To bridge or not to bridge?

[00:00:00] Foreign. [00:00:08] You're listening to the Nathan's and Roncast, and this is your host, Michael G. Ronstadt. Today I want to ask you the question, to bridge or not to bridge? [00:00:19] Now, I have mixed feelings on bridges, and I think it depends on the song and I think it depends on the writer and it depends on what the words say, and it also depends on how it feels. There's all these elements and you can't put your finger quite on why a song wants or doesn't want a bridge. There are even some songs I've written that only have verses and that's all. And I might even call that through composed kind of. [00:00:48] Now, if we go to classical music, which has certain sections, if you think of tone poems for orchestras like Don Juan, that is straight through. There's no, like, reoccurring a theme that keeps coming back in a reliable fashion. It just goes from beginning to end, telling a story. [00:01:12] Now, if we think of songs as telling a story, I think it's important to follow the music, follow what it wants to do. I think that sometimes when you're thinking of a song going by and there's these ideas and you're like, let me grab that. And I don't know if you're a songwriter out there, you feel like you missed that clothespin. And then a week later on the radio, there's that song idea that you wanted to do. It's there and someone already grabbed it. Technically, they probably grabbed it a year or two early. But it's one of those things where song ideas, they're these living organisms that I think need to be respected. [00:01:56] Now, you didn't expect this little break so early, but I was rambling and rambling and I want to tell you about a few shows that Aaron and I have this weekend. We're going to be playing on Saturday at a house concert in Newtown, Pennsylvania. If you're interested, go to Nathans and Ronstadt.com and send us a message and we'll get you the information. You can RSVP on Facebook with the link we send you and. And then if that's not enough or you're closer to Baltimore, D.C. we're going to be playing in Annapolis, Maryland at 49 West Coffee House. And it's the second Monday Songwriters Showcase hosted by Angie Miller. So come on out and join us. If that is enough to get you to come out and want to see us in the future, just keep an eye on Nathan's and ronstadt.com before I go any further, ramble here back to the other Michael Ronstadt. [00:02:49] I'm back from. You just heard from me. But anyway, I'm back. [00:02:53] I want to talk to you about songs. To bridge or not to bridge? Do we add a bridge to our songs now? I'm not the best songwriter in the world. There's so many great songwriters. Aaron Nathan's I consider an amazing songwriter, and I've heard him do all variations, but I figure, due to copyright purposes, why don't I use the songs I've written that I know, that I feel. Feel like I finished? As an example of when to bridge and when not to bridge. [00:03:21] Here's a song I wrote called Dark Riddles, and it's kind of just a bluesy groove. D minor and A minor chords. It just has two verses, and that's all I write. Dark riddles in the night Sing to me when I go to sleep Gray windows show the way to go When I go to play my music Blue shadows stained into the ground I don't feel too well today Satin hues shine right in through my pains when the time is right and then I take an instrumental, and then it doesn't change any chords, nothing. But the verse is back. [00:03:58] I'm so thankful you can see me While I'm tripping over words and fight Silly limericks and my faults Open up the truth in sight Sharpened visual inquiries Take my mind away Dark riddles in the night Sing to me when I go to sleep Now, I don't always rhyme. Aaron talked about the rhyming scheme and. Do you rhyme? Sometimes. You don't, if you want to make a point. [00:04:19] And so I brought that last line in, which is the first line, and I don't rhyme it, so that's on purpose. And then I say, okay, no bridges. And I kind of jammed out. And then I said, oops, I should do something. So I'm going to add something, what I like to call a coda, but we can call it a bridge at the end. [00:04:38] And even though this song is kind of straight through with only verses, here's a little vocal tag with the words. We go to freedom we go to play we are here to stay we have no space we go to freedom we go to play we are here to stay we leave no trace now, the song is kind of nebulous, but it grooves, and it's just kind of about the songwriting process coming to me in the middle of the night. It just keeps me up, and I've got to do something about it. That's. I feel like I'm haunted by song ideas, and sometimes you just have to stay up and finish them. Sometimes you can get upset that you have to do that, but if you don't do it, you'll feel like you're missing something and someone else might grab the idea before you do. Now, moving on to another song that I wrote. Here's one called Amberly Village. There's kind of a neighborhood near neighborhood I live in in Cincinnati, and I was imagining if I'd grown up in that neighborhood, I probably would have had a lot of money. [00:05:37] And when I left, I would have seen maybe a different side of society. And then when coming back, I might have had kind of a pessimistic idea of, oh, Amberly Village, everyone's welcome here. It's kind of a sarcastic take, but I don't say anything bad about it. So I've got a verse. It's as I'm going down to Amberly Village where the snow fall melted and the grass is tall I'm going down to Amberly Village where the water waits Everyone knows their place I hope you'll join me in Amberly Village It's a nice time of year and we're all here to share I'm going back to the place I came from I'm going down I'm going down now that's kind of just my take on it. I'm going down into the flames. This place is not what it looks like on the outside. And there's been horror movies written by about this concept. [00:06:27] Go down the list, and there's a lot of things that say it's a happy