Writing for Vaudeville by Page, Brett

The roses each one, met with the sun, Sweetheart, when I met you. The sunshine had fled, the roses were dead, Sweetheart, when I lost you.

CHORUS

I lost the sunshine and roses, I lost the heavens of blue,

I lost the beautiful rainbow, I lost the morning dew; I lost the angel who gave me Summer the whole winter through, I lost the gladness that turned into sadness, When I lost you.

The birds ceased their song, right turned to wrong, Sweetheart, when I lost you. A day turned to years, the world seem'd in tears, Sweetheart, when I lost you.

II. QUALITIES OF THE POPULAR SONG LYRIC

Having read these eleven lyrics of varying emotions, note the rather obvious fact that

1. Most Popular Songs Have Two Verses and One Chorus

I am not now speaking of the "production song," which may have a dozen verses, and as many different catch-lines in the chorus to stamp the one chorus as many different choruses, but only of the popular song. And furthermore, while two different choruses are sometimes used in popular songs, the common practice is to use but one chorus.

Now let us see the reason for a peculiarity that must have struck you in reading these lyrics.

2. A Regular Metre is Rare

Metre is the arrangement of emphatic and unemphatic syllables in verse on a measured plan, and is attained by the use of short syllables of speech varied in different rotations by long syllables. The metrical character of English poetry depends upon _the recurrence of similarly accented syllables at short and more or less regular intervals_. Let us take this as the definition of what I mean by metre in the few sentences in which I shall use the word.

Among recognized poets there has always been a rather strict adherence to regularity of form. Indeed, at times in the history of literature, poetry, to be considered poetry, had to confine itself to an absolutely rigid form. In such periods it has been as though the poet were presented with a box, whose depth and breadth and height could not be altered, and were then ordered to fill it full of beautiful thoughts expressed in beautiful words, and to fill it exactly, or be punished by having his work considered bad.

In ages past this rigidity of rule used to apply to the song-poet also, although the minstrel has always been permitted more latitude than other poets. To-day, however, the poet of the popular song may write in any measure his fancy dictates, and he may make his metre as regular or as irregular as he wishes. He may do anything he wants, in a song. Certainly, his language need not be either exact or "literary." Practically all that is demanded is that his lyrics convey emotion. The song-poet's license permits a world of metrical and literary sinning. I am not either apologizing for or praising this condition--I am simply stating a proved fact.

3. Irregularity of Metre May Even Be a Virtue