Century (Murphy, 2011),
may have been contributing factors in a popular song structure that more lead by
musical considerations than lyrical and narrative influences.
This research posits that these commercial, technological, cultural and social
contexts played a significant role in the development of the structures of popular song
forms today and, unlike the sacred music discussed in the previous section, these
popular song forms emerged with lyrics that often could be more informed by
structure, rather than the inverse. With this in mind, my research analyses popular
song form to better understand and examine these musical structures and the
relationship between them and lyric writing. To achieve this, further discussion on the
influence of distribution mediums is needed to illustrate how modern pop song
structures came to be, with radio emerging as one of the defining influences of these
forms and the primary medium through which music was disseminated to audiences
in the twentieth and early twenty-first Century.
Radio: Time and Instructions
In his book Murphy’s Laws of songwriting, Murphy (2011) discusses how the
taste of the contemporary pop music audience was shaped through the broadcast
medium of radio. In particular, he emphasises that the musical structures of popular
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song have been informed by the needs of commercial broadcast radio in the latter half
of the twentieth century (Murphy, 2011). Murphy’s work, like much of the
instructional literature, relies on an established vocabulary to discuss musical
structures. This vocabulary is informed by the sources discussed earlier in this review
and focuses on sectional definitions or titles (chorus/verse) and how they operate
within a structure as a whole. This sectional vocabulary is used to discuss how a
song’s structural design was led by an audience’s perceived needs, which are related
to the parameters set by commercial radio in the US (Murphy, 2011).
Murphy (2011) starts by arguing that a ‘hit’ song must arrive at ‘the chorus’
by the one-minute mark, as it is at this point that the listener will lose interest in the
song; therefore, ‘getting to the point’ (Murphy, 2011, pp. 84) within this temporal
limitation is crucial. Murphy further discusses his concept of the ‘two-minute wall’,
which is the point at which, if no new musical information is delivered, the listener
will stop engaging. He noted that commercial radio is about keeping listeners from
changing stations; therefore, radio stations play music that best keeps listeners
engaged. The most obvious evidence of this commercial influence on songwriting is
observed in the overall average length of a pop song. The length of a song was
originally dictated by the medium of its release, particularly in the days of
phonographs and vinyl records (Schmidt Horning, 2011); however, radio influenced
the contemporary length of songs by insisting that songs fit between predetermined
advertising slots (Wired, 2014).
Both Blume (2011) and Leiken (2008) agree with Murphy’s comments
regarding radio and time constraints. Blume (2011) noted that ‘you only have three to
three-and-a-half minutes and probably between twenty-four and thirty-six different
lines in which to tell your story’ (p. 42), while Leiken (2008) stated that popular songs
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are time restricted, as they are ‘usually three to three and a half minutes long’ (p. 1).
Leiken (2008) also addresses how temporal limitations have affected the structural
frameworks of pop songs: ‘Contemporary hit songs have two distinct lyrical and
musical sections that are repeated at least once. They are the verse, called section A,
and the chorus, called section B’ (p. 3). This reflects Davis’ (1989) assertion that the
A/B or ‘verse/chorus’ is ‘the most popular song form since the sixties’ (p. 31). In a
further review of the instructional literature, many titles discuss the influence that
radio had on the development of contemporary songs’ temporal parameters. In How to
be a hit songwriter: Polish and marketing your lyric and music (Leiken, 2003), it is
noted that the key source of publicity and revenue as a songwriter comes from radio
play. This argument places radio at the heart of the commercial success of the
songwriter and emphasises the need to adhere to radio’s strict time parameters. Paul
Zollos’s (2003) Songwriters on songwriting proposes that perhaps these time
limitations lead to the changing form of the popular song. In both cases, the authors
indicate that music’s particular broadcast medium was a major contributing factor in
the development of the modern pop song.
