William Carlos Williams once said, "measure is all." Ezra Pound insisted in 1915 that "rhythm must have meaning." A line, any line, whether in a poem or a song, is a unit of measured time. How we use those finite increments are the key to memorable songs.
To bring emotion to words on a page, or in our case, lyrics in a song, there must be poetic meter. Often, the melody line, production of a song, and the chord progression hide the fact that flat, uninspired meter lurks within the verses themselves.
I think Paula Cole is one of the best pop songwriters to come around since the likes of Paul Simon and Dylan. She has the gift of being extremely literal when describing a scene, but the way she does it uses the rhythm of the language to evoke very strong, very empathetic emotions in her songs. Let's look at one of her best, "Bethlehem."
From "Bethlehem"
Pulling on the apron strings looking up.
Standing on the chair to be grown up.
I feel so little, I need my pillow.
I hate time, I hate the clock,
I want to be a dog, I want to be a rock.
Notice how she uses couplets (two rhyming lines in a row) to move the first first quickly through the telling. She uses meter, or the rhythm of the lines, to contrast the first two lines, which seem long and flowing, with the remaining three in the verse, which almost seem chopped into eight small pieces.
Say the verse out loud. Even without the music, you can hear how your voice stresses the words in certain places:
"PULLing on the Apron strings LOOKing UP. Four stresses. Now do the same on the second line - stresses in the same place? Pretty much? That's meter!
Now say the final three lines out loud. They don't match the first two: "I FEEL so LITtle, I NEED my PILlow" sounds like more stresses closer together, and "I HATE TIME" sounds like three stresses in a row, "I HATE THE CLOCK" sounds like four stresses in a row as well.
She's used a completely different meter, or rhythm, in the last three lines of the first verse, with each couplet (two lines in a row that rhyme) to quietly change the intensity of the song - simply by using the stresses within the words. That's poetic meter - and the strength of language in a song.
By understanding meter, or the rhythm of the language, she has created a contrast between the sublime "Pulling on the apron strings looking up. Standing on a chair to be grown up," and the gradual climb to the harshness of being a child: "I feel so little, I need my pillow. I hate time, I hate the clock. I want to be a dog, I want to be a rock."
Paula Cole is a master of meter and language. She has managed to use meter to deliver a song about the hardships of growing up without sounding harsh, while still creating a strong emotion within the song. There is no mystery surrounding what the song is about. However, you'll never find the line "her life was hard," or "it was hard growing up." Because she understands language so well - she never has to be so blatant - that is a great songwriter!