place. And then you peel it back and there's stuff that isn't so nice. Now, I don't know this from personal experience about my hometown of Tucson, Arizona, but I'm just imagining that Amberly Village is like that. It sounds kind of cool. The place may be awesome, but I just used it. So I go to a chorus where I say, I think the spring has turned to fall. The summer never showed its face Snow was quick to make a new call and leave us stranded inside empty space I've seen the trees grow up and fall when the wind blows round there's more to this squall can you believe anything these days? [00:07:04] So I've kind of established something with the verse and chorus. [00:07:08] Now I don't have any more verses, and I didn't think another verse was necessary for the form, but I wanted to say something new and so I take a solo. There's another chorus, and then I added a bridge and so in this bridge, I'm thinking that it's going to ask questions, it's going to be a call for help, or just pointing other people in the direction of where I'm going and say, can it help us see the truth? Will it help us lay new roads? Can we break open the doors? Can we open up our cores? [00:07:42] Now, these are all kind of nebulous, rhetorical questions, but I'm trying to reach out and see if going back home after seeing everything I've seen will make a difference. Now I'm going to go to one more song, and it's called Just One Minute. This one has a bridge, but it's kind of a weird instrumental bridge with an attempt to define who I'm talking about at the end of each verse. [00:08:10] Now, each verse says, just one minute till you show. Just one minute. Blah, blah, blah. Next verse is in the cell lot. Here's turning my mind in the cell lot. Verse 3 says, Just one minute until you're here. Just one minute. I know you care. Give one minute of your time. So I do have three statements there. And then we have a bridge. [00:08:29] So after, like, the main statement in each verse, I say, they tell me that I've got 30 minutes to go. [00:08:36] They tell me that I've got 30 minutes to go. Then the next one, I say, you tell me that I've got to wait another five. [00:08:43] You tell me that you need just a little more time. And then in that third verse, I say, but they tell me that I gotta go home. They look fast, push me in the road. Who are they? I don't answer it directly, but I imagine it's the people trying to say, you can't wait here. You need to go wait in the cell lot. So then you have to turn around and wait. [00:09:01] That's kind of the literal sense, but I wanted to say what the bigger idea might be. [00:09:09] So I wanted to talk about greed and corruption. [00:09:13] And so the bridge is where I kind of take it up to that notch, and I hope it works. It's just kind of weird, and it's frantic and the music explains as much. You can go listen to it. But they're the ones who don't see us. They're the ones who run the globe. They sniff the lines, have the gold. They ignore humans. They choose no soul. They have no limit. They have no hold. [00:09:36] And then the last verse I talk about, you try to tip them and doesn't work. And then they tell you to go home. [00:09:42] And so it's. It's kind Of a song that ramps up into a place that isn't just the airport but a maybe a pessimistic view of our world. And yeah, just one minute. Such a light hearted song. [00:09:57] I thought about one other song that I want to talk to you about. [00:10:00] It's brand new. Aaron Nathans and I are recording it on our upcoming album. [00:10:06] It is called Midnight sun. [00:10:09] And I start with a chorus and then I go to like this little lick that I consider maybe a hook or a bridge. [00:10:19] And then I have two verses so I, you know, have a verse that says Blanket by the midnight sun the moon it shines so neat the boiling point is on the run and I can't stand the heat of the wild minds Wild hearts jumping in defeat Blinded by an ancient guard Shielded by the greed Then I do the lick and the song wants another verse so I say owned and managed throughout time Redacted broken charts that give these gremlins Easy lines to lead and hold the cards the damaged ones who pave the way Building roads of broken shards but since they won't feel too swayed the golden rules of farce Now I think that's enough to say and that in itself is plenty the chorus is blinking rapidly winded and discreet Ooh, ooh, you know not like a ghost but ooze and so I just wanted to say that thing that I had at the top. [00:11:20] I used a chorus at the top and at the end is kind of a cry of distress. [00:11:26] And then the verses are kind of explaining what I'm observing in the world and it's just kind of a commentary on today or yesterday, however you want to view it. [00:11:37] But I say blinking rapidly winded and discreet Ooh, ooze and then I see singing rapidly Empty looks retreat unseen silent screams so it's not very uplifting, But I leave it there hanging and that blues lick happens. And like a lot of songs that have kind of a groovy feel or a waltz or somewhat upbeat, this content is not as upbeat as the song tries to make it. So I hope that gave you a look into how I look at bridges. [00:12:08] Either they're a device to transport you, or a device to get you to define something, or it could take the song and give it an extra meaning so it gives more depth. And if it wants a bridge but no more words are needed, you can do an instrumental bridge. And sometimes I view the solo section as a form of a bridge, even if you use the same chord progression from the verses or choruses. [00:12:36] So that's my rambling about. To bridge or not to bridge. Thank you for listening to the Nathan's and Roncast. Please join us this weekend on Saturday in Newtown, Pennsylvania, or Monday right after the weekend in Annapolis, Maryland. Go to nathans and ronstadt.com for more information and please keep up with anything we're putting out. Thank you so much for being here, being a part of our family. And and until next week, this is Michael Ronstadt signing off.