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  • Writer's Digest

    VERSE CONTINUITY

    Jan 30, 2019 5 minutes
    BY PAT PATTISON

    We’ve all seen travelogues. They might go something like this: “Ah, fabulous Hawaii—majestic mountains, pipeline surfing, luxury hotels, exotic cuisine” and so on.

    A travelogue not only makes for a dull movie, it also makes for dull verse development in a lyric. For example, look at this lyric summary:

    VERSE 1: Police brutality is a common problem in large cities.

    REFRAIN: Streets are turning deadly in the dark.

    VERSE 2: Car bombs are becoming more common as a terrorist weapon.

    REFRAIN: Streets are turning deadly in the dark.

    VERSE 3: More prostitutes carry AIDS every year.

    REFRAIN: Streets are turning deadly in the dark.

    What’s going on here? What does police brutality have to do with car bombs or AIDS? Nothing, except that they are all part of Aside from their connection to the refrain, the elements

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