At our February 12 salon, Anna Witiuk proved we don’t need to be a musician to write great lyrics, just have a desire to get our feelings down on the page. Heartbreak can be such an impossible feeling to describe, but oh, how we feel it! In this Salon, we had fun exploring the history, style and technique behind some of Anna’s favorite heartbreak songs of all time! And we got a start on writing our very own heartbreak song, too! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, what better way for all us Lonely Hearts to celebrate than to sing about all the ways love has done us wrong?
I grew up in NYC, in the East Village, and in my teenage years I was a mentee with Girls Write Now. It was a life-changing organization for me as a budding writer, performer and creative. The bond with my mentor was deep and it remains to this day. I am so happy that I am able to give back to GWN now by being a mentor, and to help in maintaining the impact and magic of this organization for current mentees and mentees to come. —Anna J Witiuk
Prompt #1
Write a letter addressed to a person who “broke your heart,” hurt your feelings, or lied to you in some way.
Prompt #2
Circle the keywords (words that stand out and/or are important to you) in your letter. Can you find a theme? These keywords are a great way to find a hook or repeated chorus for your song.
Prompt #3
Write the chorus/refrain to your song. 2-4 rhyming lines that hold the driving objective/motivation of the song. In your song, these lines will be repeated or returned to.
Hear the rhythm of your words—are they in the same rhythmic time as each other? Think of the type of heartbreak song this—pleading? angry? resolute? etc.
(Having trouble starting your chorus or refrain? Use these examples as jumping off points)
Example 1: Refrain from “Jolene,” “Jolene!” is repeated in heightening drama, with the 2nd and 4th lines rhyming.
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I’m begging of you please don’t take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don’t take him just because you can
Example 2: In many old stye, 12-bar blues, a verse can be comprised of one line, repeated 3 times, with a rhyming fourth line at the end
from “Careless Love Blues”
“Oh it’s love, oh, love, oh, careless love (x3)
Can’t you see what careless love has done
Anna J Witiuk is a singer, musician, songwriter, storyteller and poet, living and performing in her hometown of New York City. She has been a proud member of and grant writer for the folk vocal group Ukrainian Village Voices for five years. Anna is also a third-year mentor with Girls Write Now—and a mentee alum! She can often be found crooning sweet harmonies and playing good ol’ honky-tonk and blues around town with her band, Anna J & the Somethin’ Else.