Songwriting

Songwriting 101: Lovedrug

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Today I’m breaking down a song I wrote a couple of years ago called Lovedrug.
This track is a good example of how simplicity in songwriting can be extremely effective when the core ideas are clear.

It uses one of the most common harmonic patterns in popular music:

I – V – vi – IV

(If you haven’t read my earlier post on chord relationships, I recommend starting there for a deeper explanation of why these chords work so well together.)

Let’s jump in.

Key and harmony

Although the song is often described as being in D♯ major, the more standard and readable key name is:

E♭ major

All of the chords in the song are diatonic—they belong naturally to the same key. There are no borrowed or outside chords. This is one of the main reasons the harmony feels so stable and familiar.

Verse progression

E♭ – B♭ – Cm – A♭

Functionally, in E♭ major:

  • E♭ = I

  • B♭ = V

  • Cm = vi

  • A♭ = IV

So the verse follows:

I – V – vi – IV

Chorus progression

E♭ – Cm

Functionally:

  • I – vi

Reducing the harmony in the chorus helps make it feel more focused and emotionally direct compared to the verse.

Making the song easier to play on guitar (capo approach)

These chords are awkward to play in open position. To simplify things, I place a capo on the 8th fret and use open chord shapes.

With the capo on the 8th fret, I use:

Verse shapes

  • G major → sounds as E♭ major

  • D major → sounds as B♭ major

  • E minor → sounds as C minor

  • C major → sounds as A♭ major

Chorus shapes

  • G major → sounds as E♭ major

  • E minor → sounds as C minor

This allows the entire song to be played using familiar open-position shapes while sounding in E♭ major.

Why I chose this key

The reason I chose E♭ major (capo on the 8th fret) is simple:

it fit my voice best.

Choosing a key is often more about the singer than the instrument or the theory. A song can feel completely different when moved up or down by only a few semitones.

During the writing process for Lovedrug, I also experimented with the song in G major and B♭ major before settling on this final key.

Trying different keys is a great way to:

  • find a more comfortable vocal range, and

  • discover new melodic ideas.

Song structure

I would categorize the form of this song as:

A – B – A – B – C – B – B – C

Where:

  • A = verse

  • B = chorus

  • C = instrumental break / interlude

I originally labeled the “C” section as a bridge, but functionally it behaves more like an instrumental interlude. The harmony and overall feel remain very similar to the verse and chorus, and the main difference is that the vocal melody is replaced by a guitar riff.

So the structure is best understood as:

Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Instrumental break → Chorus → Chorus → Instrumental break

Emphasizing the chorus

My favorite part of Lovedrug is the chorus. Since the melody is especially catchy, I wanted to make it the emotional center of the song.

To do that, I simply made the chorus the most prominent section by:

  • repeating it more than any other part, and

  • placing it close to both the middle and the end of the song.

Lyrics and theme

Here are the lyrics:

Verse

I love to watch you squirm
Every time you lie
Feel the way it hurts

Chorus

You get me high then you bring me down
Don’t know why I ever stick around
Hate to say, hate to say it now
Just a drug, just a drug, just a drug to me

Verse

Why did the fire die?
I want to watch it burn
Every single time

Chorus

You get me high then you bring me down
Don’t know why I ever stick around
Hate to say, hate to say it now
Just a drug, just a drug, just a drug to me

Lyrical idea

The song is about staying in an unhealthy relationship and becoming emotionally addicted to the constant highs and lows.

A line like:

“You get me high then you bring me down”

directly mirrors that emotional cycle. The language is intentionally simple and repetitive to reinforce the feeling of being stuck in a loop.

For this song, clarity and emotional directness mattered more to me than metaphor or complexity.

Melody-writing approach

The melody started with a very simple idea:

  • on the word “high”, the melody walks up the scale,

  • and on the word “down”, the melody walks down the same scale.

After that, I experimented with many variations of this idea until I found one that felt natural and expressive. That version eventually became the verse melody.

