[0:00] in 1983 David Bowie whilst touring
[0:02] Australia was interviewed by Molly
[0:04] Meldrum and talked about how much he
[0:06] admired John lenon for the way his
[0:08] lyrics and songwriting really cut
[0:09] through and in one beautiful moment
[0:11] during that interview David B recalled
[0:13] something that John Leonard had once
[0:15] said to him it's very easy all you have
[0:17] to do is say what you mean make it rhyme
[0:20] and put a BackBeat to it and sure when
[0:22] you say it like that it does sound easy
[0:25] and almost unhelpful to us mere mortals
[0:27] but if we examine that statement a
[0:29] little more and zoom in on each of those
[0:31] three elements perhaps we can discover
[0:33] some of the secrets to John Lennon's
[0:34] incredible songwriting so in this video
[0:36] I'm going to break down those three
[0:37] elements go through some specific songs
[0:39] in John's catalog to really bring these
[0:41] Concepts to life and find out if it is
[0:43] after all very easy number one say what
[0:46] you
[0:47] mean we can interpret this a number of
[0:50] different ways but for practical reasons
[0:52] let's start with this idea that if
[0:53] you're going to write a song about
[0:54] something a good place to start is to
[0:56] write about a feeling that you have on a
[0:59] particular subject because one of the
[1:00] traps we can fall into as songwriters is
[1:02] moving too quickly through the process
[1:04] trying to focus on lyrics and chords and
[1:07] Melodies and rhythms all at the same
[1:08] time before we're really clear on what
[1:11] this song is all about what it is we
[1:13] have to say what we can do with this say
[1:15] what you mean statement is divide it
[1:17] further into two parts the first part is
[1:19] find out what you want to say and then
[1:21] the second part is say it like you mean
[1:23] it in other words once you discover what
[1:25] the central message is of this song
[1:27] don't hold back say it courageously and
[1:29] with with conviction let your song be
[1:31] the vehicle to take this idea out into
[1:33] the world if we look at the lyrics to
[1:35] imagine one of John's most iconic songs
[1:37] you can see this point in action and in
[1:39] these lyrics it's clear what John's
[1:41] point is it's clear what he's upset with
[1:43] it's clear the change he is seeking so
[1:45] we hear John making this plea to
[1:47] humanity to join together and put aside
[1:49] their differences and importantly we
[1:51] hear and feel this message throughout
[1:54] the entire song and both the clarity and
[1:56] the consistency of this message cannot
[1:58] be underestimated or overlooked it is
[2:00] one of the biggest challenges we as
[2:01] songwriters face and we face it for two
[2:03] reasons firstly when we're writing a
[2:05] song we have the backstory we have the
[2:07] context it's all in our heads we forget
[2:10] that others don't we forget that no one
[2:12] else knows what we're thinking we hope
[2:14] or delude ourselves into believing that
[2:16] when someone hears this song for the
[2:17] first time they'll somehow understand
[2:19] the cryptic references and the in jokes
[2:21] they'll have empathy for our main
[2:23] character and understand why they're
[2:24] saying the things they're saying but the
[2:26] reality is none of that is true because
[2:28] telling a story to a room full of people
[2:30] and writing a song that goes out into
[2:32] the world are two very different things
[2:34] when we're telling a story we're able to
[2:36] pause we're able to clarify we're able
[2:37] to take questions go back over a certain
[2:40] detail when we write a song and send it
[2:42] out to the world we send it out on its
[2:43] own we can't be there standing over the
[2:45] shoulder of everyone who's listening
[2:47] explaining that cryptic metaphor in
[2:49] verse two or that slightly ambiguous
[2:51] twist at the end of the chorus so when a
[2:53] song like imagine lands with such impact
[2:56] and ripples through generations it is in
[2:58] part because of the clarity of of that
[3:00] message because The Lyricist has found a
[3:01] way to say what they mean and say it
[3:03] with such conviction the rest of the
[3:05] world stops and takes notice the second
[3:07] reason songwriters can get themselves