The Problem With Instructions
The canon of instructional literature emphasises the idea that a song and
storytelling are intimately linked. While authors like Sheila Davis (1989, 1988) stand
out as taking considerable effort in describing the nature of story telling in popular
song form, most authors of instructional songwriting texts (Murphy, Blume, Leiken,
Webb) do not provide extended discussion regarding how songs structure affects the
telling of stories. In part two of her instructional work The Craft of Lyric Writing
Davis (1989) outlines her understanding of mastering of song forms. She discusses
concepts of narrative time (p. 111-117) in detail prescribing that “Drama is for now,
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narrative is for then” (p. 111). Davis also discusses nature of storytelling in song
sections by stating that the verse “should not bore us” (p. 53) and that the verse exists
to develop tension to that we resolve in the chorus (p.53). While this is a valuable
insight into practices of lyric writing, Davis writes in later chapters how this can be
achieved through literary devices, Davis’ work predates the proliferation of newer
song forms like that outlined by of Murphy. Although is it possible to extract enough
storytelling direction from Davis’ work to produce a lyrical narrative, there are holes
in her instruction created by new song forms like that of the pre-chorus role in story
function.
While the lack of instruction regarding narrative–song relationship in other
prominent instructional texts (Murphy, 2011. Leiken, 2008. Blume, 2011) has
informed the current study’s context, for the purpose of this contextual review, the
key terminological cues are taken from the instructional literature when examining
overall musical structures and their individual components, such as verses and
choruses.
The term chorus dates back to ancient Greek theatre (Collins & O’Brien,
2011), but its use in the contemporary song world is significantly more modern.
Meanwhile, the Tin Pan Alley concepts of verse and refrain and 32-bar AABA
structures might have served well in the 1920s (Murphy, 2011); however, today’s pop
songs require a more in-depth lexicon to describe form as evidenced in Davis’ (1989)
work. Murphy (2011) proposes that popular songs mostly adhere to one of six basic
structures, which he calls his ‘six forms’ (p. 54). He outlines the first form as the most
prevalent in 1930s–1950s music and comprising what was referred to as a verse and a
chorus/refrain. The verse, unlike modern verses, was at a different tempo to the rest of
the song. This form was commonly used in early twentieth century popular music, but
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it later became less popular, as it often did not adhere to the time constraints of radio
(Murphy, 2011). Consequently, the chorus and refrain section became more popular.
As Murphy (2011) recounts:
Back then the publisher was like a benevolent dictator, and writers would have
to keep office hours. They would sit in airless rooms with pianos, until they
came up with an outline for a song. This outline would generally be the chorus
or refrain part we know today. They would rush out of their cubicles and play
the chorus/refrain for their publisher. If the publisher thought it was a ‘good
idea’, the writer would be told to ‘finish it.’ ‘Finish it’ basically meant write
the verse. The verse would set up the song. (Chapter 13, Section 6)
The key features of this form are a single long verse used to setup a
chorus/refrain that is repeated, often with different lyrics. Murphy (2011) uses both
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer (Marks, 1949) and I left my heart in San Francisco
(Cory & Cross, 1962) as examples of this form.
Murphy’s (2011) second form is common in rock-and-roll; he defines it as
‘basically verse, chorus, verse, chorus, instrumental, chorus, chorus out’ (p. 54). This
is the first time he discusses a repetitious structure, using (I can’t get no) Satisfaction
by the Rolling Stones (Jagger & Richards, 1965) and Maybellene by Chuck Berry et
al. (1955) as examples. This form mirrors Davis’ (1989) concepts of the A/B or
Verse/Chorus Model she describes as the backbone of popular songwriting in the
1980s. While Murphy (2011) refers to this form as an older style, it is the foundation
of his following two forms.
The third form is defined as ‘a more complicated second form’ comprising a
‘middle eight’ or ‘bridge’(Murphy, 2011, p. 54); he further noted that this new section
‘invites the listener to look a little harder at the story’ (p. 54). The entire form is listed
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as verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle 8, chorus. The only significant difference in
this form being the introduction of the middle 8 which replaces a non-lyrical
instrumental sections with that of a sung lyrical section and therefore introduces more
lyrical text. This is the first time he mentions the correlation between song structure
and narrative development: ‘when you approach writing the middle eight or bridge,
think “but, what if?” ’(Murphy, 2011, p. 59). This is in keeping with what Davis
(1989) describes as a ‘bridge’ (p. 32).
