Building a song that your audience will want to listen to requires an understanding of certain song-construction basics. A few common elements have stood the test of time as essential parts of a popular song: verse, chorus and bridge. This time we'll look at the chorus.

Can't Get It Out of My Head

"Now wait a minute," I hear you saying, "doesn't the verse come before the chorus?" Well, yes, it usually does, within a finished song. But it's not necessarily the first thing that is written. Just as a firm foundation holds up a sturdy building, a well-crafted chorus is the cornerstone of a good song. While the verses are important, the chorus is typically what cements a song into the listener's memory.

During the writing process, a chorus may come about as the result of a verse. The chorus can provide a summary of the ideas or story in the verse, a comment on them, the culmination of a series of ideas, or even the answer to a question. On the other hand, a key idea phrased in a memorable way is often the starting point of a song, and remains as the chorus while the verses are developed later.

The title of the song usually makes up a part or the entirety of the chorus, being repeated in various ways. Many songwriting experts feel that the title must appear in the chorus. In his book, The Craft and Business of Songwriting, (p. 91, 2nd edition, Writer's Digest Books, 2002) John Braheny says it succinctly: "Since you can't buy or request a song if you can't remember its name, these are very important commercial considerations." (See this same page in Braheny's book for a good list of possible chorus formats, with examples.)

Musically, the chorus must also be memorable, with the melody reinforcing the lyric. This type of catchy melody is also called the "hook" of a song. We'll talk more about hooks next time, since they are not always restricted to the chorus. Suffice it to say that the melody needs to grab the listener's attention and not let it go. An important way to make the chorus melody stick out is to make it different from the verse that preceded it. Although there are exceptions to every songwriting "rule," a chorus that continues the lyrical rhythms and melodic patterns of the verses will rarely make for an interesting song.

A Tour of the Neighborhood

Let's look at some examples that illustrate these ideas. Bob Dylan's much-covered classic, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," shows how a short but powerful phrase can function as the culmination of each verse's idea, a memorable repeated chorus, and the title of a great song. Notice how the repetition of the word "knock" even provides an aural word picture of the primary action in the chorus. Simple, but effective-and a lesson in brevity for every songwriter tempted to write a wordy chorus.

"I'm Like A Bird," Nelly Furtado's recent Grammy-winning hit, provides a good example of a chorus that highlights the title, then fleshes out the idea with a few more lines. The high-flying melody line and energy of this chorus contrast wonderfully with the more restrained verses.

Finally, as an exception that proves the rule, we have the ominously titled "Possession," by Sarah McLachlan. In this case, the title does not appear anywhere in the song. It is, however, a single-word summary of the song's theme. The chorus, with very little rhyme and no repetition, still manages to sear its way into the memory of the listener. I guess that's the power of lines like "…kiss you so hard / I'll take your breath away."

I could go on and on but space doesn't allow. To get a feel for how you might create a memorable chorus, take some of your favorite songs and figure out what makes their choruses stick in your mind.