Softly, With Feeling

Ever since popular song writers ran out of original tunes a few years ago, they have been faced with a choice of either borrowing old melodies or making lyrics the chief selling point of their chants. Happily for Mozart and Tchaikovsky, lyricists have devised a workable formula to sate every popular emotion. That old standard, love, still rates first place, but a complicated second category may soon replace it. Although hard to define, the main tenets of this group are religion and nature metaphors. A third group employs more daring allegory and should appeal to restless, bold spirits.

The love song that seems destined for the top these days is a composition entitled "My Restless Lover." A masterpiece of word economy, it uses a total vocabulary of twenty-four words. The lyrics are catchy, "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny come home. Johnny Guitar, why must you wander? Oh, Johnny, Johnny Guitar." Needless to say, the title was changed from "Johnny Guitar" to increase it emotional appeal. Another deft stroke for the trade was "You, you, you, I'm in love with you, you, you," a song whose pedestrian melody never caught the fire of its lyrics. There is a sleeper, just released, called "Kissing Bridge" that should sell on the basis of its one rhyme: "To the old Kissing Bridge with its roof made of wood, ev'ry old fashioned wolf took his Red Riding Hood."

As for the second part of the formula, the master draft was supplied "I Belive" which stated that for every drop of rain that falls, a flower blooms. Expressing both religious feeling and appreciation, if not understanding of nature's workings, it sold about a million records. To bring this elevated thought into the realm of common understanding, a song was translated from Italian to "From the vine came the grape. From the grape came the wine, From the wine came a dream to a lover," which pretty much rolls into one the kindness of the Almighty, the abundance of nature, and human love.

In the third group, Wanted is the standout. It is unique because it appeals ironically to all uncaught criminals. "He (or she) was last seen hiding out in someone's arms, She (or he) knew nothing of the danger in his (or her) charms." With such powerful metaphors, the lyricist can rouse the emotions of even the most calloused. The muses could not have asked for more, for more, for anything more.