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By Mary Dawson

This is a new series of articles called Build-A-Song. The articles will present a step-by-step method for creating a song. By no means is this "the only" method for writing songs. In fact, the approaches to songwriting are as many as the writers themselves. But our Build-A-Song series will offer a sequential template for covering the basics of successful songwriting. I hope you will follow along and perhaps even try this method as you create your own songs.

Part 1 --The Idea

We've all heard the brain-teaser -- Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Well, there is similar question that is often posed to songwriters -- Which comes first, the words or the music? Just as the answer to the "chicken and egg" dilemma varies each time the question is asked, so the "words and music" question varies in answer from songwriter to songwriter.

When I personally am asked that question, however, I frequently respond, "Neither!" Before you can have either words or music, you must have one essential prerequisite if you hope to write a great song...and that is a Great Idea. It must be an idea that not only speaks to you, the writer, but one that communicates to the listener! A great idea is the solid foundation necessary before any songwriter can begin to "build a song."

Let's face it -- not every idea is worthy of a hit song. A good analogy can be found in the world of reading. Some books are packed with facts and information, but they are downright boring to read. Textbooks can be like this -- we almost have to force ourselves to pay attention to what we are reading because textbooks can be so tedious. And then there are the "page turners" -- the thrillers that make the New York Times Best Seller List. You see people everywhere reading them -- on the bus, on the subway, in the doctor's waiting room, in restaurants, on park benches. People simply can't put the "page turner" down. What the difference? Very simple -- the author of the thriller has an idea or plot that has engaged the emotions of the reader. The reader cares what happens to the protagonist and becomes personally involved in the action of the plot. The same chemistry must occur in writing a hit song -- when all is said and done, the song must answer one question for the listener... So what? If the completed song leaves its audience completely unmoved and uncaring, the song has failed!

Where do ideas for great songs come from? In my opinion there are two major sources which work together to produce that seed idea which will grow into a hit song. The first source is Life. The second is Music.

Each songwriter is a unique composite of all the Life experiences and Musical influences he/she has ever encountered through the years. Think of your mind as a computer which has been programmed with certain Life and Music software. Nothing springs spontaneously from the computer itself. What goes in -- is what will come out -- but each computer will process its own unique data source in a unique way.

Let's look first at Life. Hit songwriter, Don Henley, has wisely said: "You have to live before you can write!" I wholeheartedly concur with that statement! It has been my experience that the great songwriters I have met and studied are people who passionately love Life for the sheer adventure of it and they let Life lead them into Truth. They look beneath joyful experiences and find lessons in difficult ones. They think...they analyze... they incubate...and they try to learn what Life is teaching them right now! Instead of using all their emotional energy to fight against the circumstances they are facing, they let those experiences carry them into new understandings... new sensitivities... and, ultimately, into new creativity.

I often meet aspiring songwriters who are angry and running from unpleasant experiences in their past -- or painful present circumstances. In trying to escape from these difficulties, they may actually be "escaping" from the most fertile song ideas of their lives.

I recently had the privilege of interviewing hit songwriter, Jason Blume, at his home in Nashville for my syndicated radio program, I Write the Songs. Jason told me a story and played me a song that perfectly illustrate the point I am struggling to make. Jason told me about a recent writing session with collaborator and friend, Karen Good Taylor. As they began their session, Jason noticed that Karen was crying. She explained to him that she was going through the excruciating pain of watching her elderly mother begin to deteriorate both physically and mentally. Jason was able to identify and empathize because of similar circumstances in his on family. A very sad, very difficult, very painful Life experience to be sure... but instead of trying to avoid the pain and escape it by writing a happy love song or a dance tune, Karen and Jason decided to embrace the pain, learn from it let that very universal Life experience become the idea for a song. The song has just been recorded by Country artist, Collin Raye and is entitled She's Gonna Fly. Here is the lyric for the song whose idea was born from sorrow. Its honesty and hope touched me profoundly... as I know it will touch millions of others who are experiencing or who will -- one day -- experience similar pain.