Page 52 - Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics - Simon Hawkins

How to use Tension/Response
Tension/Response is very straightforward to implement–simply decide on a few things as follows:
1. What is your Chorus (the "response") word or phrase? Does it contain a strong enough idea for the song you want to write?
2. Decide how would you like to build the tension in V1. For example, will it be a feeling, a geographical location, the way someone is looking, a key moment, etc.?
3. Decide what elements of the response would you like to paint in V2; how is this sensed? Again, is it a feeling, an action, a decision, etc.? Be careful not to run into how you feel about the response, which we will leave for the Bridge.
4. How does the singer feel about the response? No surprises here...this will be your Bridge idea.
Example of a Tension/Response writable idea
In Chapter 4 we developed the following writable idea:
Writable idea: "Follow The Dream"
Verse 1 – How the tension is sensed
Weighed down by my ordinary life Stuck in a box
Looking out of a dusty window To where I know I should be
I wanna...
Chorus – The response