[3:09] into trouble with this issue is when
[3:10] they deliberately make the lyrics
[3:13] ambiguous we actually catch ourselves in
[3:15] the act of deliberately making things
[3:17] unclear either because they're too
[3:19] personal or because we want to protect
[3:21] the feelings and identities of people
[3:22] that are close to us or perhaps because
[3:24] we haven't really investigated how we
[3:26] truly feel about the subject we're
[3:28] writing about whatever theas Reon saying
[3:30] what you mean carries with it a personal
[3:32] responsibility to stand by what it is
[3:35] you say and mean and sometimes this
[3:37] occurs in a very public setting in his
[3:39] song Luck of the Irish Lenin criticizes
[3:42] the history of British rule in Ireland
[3:44] using some fairly strong language to
[3:45] make his feelings known a land full of
[3:48] beauty and wonder was raped by the
[3:50] British brigands so this is clearly a
[3:52] political song and lenon wrote lots of
[3:54] political songs in this one he's taking
[3:56] the side of Ireland a country he
[3:58] declares himself very fond of and in
[4:00] fact he even planned to retire there
[4:02] however Beetle biographer Chris Ingam
[4:04] describes the song as sentimental
[4:06] condescending poetry and much like
[4:09] political propaganda so saying what you
[4:11] mean is easy to say but doing it is a
[4:14] whole other thing because it often
[4:15] invites criticism and judgment and
[4:17] backlash and justifications of All Sorts
[4:20] that a lot of songwriters would just
[4:22] rather avoid and these situations are
[4:24] certainly more likely to arise in
[4:25] political songs but what if we shift our
[4:27] Focus to something a little more
[4:28] intimate perhaps a love song song
[4:30] Jealous Guy recorded in 1971 is a
[4:32] perfect example of this I didn't mean to
[4:35] hurt you I'm sorry that I made you cry
[4:37] oh I didn't want to hurt you I'm just a
[4:39] jealous guy these lyrics feel raw they
[4:42] feel honest they're self-deprecating and
[4:45] it's almost as if we eavesdropping on
[4:46] Jon talking to his lover talking to
[4:49] journalist David Chef in 1980 John
[4:51] revealed the lyrics explain themselves
[4:53] clearly I was a very jealous possessive
[4:55] guy toward everything a very insecure
[4:58] male on BB se's women's hour radio show
[5:01] John continued to reflect on his
[5:02] changing view of relationships when
[5:04] you're actually in love with somebody
[5:05] you tend to be jealous and want to own
[5:08] them and possess them 100% which I do I
[5:11] love Yoko I want to possess her
[5:13] completely that's the danger that you
[5:15] want to possess them to death so in
[5:17] Jealous Guy JN is really expressing some
[5:19] very honest feelings and whether we
[5:21] agree with those feelings or not it's
[5:23] fascinating to hear him use the vehicle
[5:25] of songwriting as a way to work through
[5:27] his beliefs on relation ships and love
[5:31] and his own insecurities the second part
[5:34] make it rhyme John has another famous
[5:37] quote on this topic tell the truth and
[5:39] make it rhyme and for songwriters there
[5:41] is no avoiding it rhyme is a big deal it
[5:43] is what separates lyrics and poetry from
[5:46] everyday language and is really one of
[5:47] the most powerful tools in the
[5:49] Songwriter's toolbox but saying make it
[5:51] rhyme is like saying paint it blue which
[5:54] shade of blue there are so many shades
[5:55] of blue and each of them has a different
[5:57] mood and creates a different effect
[6:00] so how do we choose the shade of blue or
[6:02] the type of rhyme that is appropriate
[6:04] for our song as a very quick overview
[6:06] let's just talk about rhyme schemes and
[6:07] the notation that goes with them mostly
[6:09] when we talk about rhyme we're really
[6:10] focusing on endline Rhymes the words
[6:12] that land at the very end of each line
[6:14] and we learn rhyme schemes very early on
[6:16] we learn them as children funnily enough
[6:18] in nursery rhymes so in nursery rhymes
[6:20] we often find four-line STS with very
[6:22] stable rhyme schemes for example twinkle
[6:24] twinkle little star how I wonder what
[6:26] you are up above the world so high like