In his fourth form Murphy adds yet another section, comprising of the ‘lift,
climb, pre-chorus or channel’, which is placed between the verse and chorus; the
purpose of this is to ‘create tension, resolve it’ and to ‘lift the listener into the chorus’
(Murphy, 2011, p. 63). Davis’ (1988, 1989) does not address this section yet Murphy
(2011) asserts this is the most common form in popular song according to his 2011
based anecdotal perspective.
Murphy (2011) describes his fifth form as the AABA discussed much earlier
by Davis (1989) as: ‘in traditional AABA, the A parts are verses and the B section is
the bridge. There is no sing along chorus’ (p. 64). This assertion is not in line with the
evidence of the 32-bar form discussed by Davis (1988, 1989) as she infers that the
title of songs in this form are part of a sing along chorus concept (1989, p. 32). In this
form, characterised by an increasing degree of narrative direction, Murphy (2011)
describes the first of the A sections is the ‘once upon a time’ verse, the second A
section is the ‘here and now’ verse and the final A section is the ‘when I’m old and
grey’ verse (Murphy, 2011, p. 68). This is not necessarily the case in the writings of
Davis as she describes this form as being melody led (p. 31). In this discussion,
Murphy provides further evidence that these musical structures may have individual
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narrative development purposes, implying that the middle eight is an opportunity for
more storytelling.
The sixth form holds some similarity to rondo forms of the European common
practice period, while holding no direct causational link. In the Western art music
tradition, the rondo form contains a theme and variation in which the theme is played,
followed by a variation followed by a theme. This pattern is repeated until the end of
the work. Sixth form is similar to this, as it comprises ‘chorus, verse, chorus, musical
turnaround/instrumental, bridge/middle eight, chorus’ and ‘moves the listener into the
meat of the song very quickly’ (Murphy, 2011, p. 70). This form is commonly used in
hip-hop from the 2000s, such as in Eminem’s The monster (Mathers et al., 2011).
While Murphy (2011) is the author who most concisely describes a typology
of form, his assertions are often in conflict with other authors like Davis (1989). For
this reason my research tests Murphy’s (2011) typology of form as a method of
leading a structural analysis of narrative and popular song. Given the already
conflicted nature of Murphy’s (2011) typology it is important to identify the musical
and lyrical parameters that a more broad authorship define as descriptors for the
different song sections. In a review of many instructional works (Davis, 1988, 1989.
Leiken, 2003, 2007. Blume, 2011. Pattison, 2009. Webb, 1998), the description of the
sections Murphy (2011) identifies within his six form model, are commonly refered to
as being comprised of the following:
1. the verse, which is usually defined by conversational lyrics with little to no
repetition
2. the chorus, which is the ‘nut’ of the song that often relies on repetition
3. the pre-chorus, which is a section designed to musically lift the listener into
the chorus
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4. the middle eight, which is a lyrical section occurring before the last hearing of
the final section with new musical elements introduced
5. The instrumental, which is a non-lyrical section petitioned in a similar
chronology to the middle eight.
These five sections provide a guideline for analysing lyrical structure and a
model for analysis of the musical and narrative functions of song sections. What it
lacks is specific content regarding the design of narratives within these forms and
sections, despite having established that there is an intrinsic link between popular
song forms and story:
The verse is generally where you set up the premise of the song. It can be four,
six, eight lines or more. The lift or climb or channel or pre-chorus or any one
of a dozen names this particular section has (e.g., in Europe it is referred to as
a bridge) is two, four, six lines that precede the title or chorus of the song.
Generally, it changes rhyme scheme from the verse and creates tension by
implying or actually using the words ‘but,’ ‘maybe,’ ‘when,’ ‘because,’ etc.,
and then in most cases it lifts the listener melodically to the chorus or title.