From there, I created small variations of it for the rest of the song.

In practice, melody writing is often just:

trying twenty different ways to sing the same short phrase, and keeping the one that feels best.

Final thought

Lovedrug is built almost entirely from:

  • diatonic chords,

  • a very common harmonic pattern (I – V – vi – IV),

  • and a simple melodic idea.

If you take one thing away from this lesson, I hope it’s this:

simplicity can be extremely powerful when the core emotional idea is clear.

It’s very easy to add too much. Sometimes the strongest songwriting move is knowing when to stop adding and let the song breathe.

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Songwriting

Songwriting 101: Curiosity

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Today I’m breaking down a song I wrote a couple of years ago called Curiosity.
This track is a good example of how simplicity in harmony, combined with thoughtful sound design and arrangement, can create a strong emotional result.

The song sits at a medium–fast tempo of 140 BPM and blends:

  • ambient pads

  • natural-sounding piano

  • pizzicato-style synths

  • organic percussion loops

  • soft, intimate vocals

Together, these elements form a mellow electropop sound I had been wanting to explore for some time.

Harmonic foundation

I began the track by creating an ambient pad progression that plays from the very beginning and continues throughout the entire song.

The progression is built from the following chords in the key of B major:

  • B (I)

  • E (IV)

  • F# (V)

  • G#m (vi)

These four chords form the familiar and widely used progression family:

I – IV – V – vi

Rather than thinking of these as individual “pitches,” this pad part is made up of full chords, with B, E, F#, and G# serving as the chord roots.

This progression lays the emotional and harmonic foundation of the song and helps create the uplifting, reflective mood that runs throughout the track.

Adding motion with piano

Once the pad progression was in place, I added a simple piano lick that plays over the same chords during both the verse and the chorus.

The piano serves two important roles:

  • it reinforces the harmonic progression, and

  • it provides rhythmic motion that drives the song forward.

While the pads create atmosphere, the piano becomes the main rhythmic and melodic backbone that supports everything added later.

With this foundation in place, I moved on to shaping the structure.

Song structure and layout

At first listen, the form might sound like a standard ABABCB structure.
However, the arrangement is slightly more expanded.

I would describe the layout as:

A – B – A – A – B – B – C – B – B – D

Where:

  • A = verse

  • B = chorus

  • C = breakdown (pads and vocals only)

  • D = outro

The key idea behind this structure is:

  • the listener hears a compact version of the song early on (A–B),

  • then those same sections are expanded later (A–A–B–B),

  • followed by a breakdown, a final set of choruses, and an outro.

You can hear these major transitions clearly:

  • the expanded sections begin around 0:54,

  • percussion enters the later verse at 1:22, and

  • the outro begins around 3:12, marked by a change in percussion and a gradual thinning of layers.

This is best thought of as an expanding arrangement, rather than a strict pop form.

Defining the verse

For the first two verses, I define the section almost entirely through three elements:

  • the ambient pad progression

  • the piano lick

  • the vocal melody

In the final verse, those same elements remain, but I introduce percussion at 1:22 to subtly raise the energy and move the track forward.

Defining the chorus

To shape the chorus, I keep all of the verse elements and add:

  • a second percussion layer, and

  • two sampled melodic synth parts.

Instead of making the chorus bigger by changing harmony, I make it feel larger by increasing density and texture.

To let the instrumentation fully stand out, I also remove the vocals entirely during the chorus. This shifts the listener’s focus toward the groove, sound design, and melodic synth layers.

Writing the lyrics

As with most of my songs, I wrote the lyrics after the musical structure and arrangement were finished.

