Sad songs and situations are more readily 'emotive,' easier to get emotional about.

Happy songs, such as the two faux attempts you tried in opening this thread, have to find the same story-telling techniques, the same emotional investment, that a sad song would have.

They're not just about being happy, but why. And all the other questions, 'when,' 'where,' especially 'who.'

Who is the singer? Not the artist; the character in the song. Would we like to know more after we hear his first line? When the song is over, do we care about him and who and what he sang about?

We get to share sad songs, actually 'enjoying' the sadness, the bad luck, the bad situation, the loss of a lover we wanted to keep, without actually experiencing the sadness ourselves. We indulge in it for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, and then it's over and we're not obliged to stay in the moment. We move on to the next song.

A happy song isn't just happy. It's happy about something, someone, a story, a situation, just like a sad song.

Someone asked, "Why do you write all those sad songs?"

I said, "I don't know. I wasn't sad when I wrote them."

Shortly after that I wrote, "Take It For A Ride" and a few years later, "Over The River Tonight." Both are uptempo and stories about being in love and everything going right.

www.garyeandrews.com

There will always be another song to be written. Someone will write it. Why not you? www.garyeandrews.com