#002 - Do you wonder if it’s necessary to express a kind of deeper meaning in a song? Does there need to be a takeaway for the listener? Let's find it out in this episode.

Do you want your songs to have a meaningful message for your listeners?

But you do not know if you’re on the right track, how you can achieve it or how to tell if there’s already a takeaway for your listener in the song you just wrote? 

Isn’t it enough to have a catchy melody and let everyone hit the dance floor?

Sometimes that’s cool, but if you want your song to resonate with your listeners and to be unforgettable, you need to incorporate something that your listener can learn from or relate to.

In this episode, I will show you a method of how to find out if your song is a cautionary tale meaning it’s expressing something your listeners should avoid or a prescriptive tale that offers guidance to achieve something they want. 

And in this episode, I’ll also tell you exactly which one, cautionary or prescriptive, is the one you should aim for and why. 

Here's what we cover:

[00:00:00] - Introduction to the episode

[00:03:05] - Defining what we mean by a 'message' or a central idea in a song. We look at the definition of Jack Perricone and Robert McKee.

[00:05:42] - Examples of Messages in songs and why not every song with a message resonates with us.

[00:09:04] - How can you include a message in a song?

[00:13:22] - Example #1 – ›Nothing else Matters‹ by Metallica

[00:16:18] - Example #2 – ›The Rose‹ by Bette Midler - You can even have two messages in a song.

[00:18:59] - Example #3 – ›I’d do anything for love‹ by Meatloaf

[00:21:01] - Songs can save lives

[00:23:24] - Why are prescriptive tales the ones we love the most?