Lyrics

Let’s lose our normality
And get a taste of insanity
Why do I flee from this feeling?
That world is calling

Everyone’s the same
Can’t seem to escape from their old ways
Free will’s to blame
But we weren’t born to regret anything

Forever and ever we live our lives on fire
Facetious desire we hold our dreams up high
One more step until I’m free
One last breath to breathe

Funny how the truth works out
When you open your mind and see
You can’t believe the simple things
If you have a bit of curiosity

Concept and inspiration

This song was inspired by the idea of embracing the absurd and the belief that searching for meaning can itself give life purpose.

Rather than trying to explain that philosophy directly, I focused on capturing the emotional side of it—curiosity, uncertainty, freedom, and reflection—and translating those feelings into both the lyrics and the overall atmosphere of the track.

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Songwriting

Songwriting 101: Goodbye

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For this song, I used one of the most common and effective pop/rock forms:

A – B – A – B – C – B

Where:

  • A = verse

  • B = chorus

  • C = bridge

In plain terms, the structure is:

Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Final chorus

This form works so well because the verse and chorus establish familiarity and momentum, while the bridge provides contrast before returning to a final, stronger chorus.

Verse – creating space for the vocal

The verse uses a simple two–chord loop:

  • G major → C major

In the key of G, this is:

  • I → IV

Rather than adding more harmony, I focused on arrangement to shape the section.

During the verse I use:

  • a lightly swinging feel,

  • palm-muted guitar,

  • and a complete stop in the middle of each verse.

This creates space and pulls the listener’s attention toward the melody and lyrics.
By reducing rhythmic and harmonic density, the vocal line becomes the clear focal point.

(If you want more help specifically on melody writing, I cover that in my 3 Tips for Writing Strong Melodies post.)

Chorus – increasing energy and harmonic motion

For the chorus, I remove the palm muting and switch to a more upbeat and open rhythm.
I also expand the harmony from two chords to four:

  • G major, C major, E minor, D major

In the key of G, these function as:

  • I – IV – vi – V

The chorus progression is:

G – Em – C – D – G – D – C

Rather than being harmonically complex, this progression works because it is:

  • longer than the verse loop, and

  • more active in its motion.

That added movement helps the chorus feel larger and more emotionally open than the verse.

Melody approach in the chorus

The chorus melody is created by taking a portion of the verse melody and giving it its own variation. This helps maintain familiarity while still making the chorus feel new.

One small technique I use is note length.
For example, I hold out the notes on the words “hate” and “goodbye” to make those lyric moments feel more emphasized and emotionally weighted.

Bridge – variation without leaving the sound world

For the bridge, I wanted to preserve the general energy of the chorus but still introduce contrast.

I keep:

  • a similar upbeat feel, and

  • the same overall chord set.

However, I change:

  • the rhythmic groove, and

  • the order of the chords.

The bridge progression is:

G – D – C – G – Em – C – G – D – C – Em – D – C – D

In the key of G, this uses the same functional chords:

  • I – V – IV – vi

but rearranges them to create a fresh contour.

Using color tones in the bridge

To help the bridge stand out, I also introduce color tones near the end of the progression.

By “color tones,” I mean emphasizing notes such as:

  • the 7th or 9th of the underlying chord in the melody (and occasionally in the guitar voicing).

These notes go beyond the basic triad and create brief moments of tension and warmth before resolving back into the chord. The color tones appear in the last four chords of the bridge progression to subtly increase intensity before the final chorus.

Lyrics and interpretation

Here are the lyrics:

Verse

Every day, I know what you’re thinking
“I’m a saint, living life still believing
In a fate,” well I think I found a reason to try and change.
Rest assured, something I’ll never be cause
Lines blur, you love to hate the demon
Little words, can best describe the feeling “I’m free at last.”

Chorus

But I’ll remember every single time
And I will never hate that life
But now it’s over, I’m looking for my voice
Just to say goodbye

Verse

It’s kind of hard, speaking the same old language
From the start, “10 candles light the way when
We fall apart,” just wash the pride away and find a heart
You are, the enemy of reason
Cross scarred, can’t seem to breathe when thinking
In the dark, hands on the tree of treason to trust in fate

Chorus

But I’ll remember every single time
And I will never hate that life
But now it’s over, I’m looking for my voice
Just to say goodbye

My approach to lyric writing

I believe effective songwriting leaves room for the listener’s own interpretation.

