by Pat Pattison

I used to be listening to John Mayer’s album Wildfire and was stopped useless by this line from his music Badge and Gun:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

The road made me really feel one thing. I really like when that occurs. It’s at all times a signal that I have to take a nearer look – to grasp how the road did it – to search out any helpful instruments which may assist my college students write even higher songs. So, in I went.

First, the road is a great, recent approach to say, “I want I may return to a youthful, simpler time.” Right here’s a bit extra context:

Gimme my badge and gun

Gimme the songs that I as soon as sung

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

After all, the picture “badge and gun” works on many ranges, however primarily creates a nostalgic take a look at a younger boy wearing cowboy hat and chaps, pretending to be an old-time sheriff in a dusty city, taming the Wild West. Ah, youth. Fairly cool.

Nevertheless it’s not solely what John Mayer says, it’s the approach he says it:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Why does it sound so good? At first look, it would seem to be the road’s power is a product of the inner rhyme between black and again.

Gimme these jet black kick again lay down nights alone

However the easy inner rhyme doesn’t start to elucidate why this line sounds so enticing. There’s a lot extra occurring.

Let’s take a nearer look. First, on the vowels, apart from the inner rhyme.

Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound in non-rhyming harassed syllables, shut sufficient to one another for the connection to be heard.

Hearken to the quick i (as in it) echo in gimme and kick:

Gimme these jet black okayick again lay down nights alone

And the lengthy o (as in go) echoing in these and alone

Gimme those jet black sit back lay down nights alone

The vowel repetitions create an extra layer of sonic connections. Mixed with the inner rhyme, these assonance connections assist to knit a small piece of the stunning sonic cloth this line creates.

There’s a lot extra vowel exercise occurring right here, along with the straightforward assonance. Nevertheless it’s a bit extra delicate. Look:

Hidden Assonance

Many vowels include a couple of sound. They’re referred to as diphthongs. When two diphthongs share one in all their two sounds in frequent, they create hidden assonance.

Hidden assonance works a lot just like the musical idea of voice main:

…the place every musical be aware transitions to the subsequent in a easy, harmonious approach, transferring as few notes as few steps as doable and thus usually retaining frequent tones.

Hidden assonance works with frequent tones – two completely different diphthongs sharing one in all their sounds in frequent.

The territory in hidden assonance might be a little slippery, since English vowel pronunciation can fluctuate from nation to nation, area to area, city to city, even neighborhood to neighborhood. However no matter your vowel pronunciations, everytime you use diphthongs, hidden assonance will come into play. Simply use your ears. You’ll hear it.

First, there are the simple diphthongs,

oi (as in boy) = lengthy o (as in go) + lengthy ē (as in me)

ou (as in sofa) = ä (as in papa) + lengthy ū (as in too)

A few of the lengthy vowels are literally diphthongs too. Take the lengthy a (as in lay) for instance. It’s a mixture of quick ě (as in finish) and lengthy ē (as in me). Go forward, say lay slowly a few instances.

l ě ē

See the way it works right here:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Now say jet and lay slowly. Hear. Are you able to hear the quick ě in jet echo the quick ě in lay?

j ě t l ě ē

Fairly neat.

Like lengthy a, lengthy o (as in go) is a diphthong, containing two distinct sounds – quick ŏ (as in sizzling) plus lengthy ū (as in too). As you’ve seen, in

Gimme those jet black sit back lay down nights alone

there are two lengthy o sounds, these and alone. Each include ū (as in “too”). Now take heed to the vowel sounds in down, the extra easy diphthong. It incorporates ä (as in papa) plus ū (as in too). So in

Gimme those jet black sit back lay down nights alone

you possibly can hear the lengthy ū connecting these, down and alone. Voice main. Sluggish them down and pay attention:

these = th ŏ ū se down =d ä ū n alone = al ŏ ū ne

All three share the lengthy ū in frequent!

One other one. that the lengthy a in lay is a mixture of quick e (as in finish), and lengthy ē (as in me). Now take a look at the lengthy i in nights. It’s a mixture of ä (as in “papa”) and lengthy ē (as in me). So each lay and nights share lengthy ē, connecting them with the apparent lengthy ē of gimme!

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Once more, gradual them down and pay attention. Discover the hidden assonance – the connection between one of many sounds within the extra advanced diphthongs:

Gimm ē lay = l e ē nights = n ä ē ghts

There’s another, which you’ve most likely already seen. For the reason that vowel sounds in down include ä (as in papa) plus ū (as in too) and the lengthy i in nights combines ä (as in papa) and lengthy ē (as in me), it’s onerous to overlook that they each share ä:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

down =d ä ū n nights = n ä ē ghts

Sluggish them down and pay attention. Straightforward to listen to now, isn’t it.

Hidden assonance could appear fairly delicate, nevertheless it’s no extra delicate than the repetition of frequent tones in advanced musical chords, an unusual characteristic of musical voice main. It’s a actual factor. Musicians use it on a regular basis. Lyricists can do it too, utilizing the voice main strategies obtainable in hidden assonance. It provides yet one more layer to the sonic cloth of a line. All of it created by vowel connections.

Now, let’s flip our consideration to consonant sounds.

