Page 65 - Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics - Simon Hawkins

How to use Timezones
To use Timezones it might be useful to ask yourself the following questions:
1. What is the central theme or idea you want the title to represent? What idea is universal enough to be approached from two or three different Timezones? That becomes the idea for your Chorus.
2. When does the story start? How can you articulate that? What senses can you draw on? Who is involved? What are they like? This is V1.
3. When does the story move on? How can you paint that picture lyrically? What senses can you draw on this time? How does it differ from V1? This is V2.
4. What does this all mean? Are there any natural consequences? How can the story resolve? How can it mean more to the listener? What lessons can be drawn from this story? These are the ideas to use in your Bridge.
Example of a Timezones writable idea
Here we will look at a song I wrote called "When You Lose Your Dad." It's a perfect type of title for Timezones because you can go back into childhood memories and move forward to other key moments in the future. One of the difficulties I had was trying to find a suitable payoff because, how can there be any payoff from such a dark moment? But there was, and I love how it developed, albeit in the very last moments of the song.
Writable idea: "When You Lose Your Dad"
Verse 1 – Timezone 1
Going shopping with my dad and suddenly getting lost Feelings of shock, world turned upside down, lost without him