Originally Posted by vicarn
I always thought the “climax” was the end of something and everything else was a build up to it. The adventure begins by an interesting verse that captures the imagination and builds by adding little hooks that lead to a chorus that drives home the message. Whether the message is relevant to the listener is another story though.
(I can’t write for teenagers now because I don’t understand their motivation.)
🤔
So, to sum up, I think the climax belongs at the end of the journey or just before the end.

Vic
Originally Posted by Mike Halloran
After 50–60 years of performing, I believe that I've gotten a feel for what works or doesn't in a song. The idea of writing to a climax doesn't work for me. Good songs grab the audience, sustain attention through the middle and have a satisfactory end. This is true whether I am performing my own material or deciding if I should cut a verse or few from a hymn during a church service. The answer, as always, is, It depends.
I agree with both of you, and that's the interesting point of my question:
  • a song should build towards a climax, ideally (but not necessarily) towards the end of the song.
  • the attention span of the average listener has been decreasing for quite some time, so more and more don't make it to the end and thus miss the best part.
    Like Mike, I usually remove a verse (e.g. the second one if it's AABA) to have the first little reward (chorus) a little earlier and keep the listener engaged.
    Of course if I start a song with a chorus, that's a completely different can of worms.

The age of the listener is important, if you're not a teenager you can't write for a teenager, unless your name is Max Martin and your favorite key is G major.
Anyway...
I can see it in my generation already that most people will skip the song if there's no early reward.
Listening to a complete album from start to finish is a relic from the past (which may have something to do with the fact that there aren't many artists anymore who can pull of an album like this. And because the remote control was invented).
Times are changing...

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