[6:29] a diamond in the sky that is a classic
[6:32] AABB rhyme scheme very stable four lines
[6:36] two rhyming couplets one after the other
[6:38] the other thing to consider is rhyme
[6:40] type and rhyme type really slides along
[6:42] a scale between perfect and imperfect
[6:45] Rhyme now in musical theater perfect
[6:47] rhyme is really the only rhyme that
[6:49] counts in a lot of rap hip-hop and
[6:51] contemporary songwriting however
[6:53] imperfect rhyme is used frequently and
[6:55] very effectively so looking at Twinkle
[6:57] Twinkle Little Star High and sky are
[6:59] perfect Rhymes if we were to choose an
[7:01] imperfect rhyme for high we might go
[7:03] with KN it still has the I sound in the
[7:06] middle and that's what allows the two
[7:07] words to be paired together but the hard
[7:10] T sound on night makes it imperfect and
[7:13] it also introduces a lot of tension so
[7:16] rhyme really does serve some very
[7:17] important functions it helps the
[7:19] language to flow it creates a Sonic road
[7:22] map for the ear as we're guided through
[7:24] the lyrics and it gives the songwriter
[7:25] the ability to create tension and then
[7:27] resolve that tension and John was clear
[7:29] aware of all of these functions but the
[7:31] best songwriters also know how to make
[7:33] little variations with these techniques
[7:35] twist them ever so slightly to create
[7:37] something new and interesting so if we
[7:39] go back to Jealous Guy and look at the
[7:41] rhyme scheme past and fast perfect
[7:44] rhyming couplet I began to lose control
[7:46] I began to lose control that's not a
[7:48] rhyming line that's just a repeated line
[7:50] I didn't mean to hurt you I'm sorry that
[7:52] I made you cry I didn't want to hurt you
[7:55] I'm just a jealous guy here we have the
[7:57] rhyming couplet split in to CD CD and
[8:01] this is also a very stable type of rhyme
[8:04] scheme at the start of the second verse
[8:06] we hear a beautiful little variation I
[8:09] was feeling insecure you might not love
[8:11] me
[8:12] anymore now insecure and anymore don't
[8:16] sound like they rhyme a perfect rhyme
[8:18] that would go well with insecure is pure
[8:21] but John's not necessarily looking for a
[8:22] perfect rhyme he's looking for the word
[8:25] that expresses what he has to say so
[8:27] when you listen to the recording you can
[8:28] hear him deliver this rhyming couplet as
[8:31] insecure
[8:33] anymore he he lengthens the anymore and
[8:36] instead of going oh he makes it more
[8:38] like a uh because every songwriter and
[8:40] singer has this ability to shape the
[8:42] vowels and shape the Sounds in their
[8:44] mouth and take what would normally be
[8:45] very jarring and imperfect Rhymes and
[8:49] actually blend them together so they
[8:50] sound quite close this is such an
[8:52] important thing for us as songwriters to
[8:54] remember if you ever find yourself in
[8:55] the songwriting process hunting for
[8:57] lines that rhyme together but don't
[9:00] necessarily express the idea that you
[9:02] want to express this is a good time to
[9:04] stop and go back and discover what it is
[9:06] you really want to say and then find the
[9:09] appropriate words to serve that message
[9:12] imagine gives us another insight into
[9:14] how John thinks about Rhymes schem
[9:15] imagine there's no Heaven it's easy if
[9:18] you try no hell below us above us only
[9:21] sky so line one and three don't rhyme
[9:23] with each other or anything else but
[9:25] line two and four rhyme and this is a
[9:28] classic rhyme scheme but then we get
[9:30] this little tag imagine all the people
[9:32] living for today and people and today
[9:36] are un rymed and because they're un
[9:38] rymed they're less stable so the whole
[9:41] structure of this song is actually quite
[9:44] unstable because a majority of the lines
[9:46] aren't rhyming with anything else and
[9:48] this reveals a rhyme pattern that John
[9:50] used a lot in his lyric writing Lucy in
[9:52] the Sky is another great example of this
[9:54] pattern picture yourself in a boat on a
[9:56] river with Tangerine trees and marmalade
[9:58] skar eyes somebody calls you you answer
[10:01] quite slowly a girl with kaleidoscope
[10:04] eyes so there we have skies and eyes
[10:06] again line two and four rhyming but