For example, phrases like:

  • “hands on the tree of treason”

  • “enemy of reason”

are intentionally suggestive rather than literal. They point toward an emotional situation without fully explaining it.

My goal is to find a balance between:

  • being clear enough for the listener to follow the emotional story, and

  • being open enough for the listener to project their own meaning onto the song.

Striking that balance helps keep the listener curious and emotionally engaged.

Final thought

This post is the first in a series of Songwriting 101 articles.
For now, I’ll be breaking down my own songs, but in the future I may also analyze well-known songs.

One of the fastest ways to grow as a songwriter is simply to dissect real songs and ask:

  • Why does this section feel bigger?

  • Why does this lyric stand out?

  • Why does this transition work?

That kind of focused listening is one of the best tools you can develop.

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Songwriting

Three Proven Ways to Write Stronger Melodies

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Writing a strong melody is arguably the most important part of creating a memorable song—and also one of the hardest. Many great bands and writers fall short not because their ideas are bad, but because their melodies never quite connect.

One of the fastest ways to improve your own writing is to study what great melodies actually do. When you look closely at well-known songs from the past century, clear patterns begin to appear.

After analyzing dozens of songs over the years, I’ve noticed a few recurring melodic traits.
Here are three practical techniques you can start using right away.

1) Use wide interval leaps (strategically)

A classic example of a wide melodic leap appears in
Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Right on the word “Some-where”, the melody jumps up by a perfect octave.

That opening leap immediately grabs the listener’s attention because it breaks away from the step-by-step motion most melodies rely on.

The key is contrast.

Wide leaps are most effective when they are surrounded by smaller, stepwise motion. Used sparingly and tastefully, they can turn a good melody into a great one—especially in a chorus or emotional peak.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with larger jumps, but make sure they feel intentional and supported by the surrounding notes.

2) Develop a rhythmic theme

Great melodies are not defined by pitch alone.
They are just as recognizable by their rhythmic shape.

A strong example of this can be heard in
Eleanor Rigby by
The Beatles
(written primarily by Paul McCartney).

Listen to the opening vocal phrase (“Eleanor Rigby picks up the…”).
What stands out is not only the notes, but the repeating rhythmic contour of the line. The phrasing feels slightly asymmetrical and unusual, which gives the melody its distinctive character.

Rather than focusing on counting a specific number of measures, the important takeaway is this:

The melody repeats and develops a recognizable rhythmic shape.

You can apply this idea by:

  • breaking your melody into short rhythmic fragments, and

  • recombining and repeating those fragments in slightly different ways.

A consistent rhythmic identity can make a melody feel cohesive even when the pitches change.

3) Use melodic “color tones”

Another powerful way to make a melody more expressive is to use notes that go beyond a simple major or minor triad.

These notes are often called color tones—such as the 7th or 9th above a chord. They add tension, warmth, and emotional nuance to a line.

A great example can be heard in
High and Dry by
Radiohead.

During the chorus, the melody lands on a note that goes beyond the basic triad implied by the harmony. It doesn’t sound wrong—in fact, it sounds more expressive and vulnerable.

In practice, these notes usually function as:

  • chord extensions, or

  • brief non-chord tones that resolve smoothly into the harmony.

By allowing your melody to occasionally emphasize notes outside the basic three-note chord, you can introduce richness and emotional depth without complicating the song.

Final thought

Stronger melodies often come from small, deliberate choices:

  • a well-placed wide leap,

  • a recognizable rhythmic shape, and

  • the tasteful use of color tones.

If you begin listening for these traits in songs you already love—and start experimenting with them in your own writing—you’ll quickly find your melodies becoming more distinctive, expressive, and memorable.

Cheers, and happy writing.

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