I was watching Disney+’s ‘Hamilton’ when it was released the other day and am now a huge fan. I can’t get enough. I've watched it four times already which I'm sure that small number of times is dwarfed by many. One of the songs performed early on and got my attention is King George's ‘You’ll Be Back’. One can’t help but be taken in not only by the performance itself but also by the cute little melodic “la da daa dot daa…” in the middle of the song. Of course, I found myself singing that part of the song for days after first hearing it. And I have no doubt that was the intent. I heard somewhere that the song is inspired by The Beatles. And the song does sound rather ‘Beatle-esque’.
But, it made me think (and stick with me here). I’m a big time Sly & the Family Stone fan and one of the many things I loved about his songwriting was his tremendous use of just plain ol' syllables such as used in the earlier mentioned song. For example, Dance To The Music (“Boom, boom, boom…". Well, not a great example, but you get the idea.), Sing A Simple Song (“Yaaaa ya ya ya…”), I Wanna Take You Higher (“Boom shakka lakka lakka…”), Stand (“Na na na na…”), Everybody Is A Star (“Papa papa paaa…”), and the list goes on and on. Even add “Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego" to a song called Loose Booty! Lyrically, that has absolutely nothing to do with the song! But, rhythmically, it totally works! I remember singing just that part back in the day. I wouldn't know for years later that those are actual names belonging to people in the Bible!
And, all this brought me to one of those ‘lightning in a bottle' moments in the studio with SWITCH. I’ll just say “La la la la la la” and you'll know the song. You’re probably already singing There’ll Never Be right now. I remember thinking then that if they don't remember the words, they'll remember those little syllables. Berry Gordy would later tell us that that’s one of the ‘secret sauces' of songwriting. Something easy that anyone and everyone could sing in the shower. Side point here and little known fact: There’ll Never Be wasn’t actually recorded the way you hear it now. Hear this in your mind: Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2 (guitar solo), Verse 3, Chorus, Chorus, Chorus etc, etc, out. Along with Bobby DeBarge, it would take Berry Gordy and his team (The Bewley Brothers) to make the song what it is today.
And, Bobby would go on to sing those “la la la's” like nobody's business. You're The One For Me and Best Beat In Town to name a couple. Genius!
Numerous recording artists from way back in the day to now use those darned syllables. And they work. They're another tool in the songwriting tool box that we forget is even in there. And at this very moment, Jeffrey Osborne's The Woo Woo Song comes to mind. And I'm sure if you thought about it, you could think of quite a few songs yourself.
So, dear songwriter, if lyrics just aren't quite coming to you the way you want, if they're just not making sense, if you just can't find the right words, try a little syllable or two. Try a ‘la la la la la la’. How about a ‘dum de dum de la’? Maybe a ‘doo doo wop’ or ‘ohh ohh ohh’ or ‘woo woo woo‘ or ‘whoa whoa whoa'. Or as Sly would say, “Try a little do re mi fa so la ti do!”
