FORMULA ONE.

Based on my strong interest in music and trying to predict what songs my sons might like, I have been wondering: Is there a blueprint to what they may want to put on repeat?  I do not know the answer to that question right now, but as my older son studies science, I am starting to develop a hypothesis.

I recently read “The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory” by John Seabrook.  Mr. Seabrook explains how pop songs have become addictive because of the "hooks," and the brain's interest in melody, rhythm, and repetition.  With two young boys interested in music and pop songs, I have started to find myself drinking the Kool-Aid! 

Seabrook highlights that there are now (and have been) specialized teams and writers composing songs in “labs” that introduce readers to unlikely musical heavy-hitters like Max Martin.  Please Google him and his success or just trust me that he has 22 Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits or that he is the songwriter with the third most number one singles on the chart, behind only Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26)!   I now know that my boys know the lyrics to Martin’s songs, but I also now know (and not surprisingly) reading the book has changed the way I listen to music.

On recent work trips to the wild and wonderful Mountain State, I have become overexposed to a lot of country music.  In addition to being onsite at a Chris Stapleton show at the Charleston Civic Center and hearing his barroom baritone belt out his hit “Tennessee Whiskey” I have logged a number of hours in the car.  Instead of playing the hits of my youth for my recent travel, I have been learning the names of the moment on country radio – like Dustin Lynch and Dylan Scott.  During this time on the road, I have determined that there is a recipe to a lot of the country music songs on the Billboard “Hot Country Songs” list.   In fact, I am amazed at the shared experiences of driving on I-65 with an attractive girl in the passenger seat, listening to a genre of music (typically hip-hop and definitively not country) in route to drinking a cold beverage of choice at a roadside bar that make up a number of the songs on country radio.

I am also starting to see this songwriting formula duplicated in my life, particularly when I overhear my boys singing in the shower. Most songs they are singing can usually be found on one of Pittsburgh's top 40 radio stations. But my favorite moments, are when I hear them casually tossing in a lyric that has to do with their day.  Although they have yet to sink their teeth into the stories being told in a Johnny Cash song, I believe it is their own experiences that will one day contribute to more profound lyrical content.  Maybe one of these moments will turn into a power ballad penned by what will become a formidable songwriting partnership?

Thanks for reading.