Tension Versus Response
How to keep your listeners engaged from beginning to end
I recently saw a review of my first book, Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics, and one kind reviewer asked if I could give a little more detail about the Tension/Response Song Map in the first of seven universal Song Maps (chapter 5). And, while my kind reader had given me a nice review, how can I keep quiet about it?
So, here are the definitions I had in mind for both of these, tension and response, while I was writing the book, and why they are different from each other.
The Tension/Response Song Map was the first book I introduced in the book, partly because it is a simple one to apply and adapt to whatever kind of song you are writing. It’s also really effective to help move a lyric forward. So, let’s go a little bit deeper.
What is Tension?
Writing with tension is exactly the same process that other kind of writing uses. Tension is what keeps us engaged in a story, a TV series, or a movie. It's the build-up of conflict that drives the plot forward and creates suspense. Response is the resolution of that tension, often bringing with it a sense of relief or satisfaction. Good stories have both tension and response in order to keep us hooked and engaged.
So, in songwriting, tension is created in exactly the same way, but can also use devices like metaphor, simile, and alliteration. By juxtaposing contrasting images or ideas, we can create a sense of tension that pulls the listener into the song and makes them want to hear more. Other things like:
The songwriters’ secret weapon - love in the face of adversity
Another lyrical tool - “Show, don’t tell” writing
And other techniques can help set up the tension in the song.
What is the Response?
A lyrical response is a different idea from the initial tension of the last section. And it’s purposely different. In writing the lyrics, a response can be achieved through release, resolution, repetition, or a change in tempo or dynamics. By resolving the tension, we bring the song to a satisfying conclusion. In reality, it doesn’t necessarily NEED to be resolved, but just enough to move the song forward so that the listener can see that, by the end of the 2:45 minutes of invested in hearing it, they can see that the story has gone to a new place by the end of the song.
The trick of writing a response is to make sure the idea for the response is strong enough to take the whole song from a to b. Or maybe even z!
How to link the lyrics to the music
Tension in the lyric of a song can helpfully be reflected in the music, too. This is how prosody helps enhance the story in the lyric using music. Production can help anticipate the build-up of the track using rhythm, harmony, melody, dynamics, and other elements, like repetition, dissonance, key changes, restriction, and syncopation. See what Coldplay has done with this here with different keys and time signatures. Great analysis!
In music, the response (or resolution) is when enough tension has built up to create a satisfying feeling for the listener. By releasing this tension, you allow the piece of music to recreate it once again and keep moving the plot forward.
In the book, I set up how to use Tension/Response in your writing. You can also get this from a FREE version of the Workbook here, in which Exercise 2 is all about this Map.
So next time you're writing a song, think about ways to create both tension and response in your lyrics to keep your listeners engaged from beginning to end.
Questions
Here’re some questions:
How have you used tension and response in your songwriting?
If you were to rewrite a little more tension in V1, with a response in the chorus, could that move your song forward?
By using the same technique (tension and response) in the music, does that help build the emotions and otherwise in the song?
Enjoy!
Simon.