Strength to carry on

Today's song is a love song. Tyler, a young man who grew up in a poor family, has never travelled outside the borders of his own town. Suddenly, he was taken out of his world and had to travel into the wide world in search of his father.

All the time Melissa encouraged him and stood by him. She was the one who took him to Neil and then Manual to search for leads. Without her support, he would not have found his father. Now that they found him, Tyler thanks Melissa for all the support.

Statistics have shown that more than 50% of all popular songs are love songs (Don't ask, 50% of all statistics are made up on the spot). This however does not mean that a love song will be an automatic winner. There are many pitfalls to watch out for when writing a love song.

This song follows a standard popular song format of verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, with repeat of altered chorus (ABCABCC).

On the subject of love songs (or songwriting in general), there is few who can teach us more than Sheila Davis. In her book, Songwriters idea book, she warns us not to confuse the subjects of sex and love. For a love song to work, the songwriter has to choose which one to write about and stick to it. In this case, I have chosen to stick to the emotional variation.

With millions of love songs in the world, it is difficult to find something new to say on the topic. When one choose love as the plot, the plot should therefore have some added ingredient to carry the plot and make the song interesting. Without any added plot item, a love song will be just boring and cheesy. In this song, I have choosen Melissa's support to Tyler as the main plot ingredient.

Pamela Phillips Orland is one of my favourite writers on the topic of songwriting. She teaches us in her excellent book, The art of writing love songs, when writing a love song, one must choose a single plot item and stick to that. A song that tries to deal with every possible aspect of love will be doomed to failure.

Track: Strength to carry on

Album: The Exile, concept album recording

Artist: Eric Swardt

 

(1a)

This all would be nothing without you

and your strength to help me carry on

I would be lost without you by my side

At times when there was no hope for victory

and I need a friend, then you were the one

who gave me strength to carry on

 

(2b)

Take my hand and make all my troubles disappear

Stay with me and I'll never loose when you are near

Don't you know I love you so

 

(3c)

When it is dark and it looks like raining

you will bring back the sun

I know you are my angel

You give me wings to carry on

You will be there when the sun stops shining

and when all hope is gone

Every time I feel I'm falling

you give me wings to carry on

 

(4a)

You came to me when I needed someone

to show me the way how to make a change

You stood by me when no one else would be

Every day I have to face a world of strangers

then I need someone, then you are the one

who give me strength to carry on

 

(5b)

Won't you stay with me for the rest of my days

Take my hand and together we'll fly away

My darling I love you so

 

(6c)

When it is dark and it looks like raining

you will bring back the sun

I know you are my angel

You give me wings to carry on

You will be there when the sun stops shining

and when all hope is gone

Every time I feel I'm falling

you give me wings to carry on

 

(7c')

Oh, please stand by me when the sun stop shining

Please give me strength when all hope is gone

Every time when you see me falling

please give me wings to carry on

You give me strength to carry on

You are my wings to carry on.