Alliteration

Right here’s the commonest understanding of alliteration:

The prevalence of the identical letter or sound at the start of adjoining or intently linked phrases.

Take a look at the alliteration of the b sound:

Gimme these jet black kick back lay down nights alone

And the l sound:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Fairly neat. One other layer kitted into our sonic cloth.

So is that it? Does that exhaust the layers in Mayer’s line? Nope. Not even shut. As we did after we talked about hidden assonance, it’s doable to increase the idea of alliteration, treating it just like the musical idea of voice-leading,

…the place every musical be aware transitions to the subsequent in a easy, harmonious approach, transferring as few notes as few steps as doable and thus usually retaining frequent tones.

Utilizing this concept, we are able to speak about repetition of consonant sounds not solely on the beginnings of phrases, but in addition inside phrases (medial alliteration) and on the ends of phrases (terminal alliteration).

First, discover the okay sounds in:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Yup.

Gimme these jet blacokay okayicokay bacokay lay down nights alone

Now, discover the n sounds:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Proper:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Knit. Knit. Knit.

We may cease right here and persuade ourselves that we’ve gotten to the core of the road – that we’ve found why it’s so enticing sonically. And we’d be almost proper.

However there’s yet one more layer of discovery, primarily based on the work of the legendary literary critic Kenneth Burke from his ground-breaking work in his essay On Musicality in Verse. He calls it hid alliteration.

Hid Alliteration

Burke divides consonants into households, ruled by the place you place your tongue to supply the consonant sound. He acknowledges three households: the M household, the N household and the Ng household. Say each and see the place of your tongue.

M is shaped by closing your lips and flattening your tongue, forcing the air column into your nasal passages, however together with your mouth as a resonating chamber.

N is shaped by elevating the tip of your tongue to your onerous palate, once more forcing the air column by your nasal passages, however this time together with the again portion of your mouth as an attenuated resonating chamber.

Ng (as in “sing”) touches the center of your tongue to your taste bud (velum), once more forcing the air column by your nostril, however this time excluding your mouth from performing as a resonating chamber.

Let’s work first with N, the place you elevate the tip of your tongue to your onerous palate. What different consonants use this tongue place? Work your approach by the alphabet and discover them. I’ll wait.

Attention-grabbing, huh? Right here is N’s household, listed from nearer kinfolk to extra distant cousins.

N

d

t

j

ch

l

Say the phrase down and see what your tongue does at the start and finish. Do you’re feeling your tongue touching your onerous palate twice? That’s hid alliteration, created right here by the repetition of the N place within the d and n of down. Fairly cool.

Take your time and discover the members of N’s household in our line:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

I discovered j, t, l, d, and n.

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Say the road a few instances, paying consideration solely to the instances your tongue touches your onerous palate. You’ll be able to each hear and really feel the connections created by the members of the N household. A reasonably tight-knit bunch.

Now search for M’s household. Lips coming collectively, flat tongue. I’ll wait.

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Yup:

M

b

p

There are a few different distant cousins, however these will do. Now discover M’s household, the hid alliterations, in our line:

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

I received:

Gimme these jet black kick back lay down nights alone

After all the b connection was already obvious as easy alliteration, nevertheless it’s good to ask m to the occasion too. Say the road a few instances and take note of your lips.

Good.

Lastly, Ng’s household, which touches the center of your tongue to your taste bud (velum). Once more, undergo the alphabet and find these consonants that place you tongue within the Ng place. I’ll be affected person.

Yup, g and okay.

Now discover members of Ng’s household in our line.

Gimme these jet black sit back lay down nights alone

Say the road a few instances, focus solely on the place you elevate the center of your tongue to your velum.

After all you seen okay, which we present in our seek for alliteration. Nevertheless it’s good to ask g to the occasion too:

Gimme these jet blacokay okayick bacokay lay down nights alone

That just about does it. We’ve just about seen all of the strands on this beautiful cloth of sound. It might seem to be a lengthy journey simply to grasp one line, however by now you need to have a fairly clear understanding of what makes this line so outstanding. Not solely does it say one thing attention-grabbing by creating a advanced and enticing metaphor, nevertheless it underscores the phrases by knitting an ingenious cloth of sound, weaving the concepts into a unified entire. Sensible.

After all it’s one factor to have the ability to analyze a line for its sonic cloth, and fairly one other to create a sonic cloth intentionally and consciously. Whether or not John Mayer composed this beautiful sonic cloth absolutely conscious of the alternatives he was making, or whether or not it “simply got here out that approach” makes little distinction. It’s nonetheless this advanced mixing of sound and that means that makes his line work so nicely. Whether or not or not he did it on function, you can.

Creating a sturdy sonic cloth takes focus and observe. In my 2^nd version of Songwriting: Important Information To Rhyming: A Step-by Step Information to Higher Rhyming for Songwriters and Poets, you’ll discover loads of workout routines to enhance your knitting abilities. Workout routines not just for rhyme and rhyme varieties, but in addition workout routines that will help you create the extra distant components of your sonic cloth, together with hidden assonance, hid alliteration and even a new idea, household assonance.

Within the meantime, pay attention fastidiously, have enjoyable, and most of all, write fearlessly.

Pat Pattison

Additionally, watch this YouTube video about Pat Pattison’s e-book: