Anatomy of a Verse

Verse 1: The Setup

Your song’s first verse is where you set up your song by introducing its general vibe.

 How you choose to go about this is going to depend on the song. The first thing you should ask yourself is: 

What would I rather do with this song:

Would I rather tell a concretely defined story or would I rather describe an abstract situation that can be applied to a wider variety of contexts?  

If you want to tell a concretely defined story…

then the first verse is a great place to establish a setting. One of my favorite examples of a song with a very literal setting is “I Like Me Better” by Lauv. Let’s look at the lyrics of the first verse: 

To be young and in love in New York City 

With just a few words, Lauv has already given us a very specific and emotionally charged setting. 

The setting is youth. 

More specifically, the setting is the youth of someone who is in love. 

And even more specifically than that, the setting is the youth of someone who is in love in New York City. 

With just those 3 simple words/phrases – youth, love, and New York City – Lauv is already starting to paint a dynamic picture. 

With the verse’s second line, he starts to add color to this picture: 

To not know who I am but still know that I’m good long as you’re here with me

With only 2 intentionally worded lines, Lauv is able to invite the listener into the world of a narrator who is finding comfort and solace within a relationship in the midst of youth’s uncertainty and New York City’s fast-paced chaos. 

He then repeats the opening line again, which serves 2 major purposes: 

1. It makes the song more recognizable/more of an earworm. 
2. It further emphasizes the song’s general vibe. 

Then there’s just one last line before the chorus: 

Midnight into morning coffee, burning through the hours talking

By taking the listener a bit deeper into the scene before the chorus hits, the chorus is set up to have a greater impact. The chorus of this particular song has remarkably few words: 

I like me better when I’m with you 

I knew from the first time I’d stay for a long time 

In this case, the verses give context and dimension to what would otherwise run the risk of being a one-dimensional chorus. 

If you want to describe an abstract situation that can be applied to a wider variety of contexts…

then the first verse is where you should focus on establishing a mood. One of my favorite examples of a song that effectively uses the first verse to do this is Taylor Swift’s “Red.” Let’s look at those lyrics: 

Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street 

With just a single line, we already have a pointed idea of how this love feels. We don’t know what it literally entails, but that isn’t the point. 

Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly 

This could be happening anywhere to anyone; it’s not specific to being young or old, in the city or the country. It’s not specific to anything really; it’s relatively universal. 

Loving him is like trying to change your mind once you’re already flying through the freefall 

Since everything is described through the use of simile, and nothing here is literal, anyone who understands this emotion can place themself in the narrator’s shoes. 

Like the colors in autumn so bright, just before they lose it all 

She isn’t actually referring to autumn or to its colors at all; she’s only comparing this unspecified experience to those colors. The actual details of the situation are left up to the imagination of you, the listener. 

Verse 2: The Elaboration 

Since the second verse comes after the hook, your second verse is a great place to elaborate on your hook’s meaning. 

If your song involves a linear storyline, it can help to think of the first verse as “chapter 1” and the second verse as “chapter 2.” 

When looking for lyrical inspiration for a second verse, I often ask myself these go-to questions: 

⧫What was I thinking about when I wrote a particular word or phrase in the hook? 

⧫Did I have a particular life experience that inspired the hook? If so, what was that experience like? 

⧫What imagery does my hook bring to mind?  

By the time you’re writing a second verse, it can sometimes be easy to feel like you’ve already said all there is to say. However, this is usually often not the case. You might just need to jumpstart your mind a bit. 

If you’re getting stuck on the second verse, try writing down your answers to the questions above. Don’t filter anything; just write whatever comes to mind. Then take a highlighter and pick out the most interesting phrases within your answers. Those are your lyrics! From there, it’s just a matter of formatting them to fit the verse’s melody and cadence. 

And that’s the anatomy of a verse. 

As always, this is a general overview, and verse structure and placement can vary between songs. For example, some songs include both the first and second verse before the chorus ever kicks in, as well as two more verses after the chorus. Other songs might start off with two verses before the first chorus, but then only include one verse afterward. Oftentimes, this will depend on what you need to express in your song and on how much space you need to do it. 

When I first got into songwriting, it was helpful for me to use my favorite songs as blueprints. While this post can hopefully serve as one blueprint for you, I strongly encourage all beginning songwriters out there to get into the habit of examining the structures of their favorite songs as well.