Songwriter trademarks

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Which songwriters have you noticed have certain elements that they use in a lot of their songs? Here are a few I've noticed:

Marv Green tends to use a lot of simile and metaphor, such as "Like a honeybee beatin' on my screen door / I got a little buzz and my head is sore", "Like snowflakes when the weather warms up / Like leaves on the trees when the autumn comes", "True, like the sun comin' up each morning / Bright as the light in a baby's smile / Sure as the mountain river windin' / Right as the rain fallin' from the sky", etc.

Craig Wiseman seems to favor unusual detail and specificity that often comes out of nowhere: Hai Karate aftershave in "Bubba Hyde", "Can of Yoo-Hoo" in "Summertime", "bull named Fu Manchu" in "Live Like You Were Dying", "folding chairs in the vestibule" in "Love Is a Beautiful Thing", "chartreuse paint" in "And the Crowd Goes Wild", etc.

Dennis Linde excelled in quirky character sketches (e.g. "Bubba Shot the Jukebox", "Queen of My Double Wide Trailer", "Goodbye Earl", "John Deere Green") but was also good at writing about obsessive love (e.g. "Callin' Baton Rouge", "Ten Pound Hammer", and of course, "Burning Love").

Casey Beathard writes a lot of songs about fatherhood ("Just Fishin'", "He's Mine", "Ready, Set, Don't Go"), and seems to use the same so-mi-so-mi-so-mi-so-re-do melody pattern ad nauseam in his verses.

Aimee Mayo tends toward sensitive and often emotional topics ("Address in the Stars", "Amazed", "Drugs or Jesus", "I Wonder") and female empowerment ("Cry Cry ('Til the Sun Shines)", "Don't You Know You're Beautiful", "How I Feel", "This One's for the Girls"). Her style is very similar to Hillary Lindsey, with whom she has written a lot of songs.

[austin]

Taylor Swift used to do a lot of repeating the opening lines of the song at the end of the song
"Tim McGraw"
"Teardrops on MY Guitar"
"Our Song"
"Love Story"
"Red"
all have differing elements of this

[austin]

I feel like Kristyn Osborn (SHeDAISY) is one of the few who used two bridges/verses in between the second and third choruses of some songs as opposed to one big bridge ("5432 Run", "Good Together (Bucket and Chicken)", "He's a Hero".)

[phil1996]

Travis Meadows always writes songs that make you think. Knives of New Orleans, Pontiac, What We Ain’t Got, While You Still Can

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Here's another one I've noticed: most songs written by Dennis Robbins tend to have a lot of words but are well under 2:30 in length ("Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House"). He also tends to use the same melodic progression to end his choruses, and likes using seventh chords.

Kip Moore is also fond of writing songs that are 2:30 or shorter.

I've noticed that Lucinda Williams tends to use IV-I progressions at the end of her choruses. "The Night's Too Long", "Passionate Kisses", and "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" all do this.

A lot of Keith Urban songs have references to the sun shining, driving in a car, and/or listening to the rdaio.

Clint Daniels loves writing mellow midtempos about heartbreak.

[phil1996]

Jul 26, 2018 16:08:34 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

Here's another one I've noticed: most songs written by Dennis Robbins tend to have a lot of words but are well under 2:30 in length ("Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House"). He also tends to use the same melodic progression to end his choruses, and likes using seventh chords.

Kip Moore is also fond of writing songs that are 2:30 or shorter.

I've noticed that Lucinda Williams tends to use IV-I progressions at the end of her choruses. "The Night's Too Long", "Passionate Kisses", and "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" all do this.

A lot of Keith Urban songs have references to the sun shining, driving in a car, and/or listening to the rdaio.

Clint Daniels loves writing mellow midtempos about heartbreak.

Kip has written 3 songs that last under 3 minutes in his whole career. I’m To Blame, Good Thing, More Girls Like You 😂