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AlexandraChia
ZackDePiero
WRIT2
18March2016
TheDreadedOneHitWonder
Overtheyears,wehavebearwitnesstoriseandfallofsongswhosemelodieshavetaken
theworldbystorm.Thesehitsongscreateasoundtrackforeachofourlives,playinginthe
backgroundofmeals,shoppingtrips,andcarrides.However,thegenreofhitsongscanpossibly
leadwriterstoproducewhatmanyofuscallaonehitwonder.WhensomeonementionsJoJo,
canyounameanothersongofhersbesides
TooLittleTooLate
?ArethereanysongsDaniel
Powtersingsbesides
BadDay
?Understandinghitsongsisagreatwaytolearnhowtowriteand
createthemyourself.Whileallgenresoccurinaspecificsituationorcontext(Carroll48),the
genreofonehitwonderswasbroughtuponbyoverwhelminglystrongemotion.Inorderto
utilizeonestalentsinwritinghitsongs,onemustthoroughlyunderstandthegenreofonehit
wondersandbewillingtogobeyondwritingsongsbasedsolelyonthecommonconventionsof
repetitivenessandsimple,expressivelyrics.
Atfirstglance,oneisabletotellthat
TooLittleTooLate
and
BadDay
aresongsthat
conveytheartistssemotionsregardinglonelinessandhopelessness.Lookingatthesubjectsat
hand,thosehitsongs,aswellasmostothers,arebroughtaboutbyanoverwhelminglystrong
emotion.Often,thesongdealswithheartbreak,loneliness,orlove,prevalenttopicswhenJoJo
talksaboutwhenshewasyoung/andinloveandDanielmentionsagainandagainabouthis
badday.Whenhearingthesong,oneimmediatelythinksofamemoryorexperienceinwhich

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youfeltthesamefeelings,makingitmorerelatabletotheaudienceandincreasingtheartists
appealtoawiderrangeofindividuals.
Lookingateachsong,itiseasytorecognizethatthelyricswrittenaresimple,yet
expressive.Danieldoesnotuseanycomplexwordsreally,butweunderstandandresonatewith
hisfeelingsoflonelinesswhenheproclaimsyourblueskiesturntogreyandyourpassions
goneaway.ThesamecanbesaidwhenJoJoproclaims[she]wasyoungandinlove/[she]
gave[him]everythingbutitwasntenough.Astheaudience,weareabletoeasilyperceivethe
emotionsthattheywantedtoconveywhensingingthesesongs.Thiscontributestotheideaofa
hitsong,wheretheartistsconveystheirmessageeffectivelyandconnectswiththeaudience.
Asonemayalsohaverecognized,hitsongstendtohaveveryfewversesoveralldueto
therepetitionoflyricsoccurringthroughoutthesong.Whenviewingthelyricsaltogether,
Bad
Day
hasatotalofthreeversesthatarespreadthroughoutthesonginbetweentherepeated
chorusesofyouhadabadday/youretakingoneday/yousingasadsongjusttoturnit
aroundThisisinordertobreakupthemonotonyofthesongoverall,whilestillbeingableto
repeatthechoruseverythirtysecondsorso.Thiscanalsobeseenin
TooLittleTooLate
,where
thelinesitsjustalittletoolate/alittletoowrong/andIcantwait,whichbeginthechorus,
arerepeatedatotaloffourtimeswithinthethreeminutesong.Thoughtheserepetitionsmay
seemredundantandpointless,itappealstothetargetaudienceofyoung,spiritedteenagersby
allowingthemtoeasilypickupthesonglyricsandsingalongtoit.
Thinkingaboutalltheconventionsmentioned,onewouldbeabletowriteahitsongright
now.Theexigenceaswellasthebasicconventionsarehighlightedforasguidelinesfor
executingthistask.However,genresrequiremoreeffortthansimplyfollowingtherulesand

