The Songwriting Trick No One Notices ... but Dylan Was the Master

[00:01] Times, They Are a-Changin', one of Bob Dylan's most iconic and well-known something very specific [music] in the construction of this song, something that very rarely gets talked about, but is very important for us as

[00:14] songwriters to consider when writing our songs if we want to maintain the interest and the attention of our listeners. And I'm going to go out on a huge limb here and say if Bob Dylan hadn't have done this one thing, this

[00:27] song, The Times, They Are a-Changin', may never have become a hit. So, let's song. If we lay out the lyrics of this song, we can see that there are five sections. They all have roughly the same number of lines, and the lines are all

[00:40] roughly the same length. And another distinct feature of this song form is you'll see that the phrase The Times, They Are a-Changin' appears as the last line of each of these five sections. And that line, serving as both the title of

[00:55] song, appears at the end of each of those five sections because this is a song form known as AAA. AAA isn't to say that case, there are actually five sections. AAA really denotes that there is no

[01:11] chorus in this form. Instead, we have verse sections with the title or the refrain line appearing at the end of each of those five sections. And this was a form that Bob Dylan was a big fan of using. In fact, it was a form that

[01:24] was really popular back in the '50s and '60s and earlier. And it's a form that a lot of folk artists lean towards because it provides a lovely alternative to the verse-chorus structure, which is very, very popular in contemporary music. This

[01:39] AAA form gives the songwriter another way of expressing their idea, and sometimes a more appropriate way. So, looking at those five sections, seeing how consistent they are with each other, seeing they're all roughly the same

[01:52] lines, they've all got that title line in the last position. One thought that may occur is that this form is going to sound too repetitive. There's not enough have enough variation or contrast runs the risk of losing the attention of the

[02:07] because the listener wants to hear new information. They want to be taken on a journey. If it feels like we're just hearing one section after another that's kind of the same as the last section, it can often lead to a feeling of

[02:20] boredom or disengagement. And so, this leads to the big question, how did Bob Dylan get away with this form? How did he create a song that has become so successful and so impactful over many decades using what looks like a very

[02:34] repetitive form? Well, Bob Dylan has a trick up his sleeve, and it's a trick that any songwriter can use in their songwriting. To discover what this trick We're going to have to look at the song laid out on a timeline. Just a quick

[02:48] reminder that our online songwriting community is now hosting weekly song songwriter who's looking to get meaningful, high-quality feedback on their songs, we're offering a 14-day free trial so you can come along, jump

[03:02] growing community of songwriters from all over the world. You'll find the link see you there. So, what I've done here is I've put the audio file for the song into Logic. And let me just jump to the end of each

[03:18] verse section so you can hear the repetition in each of these sections. And you better start swimming or you'll sink like [music] a stone. For the >> [singing] >> they are a-changin'.

[03:32] >> [music] >> For the loser now will be later to win. For the times, they are a-changin'. For the swinging shake your windows [singing] and rattle your walls. For the

[03:45] times, they are a-changin'. Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand. For the times, they are a-changin'. And the first one [music] now will later

[04:01] times, they are a-changin'. [music] problem here. If we're writing a song and we're considering stitching together

[04:13] five sections in a row that all sound very similar, we run the risk of losing our audience. We run the risk of just too much repetition, not enough variation. So, how does Bob deal with this challenge?

[04:26] How does he keep us engaged? Well, the answer is not in the verse structures. The answer is what happens between the verse structures. This song is constructed with the five verse sections laid out, and between each of

[04:41] like connective tissue, are the interludes, the little instrumental interludes that are normally not a big deal in song form. Normally, the interludes are just there to give the song a little breather, a

[04:54] the sections butting up against each other. But in this song, they serve such a crucial function because in this song, they are the variation. And to really need to count through the bars in each of these sections. So, this song is in

[05:09] 3/4, and if we go to the very intro, you'll hear that it's three bars of 3/4. >> 1 2, 1 2. Come gather 'round, people, 1 2. Come gather 'round, people, [singing] wherever you roam.

