New Song Map: The Bloom
The Song Map That Grows from Doubt to Discovery
Years ago, I worked with a young artist who would often say, “I don’t think I know what I want to say yet.” She’d show up with gorgeous fragments—half-verses, piano hooks, stray lines—but no song seemed to resolve. One day, I asked her,
“What if we wrote a song that allowed you to not know… until you do?”
That’s when we stumbled into what I now call The Bloom. We wrote the song like a plant reaching for light: the first verse was hesitant, the first chorus asked questions, the second verse found strength, and by the final chorus, she was singing like she’d known it all along. And that song went on to be her most personal—and most streamed song.
It was a bit like writing lyrics from a personal lens, which is where I mentioned, here.
What Does The Bloom Look Like?
The Bloom is a journey of emotional growth, often told from the inside out. The arc progresses from confusion or fear to clarity and confidence, allowing the listener to grow alongside the singer.
The Bloom can be represented as follows:
Verse 1 – Unsure, lost, or hesitant
Chorus – Questions or a fragile refrain
Verse 2 – Realisation begins, strength emerges
Chorus – More assured, same but stronger
Bridge – A turning point or decisive step
Final Chorus – Confident, uplifting, or peaceful resolution
The idea is to transition from a darker, or perhaps uncertain state, to one where the sun is out and you are more confident. This is often used in the production of the song.
How to Use The Bloom
There are several different ways The Bloom can be crafted, depending on how it clicks into the story you or your co-writer is thinking about. For example, it could be –
When your song idea is about inner transformation
When your narrator feels unresolved or insecure at first
When you want the listener to feel the shift emotionally
Here are a few tips for using The Bloom:
Let the language evolve across sections: fragile → hopeful → resolved
Consider using musical development to mirror emotional growth (builds, layering, modulation)
Keep your first chorus restrained, so there’s room to grow
Example
Here’s a Writable Idea right from my Idea Bank: “Belonging”
A woman moves to a new city alone, unsure if she belongs—by the end of the song, she calls it home.
So, a Bloom Writable Idea looks like this:
Verse 1 – Full of disorientation, “Maps don’t help when it’s your heart that’s lost”
Chorus 1 – Belonging
Verse 2 – Showing connection or confidence emerging, “Found a cafe that knows my name.”
Chorus 2 – Belonging
Bridge – Resolve: “This is what I needed, this is what I wanted…”, payoff: The Bloom
Chorus 3 – Belonging (stronger production)
I’m sure this would be crafted in several ways once taken into the writing room. But it’s a good start.
Variations
Here are a few ways you can vary The Bloom –
Reverse Bloom: Start in confidence, and show what it took to get there (e.g., open with strength, flash back in V2/Bridge).
Half-Bloom: Let the growth be partial—the chorus becomes slightly more sure, but not triumphant. Great for bittersweet endings.
Musical Bloom: Keep the lyrics consistent but let the music grow—add new harmonies, instruments, or vocal confidence with each section.
Call-and-Response Bloom: Use verses for vulnerability and choruses for inner dialogue or outside wisdom (as if “talking yourself through it”).
And if you listen to the radio with your Song Mapping hat on, I’m sure you will hear more options to try with The Bloom.
Commercial Examples of The Bloom
Here are some commercial examples that demonstrate it really well:
“Fight Song” – Rachel Platten
“Liability” – Lorde
“Let It Go” – Idina Menzel (Frozen)
“This Is Me” – Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman)
“Someone You Loved” – Lewis Capaldi
I love Rachel’s line, “A lot of fight left in me.” By the end, I started to feel that way myself! And love that line “The cold never bothered me anyway” from Frozen.
Exercise
If you have my book, Song Maps, The Bloom is a ‘daughter’ map of several of the seven universal Song Maps I discuss there, such as Tension/Response and Problem/Declaration. But, like all daughters, the kind of song you start with can end up as something much more powerful or fun than you originally thought at the beginning. That’s the fun thing about The Bloom.
Try taking The Bloom and see if you can create your own Writable Idea, just like in exercises 2 and 3 in the Song Maps WORKBOOK. If you feel inspired*, try creating a few ideas to keep in your Idea Bank for another day or a coming-up co-write.
If you want further Song Maps, take a look at Gradual Reveal, Question/Answers, and Flashback.
Hope it helps!
Simon.
*Love this from my friend Andrea Stolpe talking about writing songs for fun here!