The chorus which, incidentally, comes from the Greek ‘khoros’ which means
a group of singers, is essentially the destination to which you have been
leading the listener. (Murphy, 2011, Chapter 13, Section 2)
Blume (2011) takes a focused approach to outlining the narrative goals of each
of these different sections, explaining that ‘the primary function of the verse is to
provide the exposition—the information that will lead to the hook or title’ (p. 29). He
states that ‘it tells the story and sets the emotional tone. The verse lyric—its words—
contain the plot, the detail and the action’ (Blume, 2011, p. 4). While this appears to
be a clear direction, this small comment constitutes the entirety of Blume’s instruction
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about the role of narrative in a verse section. Further, there is no specific discussion
regarding the three-part narrative concepts of exposition that do not adhere to
Murphy’s structural constraints for the popular song. In Blume’s discussion of the
pre-chorus, he offers nothing on its narrative relevance or purpose. While Murphy
(2011) briefly explains that the purpose of the pre-chorus is to ‘lift the listener
melodically to the chorus’ (p. 45), this again does not clearly state any specific
narrative function for the section. Blume (2011) essentially expands on Murphy’s
concept when he writes about the function of the chorus: ‘Lyrically, the chorus’ job is
to summarise the idea and emotion of the song in a general way and hammer home its
title’ (p. 6). For Blume, the description of each section relative to narrative function is
limited to basic frameworks for the development of a story and there is no significant
detail on how a narrative is typically developed, constructed or communicated in a
popular song.
Jimmy Webb’s (1998) instructional work Tunesmith skips the relationship of
structural frameworks and narrative completely. Instead, ‘for the sake of argument’,
Webb (1998) creates categories that he believes apply to all popular song lyrics:
1. people, places or events in our memory that render us happy, sad or angry
(e.g., Last night when we were young by Harold Arlen & E. Y. Harburg)
2. people, places or events affecting us at the present time that render us
happy, sad or angry (e.g., You’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’ by Spector, Weil
& Mann)
3. people, places or events likely to affect us in the future that render us
happy, sad or angry (e.g., Any day now by Burt Bacharach & Bob
Hilliard)
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4. satire, or sarcasm and humour of a personal or political nature that is
usually exercised at the expense of others, but sometimes aimed at
ourselves (e.g., A simple desultory philippic by Paul Simon)
5. songs emanating from fictional characters (untrustworthy narrators)
whose identities we assume to communicate, whether in a serious or
humorous way (e.g., Rednecks by Randy Newman)
6. recounting of events in story form, such as the true ballad (e.g., El paso by
Marty Robbins)
7. silly music, such as comedic or novelty numbers that teach dances (e.g.,
Ahab the Arab by Ray Stevens)
8. abstract surrealism (e.g., Strawberry fields by Lennon & McCartney)
9. allegorical tales (e.g., The day the music died by Don McLean) (p. 34).
While Webb’s (1998) model might borrow some inspiration for the imagining
of narrative content, it provides little insight into how narrative can operate within the
confines of the established musical structures of pop songs. This may be partly due to
a common discourse contained throughout the body of instructional literature that is
contained in this contextual review—in particular, that many authors provide rules of
the ‘craft’ (Blume, 2011; Murphy, 2011; Pattison, 2009), yet also indicate that the
creation of music in a formulaic manner is undesirable (Lieken, 2014; Murphy, 2011;
Webb, 1998). This results in Murphy’s, Blume’s and Webb’s work providing
obfuscating advice on how best to approach storytelling in a pop song structure. Davis
(1989) discusses the story telling nature of songs by providing evidence of operation
in existing popular songs and is more in-depth in her assertions regarding the ways in
which structure designs narrative in lyrics, however, her work does not include
descriptions of more modern song forms and as such is lacking in detail for a twenty-
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first century songwriting paradigm. To address the tensions created by the conflicting
instructional literature, my research takes an investigative approach based on practice
to develop an alternative set of guidelines on pop songwriting. In refining this
approach, the research asks the question: how can narrative operate within the
accepted models of form in popular songs?
But It’s Only Pop Music
In this section I argue further for framing Pop Songs as a distinct literary form
separate to that of prose or poetry. In support of this assertion Davis (1989) writes:
During the sixties we heard a lot about the “poetry” of rock. Writers like Joni
Mitchell, Peter Townshend, and especially Bob Dylan were dubbed as poets.
Critics delights in analysing the multilayered symbolism, the imagery, the
oblique metaphors prevalent in the lyrics of the post Tim Pan Alley school.
(Davis, 1989, p. 10)
While much detail has been directed at the meaning and discourse of the
stories located in pop songs (Griffiths, 2003. Machin, 2010. Turner, 2011) in the same
way as the works of Colleridge or Poe (Cowitt, 2016), little research has been done on
the function of more contemporar