A song is a piece of music with lyrics that tells a story or conveys a mood. Songs can be made up by professional songwriters and composers, or they can be folk songs created long ago that are still sung today as tradition. Songs can be commercially produced, or they can be created and recorded for artistic or personal reasons. Some songs are a collection of musical ideas that don’t fit into an organized structure, while others have an established formal structure.
Songs can be categorized as art songs, which have a more formal and traditional approach, or popular songs, which are more contemporary in style. Art songs tend to have more complex accompaniments that underpin, embellish or illustrate the voice. They also have a strophic form, which means they repeat the same line multiple times with a different musical accompaniment each time. Popular songs are more often written in a single melodic line with a repeated chord.
One of the most important elements of a song is the hook. This is the element that makes the listener want to return to the song over and over again. It can be either musically or lyrically, and it’s what sticks in the listener’s mind and keeps them coming back. Think about the riff in OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” or Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”- that’s the hook.