Do it again.

Have you found an awkward phrase, rhyme or rhythm? Use it again, duplicate the item in another verse to give it cadence (and credibility).

In a co-write, Murder in His Eyes, I needed a rhyme for "lady," so I used "Sadie" and called the lady "Saginaw Sadie," which was popular in the early 20th century where within a group, one might be called their name modified by their place of origin such as "Chicago Phil" or "Texas Jake."

So, Joey in a pickle, was sittin' out his nickel when someone said
Saginaw Sadie, Joey's lady was sharin' her bed

Now, just to make this stick, I used it again later in the song:

When Joe got out he looked about for his pal Jim
But Joey's lady, Saginaw Sadie, had left with him

Thus I gave validity to the rhyme by using it twice in the song. If people thought I was stretching things the first time they heard it, by the time they heard it again, it was familiar, therefore valid.

In a song called Ol' Bum Toe I was writing in dialect or slang. I wrote and sang the words like someone would say them, rather than properly. I also used words like "twitch" and "twinge" and rhymed "mine" with "lying," pronounced "lyin'" (like line).

I can tell there's a change in the weather in this Ol' Bum Toe of mine.
When the twitch and the twinge come together I can tell the paper's lyin'
When it says fair today and it'll be fair tomorrow without a trace of rain.
I go lookin' for a slicker to borrow when my toe begins to pain.

OK, so now that I have established that sort of thing, how do I give it validity? Do it again. By using the colloquial "okey-doke with me" and rhyming "cryín'" (pronounced "crine") with "mine," I kept my rhyme scheme, strange as it is, intact.

It's just like when you look at me and tell me ev'rything's OK
One look in those big sad eyes and I feel the need to say,
It's okey-doke with me if y'never like to show if you been cryín',
But I can tell there's a change in the weather in this Ol' Bum Toe of mine.


So the next time you write something that is so off the wall that you are not sure how you will get away with it, do it again. After a while what started as a risk you almost didn't take could end up to be your signature style.

- Jon Batson