I'm going to talk about how to use imagery in our songwriting.
Imagery is when we engage the listener in the song through the use of pictures, showing the listener, instead of just telling them all about the song idea or the concept. A lot of songwriting uses imagery. In some songs, it's more obvious than in other songs. Country music, for example. It's often very easy to see the imagery at work, because the listener is engaged in the scene. We know where, and when, and to whom the song is happening. But in other types of music, it's harder to see the imagery. So I'm going to talk about how we can use more imagery in whatever style of songs we write, whether it's rock, or pop, or jazz, reggae-- and see how imagery creates a stronger experience for the listener, engages them, and makes the song altogether more memorable. So let's define first what imagery is and when we use it in daily life, because song lyrics really should be an expression of our own feelings, our own thoughts, and with realistic language, language that we use every day. So when we use imagery in our songs, let's think about how we use imagery in everyday life so we can apply the same idea. A good story needs small detail. A small moment is when we engage the listener with a specific point in time and the situation that's going on in that time. In order to do that, I like to think about a song, or at least the first verse of the song, like a conversation with the listener. If you think about a conversation that you might have with a good friend-- not just an acquaintance where you say, hey, how's it going? They say, I'm fine.
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