[05:24] When we get to the end of the first verse, we hear an interlude. For the times, they are a-changin'. [singing and music]

[05:40] >> Come [singing] writers and critics seven bars for that interlude section, which is in itself interesting because it's an odd number. And what we know about odd numbers and even numbers is that even numbers of things, fours,

[05:53] that even numbers of things, fours, eights, 16s, are generally quite stable. Odd numbers seem to have less stability, and that creates a different momentum throughout the song. It creates a a little less resolution, and that lack of

[06:05] resolution compels us to keep listening. We want to hear what happens next a little more when we hear an unstable number of bars or an odd number of bars preceding the section we're about to hear. So, you can

[06:18] see that this interlude is being used as a spacer between the verses so that the verses don't just run one into the other. But where it gets really interesting is when we move on to the next interlude,

[06:30] and we see that it is a different number of bars. It is not seven. It is 11, another odd number. For the times, they are a-changin'. >> [singing and music]

[06:56] the call. And the effect of this is profound. We're not just hearing a copy-and-pasted little interlude that's the same as the last one. We're hearing a similar kind

[07:09] of section, but the number of bars being different makes a huge difference to us, the listener, because we're hearing something novel. We're hearing a variation. And Dylan continues this technique

[07:22] throughout the whole song form. As we move along, the next interlude is only six bars. For the times, they are the times, they are a-changin'. [music]

[07:41] land. The next interlude is huge, 17 bars. >> [singing] >> a-changin'. >> a-changin'. [music]

[08:12] So, you can see that these interludes between the verse sections are performing a really important function. They're not only breaking up the form so verse. This change in the number of bars and the variations of these interludes

[08:27] is what actually keeps us guessing in a form that is otherwise quite situations, people will say, "Come on. Are you telling me that Dylan sat down interlude and then an 11-bar interlude

[08:41] 17-bar interlude?'" And I don't think the answer is a resounding yes, as in I don't think he deliberately sat down and mapped it out that way, but I think subconsciously, he felt the need for the variation. He

[08:55] felt the need to change the numbers of bars or to change the duration of these intervals because playing them all the same way would have created a form that was simply too boring, simply too much repetition for the listener. And any

[09:09] concept and apply it in a number of different ways. Firstly, you can simply try this method exactly as it is. You can take a song and inject some little interludes, some little instrumental moments between each of the sections,

[09:23] and just change up those sections, change up the length of those interludes or the duration of those interludes, and see how that feels. But you can also take this concept and apply it to other sections in your song. For example, one

[09:37] songwriters deal with is the sections sound too similar even when it's a verse-chorus form. So, if you have a 16-bar verse followed by a 16-bar chorus followed by a 16-bar solo followed by another 16-bar

[09:53] verse followed by another 16-bar chorus, that can create its own sense of repetition. That can also, without us realizing it, to the listener. So, this is an opportunity to look at the song

[10:07] structure and say, "Well, hang on. What if I take the verse and I make it 14 bars?" The chorus can be 16 bars, but the verse is going to 14 bars creates that variation, or it may be 18 bars, or it

[10:20] something a little less stable, a little less predictable. But, the point here is that you want to be aware of how many bars are in each of your sections. You want to have that kind of visibility. So, that this kind of repetition doesn't

[10:36] more than just being aware of the numbers, this is a very powerful tool that you have in your toolkit that allows you to really create an element of surprise for the listener. It allows you to create that little moment

[10:50] listening to music, we almost settle into the song form and kind of know what's coming next. If you can give the listener a surprise, weren't expecting, and take them on a different kind of journey, that creates

[11:04] the songs that take us somewhere unexpected are generally the ones that to hear how this technique goes for you. So, please post in the comments what you discover, and happy songwriting.

[11:17] discover, and happy songwriting. Bye.