Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: This is Aaron Nathans from the Nathans and Roncast, the podcast about the songcraft and musicianship behind the songs we love. And if you're in Boston, we'd love to see you when we play at Chestnut Street Concerts at Temple Emmanuel in Wakefield on Sunday afternoon, April 27th. For information, see our website nathans&ronstadt.com I'd like to speak with you about something I believe is true. I would like to endorse the idea that a rhyme should not be forced. I'm going to make time to talk about near rhymes. What is a near rhyme? To understand a near rhyme, first you must know what a perfect rhyme is. In a perfect rhyme, among two words, the ending consonants and the vowel sounds that you stress make match exactly.
Moon June, Dance, Chance Night light. We'll cover those rhymes again in a future episode when we talk about cliches. But speaking about cliches, girl and world that there is a near rhyme because girl ends in earl and world ends in earld Close but no cigar. A near rhyme can feature a vowel that rhymes, but the consonants at the end don't like. Time and find in my Philadelphia songwriting critique group, occasionally someone will point out that my rhymes aren't always quite as perfect as they would like. But I want to tell you a secret. I really like near rhymes. I actually find them much more satisfying than actual rhymes because there's a much wider universe of things you can say with near rhymes. Insisting on a perfect rhyme can be a straightjacket, which can shape your song's message in ways you may not have intended. Sometimes you'll change your message to fit the rhyme, and that's not authentic. But with near rhymes, you have a lot more latitude to say something closer to what you intended to say. There's something about near rhymes which feels more conversational. For what it's worth, in my first drafts, I never actually try to rhyme. Sometimes it happens anyway. But early in the writing process, I'm much more focused on what it is I'm trying to say. Sometimes when I have to say something important enough, I don't try to rhyme it at all because the message is more important. It's a diversion from the pattern of the song. But when you're building a creative work, you set the rules, and the existing rules are there for you to break. Let's look at some examples of new rhymes in song the Coldplay song the Scientist was written by Guy Berryman, John Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin. Let's look at the chorus. Nobody said it was easy It's a shame for us to part Nobody said it was easy no one ever said it would be this hard oh, take me back to the start okay, now part and hard and start. Don't completely rhyme with each other but they've all got that ah, so close enough. And really, who's counting? I'm sure you've heard the song more than a few times. Did you ever stop and notice that the words don't rhyme exactly? Or how about Shape of youf by Ed Sheeran? He sings grab on my waist and put that body on me Come on now follow my lead Come on, come on now follow my lead it's creepy as all get out but that's not the point. The words me and lead don't rhyme exactly. He had something to say and doggone it, he said it in Smells like Teen Spirit Kurt Cobain brings us multiple nier rhymes with the lights out it's less dangerous Here we are now Entertain us. Dangerous, entertain us. Is that a perfect rhyme?
Maybe. But then he says he feels contagious. That's certainly a near rhyme. A mulatto, an albino. Is that even a rhyme? Definitely a denial. So to sum it up, don't stress the rhymes like horseshoes it counts if it's close. Let your creativity fly.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: And.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: And let's see what you come up with. This is Aaron Athens reminding you that nothing rhymes with roncast. You can look it up on rhymezone. Thanks again for listening. Talk with you soon.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Peace.
