The art of writing is in its musicality. And nowhere is this more evident than…well…music. We probably don’t even notice the breaks in grammar or the clever wordplay when singing along.
I am sure there are infinite examples, but listening to the radio today, I heard two. Two in one song’s chorus.
The song is God’s Country by Blake Shelton. Here are the chorus lyrics. Do you see them?
{
I saw the light in the sunrise
Sittin’ back in a 40 on the muddy riverside
Gettin’ baptized in holy water and ‘shine
With the dogs runnin’
Saved by the sound of the been found
Dixie whistled in the wind, that’ll get you Heaven bound
The Devil went down to Georgia but he didn’t stick around
This is God’s country (yeah)
}
The first is “Sittin’ back in a 40.” This is a play on words to the term, the back 40. The back 40 is undeveloped land usually found at the back of the farm. Both phrases make Blake’s point. The one in the song is more…musical.
“Dixie whistled in the wind” is the second. Another play on words. This one to the term whistlin’ dixie, which is to engage in unrealistic thinking. Same meaning, but the common use of the term would be…not as musical.
I actually think there is another one in there. Do you see it?
The craft of writing is never linear. The beginning is not always where we start writing. And we don’t always finish writing at the end.
And as we see in these examples, the nonlinear location of a word or two is not normal. But sometimes, it’s worth it for the sake of musicality.