Page 58 - Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics - Simon Hawkins

How to use Problem/Declaration
To use Problem/Declaration is similar to using Tension/Response–simply answer a few key questions:
1. What is the "declaration" you want to make in the Chorus? Is it universal enough, or strong enough to work for the kind of song you are writing? Is it as singable as it needs to be? Repetition is particularly helpful if you are looking to write an anthemic song.
2. What is the problem that prompts the burst of emotion that is declared in the Chorus? This is your V1 idea.
3. What is the natural, authentic response to the emotion behind the declaration in the Chorus? This is your V2 idea.
4. What does this all mean? In other words, having gone through the journey from problem- >declaration->response, are there any natural consequences? Has anything changed? In what way will life be different now? This is your Bridge idea.
Example of Problem/Declaration writable idea
Last year, I had the privilege of winning Integrity Music's "Search For A Hymn, 2015". Despite being written as a modern hymn, it was a personal song that I had initially written during a time of extreme uncertainty for a three-billion dollar business I was working with, thrown into turmoil by four out of the five most senior executives being dismissed for taking $50 million in unauthorized payments for themselves.
One night I'd just gotten home from a trip to the Middle East. Feeling exhausted, jet-lagged and beaten up by investors who had lost so much money, in the early hours of the morning I sat in the drawing room of my home and quickly sketched out the following writable idea: