This week, despite being a dyed-in-the-wool and unapologetic atheist, I went to a Christmas carol concert. It was lots of fun, and although the lyrics were universally awful, it did contain a few examples that you might find interesting. I’ve been meaning to write about form, and two traditional carols from last night illustrate the most basic forms that we still hear in modern songwriting.

So if you’re stuck deciding what to write next, why not start by choosing one of these forms?

Strophic

While shepherds watched
Their flocks at night
All seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around

Fear not said he for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind
Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all man-kind

‘While shepherds watched…’ is a good example of strophic form. What is that? It’s where the melody stays exactly the same from verse to verse, but the words change.

Strophic with refrain

God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray
O Tidings of Comfort and Joy
Comfort and Joy
O Tidings of Comfort and Joy

From God our heavenly father
A blessed angel came
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same
How that in Bethleham
Was born the Son of God
O Tidings of Comfort and Joy
Comfort and Joy
O Tidings of Comfort and Joy

What’s the difference between this form and the plain old ‘Strophic’? The refrain, a section of lyrics and melody that stays the same from verse to verse, while the other lyrics change.

 Both these structures are very common in older song forms. You see them in folk influenced music all the time. They might be tried and tested, but they still have a lot of mileage left in them.

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