I can’t speak for all songwriters, but when I’m trying to write songs the most important thing to me is that the songs should establish an “emotional connection” with the listener.
And the earlier in the song that the emotional connection can be established, the better.
The method doesn’t really matter – you could be using just three chords throughout, or you could be playing in the simple key of C major, or you could be using very elementary lyrics…it doesn’t really matter.
It’s the effect that matters.
Conversely, it doesn’t matter if you’re using complex harmonies and chord progressions, or complex rhyming schemes…if there is no connection, then I personally feel that the song did not achieve its intended effect.
How then, does a song establish an emotional connection? How does it “speak” to the listener?
Well, this is a hard one to answer. I wish I knew the answer to that too.
I personally think it’s just a matter of putting yourself in the shoes of the listener and imagining what the listener would like to hear.
But of course, everyone wants to hear different things, so I just focus on a particular type of listener in my mind that I want the song to “speak” to. (In business jargon, I think it’s called knowing your “target market”.)
So as long as my song can establish an emotional connection with the people I would like to establish an emotional connection with, I’m very happy.
yup, the “emotional connection” is the way to engage your listener/target audience.
Rather than assume what other people want to hear, sometimes it’s better to write what you know. Quite often, the surprising result is that your audience will see something of themselves in it.