[10:08] lines one and three are again un rymed
[10:11] with themselves or anything else then we
[10:13] get cellophane flowers of yellow and
[10:15] green towering over your head look for
[10:18] the girl with the sun in her eyes and
[10:19] she's gone green head gone they're not
[10:24] rhyming with each other or any of the
[10:25] lines in the previous section so here's
[10:27] a song where we're looking at seven
[10:29] lines of lyrics and only two of them
[10:31] rhyme and the question you might be
[10:32] asking is why is John lennin only
[10:34] rhyming a few lines and leaving the rest
[10:36] un rymed and to answer that we want to
[10:38] go back to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
[10:41] because for a lot of us the rhyme
[10:42] schemes we learn as children are the
[10:44] rhyme schemes we keep using as we get
[10:46] older so if left unchecked we can find
[10:48] that a lot of our songs have this AABB
[10:51] or ABAB or even x a XA rhyme scheme
[10:54] repeatedly used and the problem with
[10:57] that is it's very predictable and it's
[10:59] sounds like the writing of a much
[11:00] younger person so John knows that in
[11:02] shaping his language to make it sound
[11:04] mature to make it so that it's not
[11:06] predictable to create the element of
[11:07] surprise by giving us what we think will
[11:10] be a rhyming couplet but in fact what we
[11:12] hear is two un rymed lines all of this
[11:14] adds up to language that is not only
[11:16] more conversational replicating the
[11:18] patterns of everyday speech it's also
[11:20] unique when compared to a lot of other
[11:22] songwriters so when John says make it
[11:24] rhyme what he really means is just make
[11:26] some of it rhyme don't feel you have to
[11:28] have a series of rhyming couplets one
[11:30] after the other giving that closure and
[11:31] resolution in a very predictable way
[11:33] instead pick your lines carefully know
[11:35] that a little bit of rhyme goes a long
[11:37] way and leave the rest as conversational
[11:39] UNR language the third part put a back
[11:43] beat to it now fair question to ask is
[11:46] what is the difference between a beat
[11:48] and a back beat by definition the back
[11:50] beat is a steady pronounced Rhythm
[11:52] stressing the second and fourth beats of
[11:54] a four beat measure so if we're thinking
[11:57] in terms of drums the kick comes comes
[11:59] on the one and the three the snare comes
[12:01] on the two and the four and the BackBeat
[12:04] really started in jazz and then moved to
[12:06] blues and R&B and eventually into rock
[12:08] and when you hear gospel music and
[12:10] people clapping in time they're clapping
[12:12] on the two and the four they're
[12:13] replicating that snare so I think it's
[12:15] fair to say that the BackBeat Groove is
[12:17] probably the most common and popular
[12:19] form we have in contemporary music but
[12:21] is this what John meant when he said put
[12:23] a BackBeat to it was he specifically
[12:24] thinking about the two and the four or
[12:26] was he saying it in a more general term
[12:28] was he really just meaning put a good
[12:30] Groove to it either way I think the more
[12:32] interesting point is to consider how
[12:34] crucial John believes Rhythm to be he's
[12:37] included it as one of his three elements
[12:39] in this formula he's not talking about
[12:42] Melody he's not talking about Harmony of
[12:43] course they are crucial and John is
[12:46] responsible for some of the most
[12:47] beautiful Melody and core progressions
[12:48] we've ever heard but he's made this
[12:50] point about songwriting being easy when
[12:52] you first Focus On lyrics and then focus
[12:55] on Rhythm but I want to keep talking
[12:56] about the importance of the term
[12:58] BackBeat for a minute because
[12:59] interestingly the only way you can have
[13:02] an emphasis on the two and the four is
[13:04] if you have a four beat measure which
[13:06] means we have to be thinking in 44 so
[13:09] does this mean that when John's thinking
[13:10] about Rhythm he's really just thinking
[13:11] in 44 well if we look at John's catalog
[13:14] of songs first focusing on those he
[13:15] wrote with the Beatles in this list you
[13:17] see some of the biggest hits of all time
