Someone the listener can identify or even empathize with.Įven if you haven't thought about storytelling in songwriting, as soon as we sing about the troubles of life, facing incredible odds or simply confessing love there's a character in your song that the listener will consider as a real person. There is the possibility to sing solely about the colors of the sky, the falling leaves or something else that just concerns the beauty of nature.īut if you want to engage your listeners in a great story you need a character. So how do the protagonist’s actions or his decision turn out? What’s the resolution? Something that can be lost or gained depending on how the character chooses in his dilemma. Something that catapults the protagonist into a dilemma. It can’t be a walk in the park where the character goes from A to B without any complications. The protagonist needs to have a conscious object of desire.Since not everyone is familiar with the craft of storytelling, here are the most important ingredients: But in order for a story to resonate, certain elements must be present. Stories are in our DNA from the time we’re born. What do we need in order to tell a story? The Prediction and the Promise.doc The Prediction and the Promise.1. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use. He is holding every memory of the friend who predicted his future. That was a night I’ll never forget.” “Hold every memory,” Charlie wrote in the song “See You Again,” and that is what he is doing. “People probably think I’m a crazy person because I sit there for a long time,” he says. It became a Number 1 hit.Įvery time Charlie visits Boston, he goes to the bridge where his friend died. They asked rap star Wiz Khalifa to add rap lyrics, and they played the song during the movie’s final scene. He had kept his promise.ĭozens of songwriters wrote songs for the movie, but the filmmakers liked Charlie’s song best. “And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.” Ten minutes later, the song was finished. “It’s been a long day without you my friend,” he sang. He sat down at his piano and began to play a melody. The filmmakers wrote a new ending for the movie, and they wanted a song for the final scene - a song in memory of Paul Walker.Ĭharlie thought about Paul Walker, and he thought about his friend in Boston. Paul Walker, one of the movie’s stars, had died in a car accident before the movie was finished. A few days after he arrived, he heard that filmmakers needed a song for the movie Fast and Furious 7. At the funeral, Charlie made a promise to his friend’s father: “Someday I’ll write a song for him.”Īfter he finished college, Charlie moved to Los Angeles. Three months later, he was riding his motorcycle on a bridge in Boston when he was hit by a pickup truck. Unfortunately, Charlie’s friend never saw his prediction come true. “Someday you’re going to write a Number 1 song.” As they walked around the city, they talked about music and about Charlie’s future. It was March 2012, and Charlie and his friend were music students at a college in Boston. “Do you have power in your apartment?” he asked him. He called a friend who lived in the same building. ![]() Late one night, Charlie Puth was studying in his apartment when the power went out. (You’re already here! So you don’t need to click on a link after you watch the video. (The audio recording is below the story.) Finally, read the story again while you listen to it. Students: First, watch the YouTube video below. More lesson plan ideas for this song are on the Lesson Plans page. Also at the bottom of the page is an audio recording of the story. ![]() Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use. At the bottom of this page, you will also find the story in a Word document and in a pdf. ![]() Teachers: The story below is at the high-beginning level.
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