Songwriting Tips: Pick a Perspective

What is the Best Viewpoint for Your Song?

Feb 17, 2009 Jan Peterson

When a great idea hits, a songwriter's mind goes into overdrive. But at some early point in the writing, every songwriter must chose the right point of view

The perspective or "viewpoint" chosen for a song can make or break it. The songwriter chooses the viewpoint that the singer will have to use in delivering the song. Some song ideas are better told in the first person, others in third person, but the choice of voice must remain constant throughout the song.

Third Person Song Perspective

Storyteller songs are written in third person. The singer acts as the observer and describes the scene to the listener. The pronouns used in the third person voice are he, she, they, her, him, or it. This viewpoint allows the singer to sing about a subject he might not otherwise feel comfortable singing. This is because he is just telling the story unfolding, and has no direct connection. In third person, gender doesn't matter; a man can tell a story about a woman and vice versa.

A third person line sounds like "She looked at him and one tear fell, but he acted like he couldn't tell". Those two people "over there" are part of someone else's story. The singer has no power over the outcome, but can invoke an emotion from the listener through the storytelling.

First Person Song Perspective

The viewpoint in first person is also a storyteller but uses the pronouns I, me, and we, us, or mine. This point of view brings the singer into the storyline of the song and is seen personally through his eyes. A first person viewpoint describes the event and explains his emotions tied to that event. Also, the voice must match the singer's gender for the song to make sense to the audience.

As mentioned earlier, when using first person you'll need to keep in mind how the singer will feel about being the character in the song. Will he want to sing a song in which he admits to being a cheating dirtbag? Will she want to sing a song that paints her as a lovesick fool who is constantly falling for skirt chasing men who treat her bad? A well written song from the wrong viewpoint may not find a willing singer. First Person sounds like "I never knew just how I felt, until she fell for someone else".

Second Person Song Perspective

The viewpoint in second person perspective is speaking directly to someone. The pronouns used are you, us, and we. Sometimes the "you" might be the listening audience. The singer may be singing about some social issue, asking the listener to share in a common experience as "we". In example, "I know you know what we should do, let's take a stand and follow through."

Most love songs are written in second person wherein the singer is opening his heart and revealing emotions directly to his "You". When a listener hears the song it is as if the singer is singing directly to them, or they can IMAGINE someone singing those words to them.This sounds like, "I'll never love someone like I love you."

Choose Song Perspective

After trying a song from different perspectives, pick the best one. Once that point of view is established, don't mix it up. Don't write one verse in third person and then switch to second person. The song will fall apart and lose perspective.

Finally after introducing a principal in the story, "he" is okay to use. But if two principals appear, make sure the pronoun doesn't confuse the story. Example: "Johnny loved Diane from the moment their eyes touched, but when Diane fell for Danny, he didn't love her as much." In this example, WHO didn't love Diane as much?

Keeping perspective in mind when writing will keep the storyline clean and paint a better picture. The right perspective may be the difference between creating confusion and writing a great song that will get published!