How To Avoid Writing A Hit

In my opinion; perhaps; in some situations.

These are words we (most of us) use in conversation and writing (I use them quite a lot) to soften what we say.

It’s a way of avoiding being or sounding dictatorial about what or what might not be true. It’s a way of allowing the conversation to continue.

A friend once said though, in regard to songwriting, something like this: I don’t want to hear a song that tells me: “i think I like you” but rather “You are everything to me!”.

I’ve come to mainly disagree with that idea. Or rather, I think that it does make sense in the context, perhaps, of writing pop songs for teens who’s hormones are screaming, and for whom everything is black and white. That was the market for whom the massive pop market industry was primarily developed..

But most of us are adults.

The challenge, I think, is to find a way to write songs that impact our emotions at a very deep level, while addressing the multitude of nuances and less digestible truths of the actual love and lives that we experience in the real world.

Which is possibly why I’ve never had a hit.


ps. In reality there are plenty of songs that have managed to achieve that goal, and when I think about it, they are often some of my favourites. Here’s one. Why not mention some others in the comments?