I love looking closely and digging into one of my favorite songs by an artist I enjoy. For example, John Denver’s song, “Back Home Again” is a great song that I really like. Through his lyrics, John paints a picture that is so vivid and memorable. Each line contributes to this total scene and builds the song one image at a time. I can see it coming together as he sings the lyrics of the song.
Even the very first line of the lyric: “There’s a storm across the valley,” is specific and we can see the storm across the valley as John sings about it. It’s a great start to a great song! “Clouds are rolling in,” is the next line in the song. The storm is building as the song is building, too. “The afternoon is heavy on your shoulders,” makes a slight shift away from the literal storm to a personal storm, bringing the metaphor to a human feeling. We’ve all had afternoons that were heavy on our shoulders whether a physical storm was brewing or not.
“There’s a truck out on the four lane,” is the next line in the verse. I wonder if John actually saw or heard a truck out there or if it was just conjured up in his creative mind’s eye. Either way, he is painting a picture with lyrics that are clear and descriptive. “A mile or more away,” gives us a clear sense of the proximity of this truck rolling down the highway. And, “the whining of his wheels just makes it colder,” refers back to both the physical storm and possibly the internal, personal storm.
This is just the first verse, and what a verse it is! John fingerpicks his guitar as he sings the song and the chord progressions he uses helps to paint the mood of the song to match the feeling of the song.
Inspired by studying and looking deeper at “Back Home Again,” I decided to write a song in the style of John Denver. Here is my first verse:
On a hot summer day
Grandma and Grandpa were there
Spending time with the family on Saturday afternoon
Catching a chicken for supper
Takin’ the time to prepare it
Takin’ our time to cook and enjoy a day in June
I certainly don’t have the songwriting skill of John Denver. But he inspires me to try and write descriptively and paint a scene with lyrics. John also wrote about what he knew and it’s a great lesson that we should all do this. Our lives and experiences might seem rather simple and mundane, but the details of what we experience connect with listeners. It is the descriptive details and specific images that people identify with and relate to in their own lives.
John Denver was a great songwriter and he was also a great entertainer. He knew how to connect with the audience, bring them into his lyrics, and even have them sing along with him. It was amazing!
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