[13:19] from me to you she loves you I Want to
[13:22] Hold Your Hand a hard day night Ticket
[13:24] to Ride help Day Tripper we can work it
[13:27] out the ballot of JN and Yoko Love Me Do
[13:30] come together something please please me
[13:32] You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
[13:34] Norwegian Wood Nowhere Man Lucy the Sky
[13:37] with Diamonds I Am The Walrus Happiness
[13:39] is a Warm Gun All You Need Is Love
[13:41] Across the Universe Strawberry Fields
[13:42] Forever don't let me down and out of
[13:46] that incredible collection of songs only
[13:48] two of them are not using 4 four You've
[13:52] Got to Hide Your Love Away and Norwegian
[13:54] Wood are both using the 68 swung feeli
[13:57] losing the Sky with Diamonds all also
[13:59] has a swung 68 feel in the verse but the
[14:01] chorus is very much a driving 44 pattern
[14:04] and some of these songs like all you
[14:06] need is love often drop beats to create
[14:08] a 74 feel but again in the chorus of
[14:11] that song we hear that driving pulse of
[14:13] 44 loud and clear turning our attention
[14:16] to the songs he wrote as a solo artist
[14:18] we have imagine woman give peace a
[14:21] chance just like starting over watching
[14:24] the wheels workingclass hero Whatever
[14:26] Gets You Through the Night Jealous Guy
[14:28] happy Christmas War is Over Instant
[14:30] Karma mind gamed give me some truth
[14:33] beautiful boy mother nobody told me oh
[14:35] my love crippled inside and number nine
[14:38] dream and out of that list we have only
[14:41] three songs that are not in 44 just like
[14:43] starting over workingclass hero and
[14:46] happy Christmas war is over those also
[14:49] have a swung feel in 68 or 128 depending
[14:52] on how you're counting it so yes it
[14:54] seems that John does have a preference
[14:56] for writing in 44 which makes perfect
[14:58] sense because the Beatles really were a
[15:00] perfect blend of R&B pop and rock and
[15:03] all three of those genres have 44 as the
[15:05] Beating Heart of that music and it's
[15:07] important for us to understand the
[15:08] Nuance of different time Fields one of
[15:10] the reasons dance music and rock loves
[15:12] 44 is because it has that driving energy
[15:14] it has that forward propulsion in
[15:16] contrast if we look at a time feel like
[15:18] 68 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 you can see
[15:23] it has that side to side motion it
[15:24] doesn't have the drive the forward push
[15:27] and a lot of songwriters have a LoveHate
[15:28] relationship ship with 44 because they
[15:30] know it's the most popular time
[15:31] signature and yes if you only write
[15:33] songs in 44 and write them around the
[15:35] same BPM you will find that your songs
[15:38] all start to sound a little bit same
[15:39] same so exploring other time signatures
[15:41] is a really important part of the
[15:43] Songwriter's Journey but we forget how
[15:46] versatile 44 can be we forget how much
[15:48] variation we can create with those four
[15:50] beats within that bar
[15:52] [Music]
[16:20] all of those were in 44 and even though
[16:22] some of them were very similar tempos
[16:24] there are so many other variables going
[16:26] on with the song that we don't think
[16:29] they sound similar at all even though I
[16:30] was just playing the chords you could
[16:33] still hear that each of them had their
[16:34] own unique sound and feel one of the
[16:36] things we're always trying to work out
[16:38] is how does some songwriters through
[16:40] history make it look so easy how do they
[16:42] consistently produce these works of
[16:44] Genius over generations and without
[16:46] knowing for sure perhaps for John it was
[16:49] his Clarity of mind and his ability to
[16:51] either consciously or subconsciously
[16:53] distill the world of songwriting down to
[16:56] this simple formula I one will'll be
[16:59] trying this formula out and seeing what
[17:00] the results are and if any of you try it
[17:02] out as well please let us know what
[17:04] works what doesn't work and if there's
[17:06] any specific areas you'd like us to go
[17:08] deeper on in future videos please put
[17:10] those in the comments too happy
[17:12] songwriting bye