Write Better Lyrics #5: Is Your Lyric Abstract Where it Could Be Concrete?

Synopsis: Moving your lyrics from abstractions to concrete representations of those abstractions may be the SINGLE MOST POWERFUL change you can make as a songwriter, particularly if you write about love and/or faith.

Help Needed: What's your favorite lyric example of a concrete standing in for an abstraction? Please share it in the comment section below. Seriously, make this somewhat abstract blog post concrete for me! Thanking ya ...

Definitions: An abstraction is a concept or idea (love, hate, hope, despair, faith, justice, democracy, etc.). To be concrete is to make reference to an actual physical object or sensation.

Example 1:
abstraction: Falling in Love
concrete: Stammering, butterflies in stomach, holding hands, sweaty hands, blushing, etc.

Example 2:
abstraction: Christian belief in Christ's sacrifice on the cross
concrete: "Sometimes love has to drive a nail into its own hand" (Chris Rice)

Context: I've been talking about key questions to ask of your lyrics to take them to the next level. So far we've looked at making sure that your SUBJECT MATTER MATTERS, that your lyric has the power that comes from SIMPLICITY AND PURITY, and that you are using SPECIFIC IMAGES that are HIGHLY RELATABLE.

That brings us to Lyric Question No. 5:
IS YOUR LYRIC ABSTRACT WHERE IT COULD BE CONCRETE?

Back in the Lyric Question 3 post, we noted that the way to engage a listener in your song is through his or her imagination. In this media-saturated world, if we fail to engage a person at the imagination-level, we won’t keep her for long. Fortunately, there are Imagination Scientists who study the way the human imagination works. Whenever I teach songwriting at a local college, I reference the work of a writer and researcher named Chris Blake. His intriguing article, “The Imagination of the Listener” can be found in The Craft & Business of Songwriting by John Braheny (p.46-56).

Blake notes that when the imagination receives a new cue (for example, words in a song), it constructs an image to go with that cue based on a whole host of stored previous experiences. It turns out that the strongest cues (collections of words) are simple, concrete, action-oriented images that invite the imagination to engage. Abstractions (huge and important concepts like faith, hope, justice, anger, salvation, sin and restoration) don’t work in the imagination. They actually turn it away.

Blake has fun with the famous country song The Gambler. Remember that one?

You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.

The song’s writer, Don Schlitz, outlines a whole philosophy of living in that song. But what if, Blake asks, Schlitz had just gone with abstractions rather than concrete images that represent them? You’d have something like:

It’s important to know when to persist in trying to achieve your goals and when to give up.
You have to know when to decide to give up what you’re doing gradually and to know when to give up quickly.
You should never make a judgment about how your life is going while it’s going on.
There’ll be plenty of time to look back to see how it all went after your life is over.

Try singing that one!

My students laugh when I give them that example. But how many love songs do just the same thing:

I love you so much.
I will never stop loving you.
Till the end of time, you will be mine.
Blah, blah, blah

And for those of you who are worship or faith-based songwriters, herein lies a huge challenge. The vast majority of overtly spiritual music is swimming in abstraction.

I praise God for His mercy.
I am grateful for salvation.
Thank you for restoration.
God is a God of justice.

Obviously, there is a place for abstraction. Many of us are driven to write because we feel passionate about concepts and ideas, about theologies and philosophies. It would be impossible to never have abstract ideas in your lyrics. But I promise you, if you will go through your lyrics and, wherever possible, replace an abstraction with a concrete, specific, detailed symbol of embodiment of that abstraction, your lyrics will come to life.

Remember, if you hope to move someone's heart or mind, you must engage the imagination. THE IMAGINATION IS A STIMULUS-REPONSE MECHANISM. No stimulus, no response.

But ... you know ... no pressure! Write on.

Next Post in This Series: Lyric Question No. 6. Bookmark or subscribe to Songville to make sure you don't miss it!