Given 100 popular songs, 99 of them will be both
duple meter and of the
melodic form AABA.
It sounds rather horrid to group all
rock into this catch-all, but once you have AABA in your head I'm willing to bet that you'll be able to group nearly every song you hear on a pop or rock station into it. Consequently however, it will also take any magic out of listening to rock and pop there may have been for you before.
For example, choose a song. Start it playing and listen to the melody. Cut off the intro measures. For my example I will use "If You C Jordan" by Something Corporate.
I have a story, a bitter anthem for everyone to hear,
about this kid who just don't like me and that's a solid fact.
They say he's hunting me and as you see I'm all swelled up with
fear
cuz I can't get him off my back.
If you see Jordan, he makes me sick,
high schools over and you still won't quit.
That is the first form, note how the melody sounds, and mark it as 'A.' Keep in mind that we're lumping the chorus into the same division as the first verse.
You tried to fight me down at Tyler's beach and man I think
that's great.
You nearly cried and said to yell at you like I do at all the
girls.
Then you drove home real quick, did you make it in time to
masturbate?
There's one too many of you in this world.
If you see Jordan, he makes me sick,
high schools over and you still won't quit.
Once again, it follows the same form. The melody and even the
rhythm that the words follows mimics the first verse. Then (as most songs do) we jump right into the bridge.
You say its chivalry, but its jealousy that led us to this song.
Won't play it often just at least until you're gone.
You'll stop at nothing but the real thing and everything up to
that's pretend.
You tried to brainwash all my friends.
If you see Jordan, he makes me sick,
high schools over and you still won't quit.
After the
chorus, we jump right back into the final restatement of the AABA form.
Fuck you Jordan, you make me sick,
high schools over and you still won't quit.
Granted, this final time we do not have the verse to tag along with it, but the form is still the same.
Why is this handy?
If you're having trouble writing a song, keep this form in mind. When you break apart the song you are about to write (so long as you aren't attempting to write outside of the box) If you have your chorus, you have most of your song written. If you have your first verse, then you have about 75% of your song written, all that lies ahead is writing the bridge.
Personally, when I write songs I start by writing the chorus, then move to writing the bridge. Difficult parts out of the way, I find a way to standardize my chorus, and I'm given the verse out of that.
Note as well that this form works on a smaller scale as well. Most verses follow this form within the larger AABA form.
Lyric Source: http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/SOMETHING-CORPORATE/If-You-C-Jordan.html