WRITING POPULAR SONGS

Shannon News, 6 May 1924, Page 4

WRITING POPULAR SONGS

“There is no place for ‘subleties’ in a song which is to make a popular appeal. "The words must not only be simple enough to be understood without the slightest difficulty, but also they must be words which will flash a picture into the minds of the'audience. People think in pictures very largely. And so the writer who uses words which flash a picture will dig most quickly and most surely into the memory of those who hear the song.

“The third point -which we song composers look for is an emotional meeting- in the words. If they appeal only to ‘the head,’ the song is unlikely to make a popular success. It is tho appeal, to ‘the heart’ which carries so deeply into tho affections of the multitude.”—Herbert Oliver, in "T.P.’s and Cassell’s Weekly.”