Song form - Verse with Yeo
In this video...
Yeo talks about how writing verse lyrics helps tell your song’s story.
Yeo uses the example The One That Got Away, by Al Parkinson.
Writing the lyrics for a verse
Writing verse one
Verse one might introduce the people or characters that will be in your song.
Set the scene or mood of your song. Describe a place, or paint a feeling or introduce characters. Will you use names? Will you use pronouns like she, he, they? Think about where and when it’s happening—without saying it outright.
Writing verse two
Build on your first verse by adding more details or moving the story forward. What’s changing? Is there a conflict happening? How are the characters feeling? What are they doing?
Verse writing tips
- Show, don’t tell—use sensory details like sounds, sights, or smells to create atmosphere. Instead of saying it was summer you could say “the heat radiated off the road”
- Don’t give too much away in the first verse. Save some story for verse two!
- Use a slightly different instrumentation/tone colours to help distinguish your second verse from the first (and keep the listener interested)
A FOCUS ON LYRICS
What does a verse sound like?
In verses, the focus is on the lyrics and the story.
To make sure the words stand out, keep the instruments simpler and quieter. This gives the song room to build and “lift” when the chorus comes in with a fuller sound.
Check out this video to see how Ocean Grove keeps the lyrics clear in UFO while still using a dense sound in the chorus.
Analysis
Listen to Ocean Grove’s cover of UFO by Sneaky Sound System.
Name three ways the instrumentation of the verse and pre-chorus are different from the chorus.
Instead of playing a full drum-beat in the first verse of the song, there is no snare drum. Focusing on bass drum, hi-hat and some drum fills leaves a lot of space for the lyrics to be the focus of attention.
As you write your verse consider the ways you could pair down the drums in the first verse. Bass drum and/or hi-hat can help give the verse it’s groove whilst leaving space for the drums to ‘lift’ in the chorus. You might consider introducing a full drum beat in verse two to help distinguish it from verse one (like Ocean Grove do above).
The guitar in the verse has a clean and clear tone colour. This differs from the use of distortion and compression in the chorus. This reduced allows the vocals to stand out without needing to sing louder. The guitarist also plays in a higher register during these parts, which ensures the pitch of the guitar and voice are in different places. The pitch of the guitar and the vocals are clearly distinguished, this stops the mix from becoming “muddy” (which can make the lyrics hard to distinguish).
The melody in the verse has more movements and spans a larger range than that of the chorus. This helps to keep the listener interested and the focus on the lyrics, which are driving the narrative of the song.
The instruments in the verse tend to be holding long notes/chords under the vocal part. These tend to last between 1 bar (one whole beat) and two bars (two whole beats) This ensures attention is not drawn from the lyrics, and leaves space for the melody (which uses shorter rhythmic values) to be clearly heard. During the chorus the guitars tend to play every quarter note (crotchet) or every eighth note (quaver), filling out the space present in the verse and making the chorus stand out sonically.
In the verses one of the musicians is playing a synthesiser. The use of an instrument often associated with sci-fi soundtracks and technology reflects the content of the lyrics (seeing a UFO late at night) and reinforces the importance of the vocal part in the verse. The register of the synthesiser differs from the pitch of the vocal part, allowing the vocals to be the focus. In the chorus this synth switches to guitar, which helps to give the chorus a denser texture and distinguishes it from the verse.
Tips for arranging a verse - it's all about contrast
- Pull back the instruments
Decide which instruments can drop out or play softer during your verses. This gives the lyrics room to shine and makes the chorus sound bigger when more instruments come in.
- Change the rhythm
If your chorus melody has long, flowing notes, try using shorter, punchier phrases in the verse — or the other way around.
- Use less bass
If your chorus has heavy bass, try cutting back on bass in the verse. This sharp contrast makes the chorus hit harder. Electronic musicians use this a lot — like in this Mashd N Kutcher mix, where the drop feels huge because the bass is absent just before it.
- Change up the sound
Use clean, simple tones in the verse and distorted or dense sounds in the chorus (or the reverse) to make each section stand out. This provides contrast and keeps the listener engaged.
- Mix Genres
Try using sounds from one genre in the verse and another in the chorus — like funk guitar in the verse and a rock riff in the chorus.