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ruleschangeasthegenrechanges.(Dirk258)Inotherwords,itiseasytosaythathitsongsare
easilyproducedbutittakesmuchmorethanjustrepeatinglyricsthatexpressonesfeelingsin
ordertocreatesuchsongs.Toaddtothat,holdingtheknowledgeoftherulestowritingaone
hitsongmayseemlikeablessing.However,thiscouldpotentiallybelimitingifthewriterstays
withintheconfinesofthegenre,neverstrayingawayfromthepathalreadypavedbyotherswith
thesamegoalofwritingthesesongs.Ifonefailstodoso,anartistmayenduponlyhavingone
hitsongthatmanywilldeemaonehitwonder.Thoughitseemslikehavingonessongbea
onehitwonderisbeneficial,thesongovershadowsyourcareerandwindowsofopportunity
closejustasfastastheyonceopened.
However,thereareartistswhohavehadhitsongsthatseemtobeonehitwonders
becauseapopularsongoftheirsagreeswiththeconventionsoftheonehitwondersbelongingto
JoJoandDanielPowter.Regardless,theseartistspickthemselvesupandboosttheircareerby
learningtowritemoreoriginal,innovativemusicastheybegintounderstandmoreandmore
aboutthegenreofhitsongs.AnartistthatcomestomindisIngridMichaelson.Asanewerand
youngerartistinthemid2000s,itseemedasthoughthereleaseofhersingle
TheWayIAm
wouldbeoneoftheonlysongsweheardfromtheyoungwoman.Thissonginparticularhas
simple,expressivelyricsdemonstratedthroughhersingingofcauseIlovethewayyousay
goodmorningandIloveyoumorethanIcouldeverpromise.Thereareverylittlelyricsto
thissong,makingitrepetitiveaswell.Butwhenlookingevenfurtheratthelyrics,itseemsthat
Michaelsonhasthoughtinnovativelythroughquirky,specificlyricssuchasIdbuyyou
Rogainewhenyoustartlosingallyourhair/sewonpatchestoallyoutear.Throughthis,

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Michaelsonhasbeenabletobesuccessfulthroughoutthelasttenyears,havingseveralhit
singlessince2006allthewayuptothepresent.
Ingoingthroughthesehitsongsandrecognizingtheconventionsofthem,weareableto
seewhatmakesahitsongahitsong.However,wealsorealizethatgoodwritingisnottheresult
offollowingaformulaestablishedforacertaingenre(Dirk258).Rather,goodwritingwill
recognizethegenresformulaandtypicalconventions,but...recognize[...]shiftsin[context]
and[...]beawareofhowsuchshiftsmightaffectyourwriting.(Dirk256)Thisissomething
thatMichaelsondidwellwhenusingdifferent,uniquelyricsinordertopiquetheinterestofher
audienceandintroducesomethingnewtothegenre.Whenmentioningshiftsincontext,Dirkis
referringtothevaryingsituationsthatmayoccurandhowtheymostoftencausethewriterto
thinkoutsideoftheordinaryboundariesofthatgenre.Nosituationisexactlythesame.The
audience,purpose,andmanyotherthingschange,promptingarespectivechangeinthecontent
ofthecompositionathand.
Inadditiontocreativityduetovaryingcircumstances,onemaybecreativeinorderto
breakthroughtheboundariessetforthegenreanddisplaythecreativitythegenrecouldhold.
[...]Oneofthemainthingsthatholdsusbackfrombeingascreativeaswe[can]beisfearof
lookingsillyorbeingwrong.(Elbow61)However,asmanyofushaveseenfirsthandfrom
Michaelson,settingnewboundariesforagenreandnotallowingyourselftobelimitedbywhat
previouswritershavedonecanspellsuccessfromunexpectedindividuals.
Recognizingconventionsallowsustorecognizeacertaingenrewhenitcomesintoplay.
Inthegenreofhitsongs,theyallhadrathersimilarconventionsofstrongemotion,
repetitiveness,andsimpleyetexpressivelyrics.Manyhaveusedthisformulainordertocreate

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hitsongsthathaveplacedonthetopofmusicchartsforweeksatatime.Inordertoavoidbeing
anartistwithonlyonepopularizedsong,otherwiseknownasaonehitwonder,onemust
understandtheconventionsofahitsongandattempttobreakthebarrierssetbyit.Thisrequires
acompleteunderstandingoftheconventionsofthegenre,aswellasbeingabletonavigatein
andoutofnecessaryconventions.

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WorksCited
Cunningham,RuthAnne.ByBillySteinbergandJoshAlexander.
TooLittleTooLate
.JoJo.
JoshAlexander,VincentHerbert,BillySteinberg,2006.Web.27Jan.2016.
DanielPowter.
BadDay
.MitchellFroom,JeffDawson,2005.Web.27Jan.2016.
Dirk,Kerry."NavigatingGenres."
WritingSpaces:ReadingsonWriting
.ByCharlesLoweand
PavelZemliansky.Vol.1.WestLafayette,IN:Parlor,2010.24961.Print.
Elbow,Peter."TeachingTwoKindsofThinkingbyTeachingWriting."
EmbracingContraries:
ExplorationsinLearningandTeaching
.NewYork:OxfordUP,1986.5463.Print.
IngridMichaelson.
TheWayIAm
.IngridMichaelson,2007.Web.27Jan.2016.