Originally Posted by DC Ron
Songwriting is storytelling.
Songs are storytelling, but songs aren't necessarily stories. At least, not in the traditional sense of story structure.

As a broad generalization, stories typically have a conflict, and the story is often about how the main character resolves that conflict. That's especially true with formulaic film writing.

Unlike traditional stories, there's no need to resolve the tension. A song can simply state the core conflict - often in the chorus - without resolving it.

Importantly, it doesn't even have to be a conflict. It can simply reflect how the singer is feeling.

The goal of a song is to create emotion in the listener, with that emotional idea reflected in the chorus and detailed in the verses

Many songs have a three verse form. You can think of the verse as the core idea/emotion of the song. The function of the verses is to give details, explaining why the chorus is true.

In many song styles, each iteration through the verse adds more details, giving a slightly different meaning to the chorus as it's revisited after the verse.

So while storytelling is an important element, the song is about eliciting emotion, not telling a story with a beginning, middle and end.

-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?