"Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus"?
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- By Jason Sonier
- 1
"Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus"? Jason Sonier takes a closer look at this statement and offers an alternate take based on his experience writing original music.
I moved to Fredericton in 2005, and since then I've played exclusively in bands that focused on original music. In my time, I've often run into musicians that cling to hard and fast rules they learned somewhere on the Internet on "How To Be A Killer Band and Gain Hordes of Adoring Fans."
One familiar phrase you'll always hear from students of this thinking is "Don't bore us, get to the chorus." If it rhymes it must be true, right? The idea behind this saying is that, when writing a song, don't waste a whole lot of time on your intro and opening verse. Get to the hook as soon as you can because, if you don't, people are going get bored and skip to the next song.
My response to that? Don't write boring intros. Don't write boring verses. The whole song matters, not just the chorus and the guitar solo, so put as much care into making every part of the song interesting.
Like millions around the world, I've recently been turned on to this English band, Wet Leg. Such a fantastic, weird, quirky but ultra-clever duo. They are a great example of what I mean. With songs like Chaise Longue, Wet Dream and Ur Mum, I found that the main parts of those songs that caught my attention and made me want to hear more were not in the choruses, but in the verses. I hope this blog ages well, but I feel like these girls are going to be around for a long time.
This is great advice. It is also, the reason it takes me so long to produce anything...lol.