amount of verses in a modern country song?

[Gillihan]

Is 4verses to many in a newer country song? or should I condense all the good story lines into 2? Listing says -
" Please send in Traditional-sounding Country Songs with unforgettable melodies, catchy choruses, and an all-around authentic sound! Your submissions should have honest, well-crafted lyrics with lots of substance (party-leaning tracks will not work here), along with solid arrangements, engaging rhythms, and confident, well-performed male vocals. Using live-performed instruments on your recordings could be a plus here as well – the more your tracks sound like real instruments being played by humans, the better! TAXI Tip: Traditional does NOT mean dated! This Publisher wants Contemporary Songs with a traditional feel that could fit in at the top of the Country charts right now — give them that!"

[funsongs]

Is 4verses to many in a newer country song? or should I condense all the good story lines into 2? Listing says -
" Please send in Traditional-sounding Country Songs with unforgettable melodies, catchy choruses, and an all-around authentic sound! Your submissions should have honest, well-crafted lyrics with lots of substance (party-leaning tracks will not work here), along with solid arrangements, engaging rhythms, and confident, well-performed male vocals. Using live-performed instruments on your recordings could be a plus here as well – the more your tracks sound like real instruments being played by humans, the better! TAXI Tip: Traditional does NOT mean dated! This Publisher wants Contemporary Songs with a traditional feel that could fit in at the top of the Country charts right now — give them that!"

The short answer: IMHO - 4 Verses might be stretching it.

The long answer:
Gut reply (from an old guy) - if I were writing to such a listing I'd pay attention to the LENGTH OF TIME of, say, the top 3-5 songs, even though the listing may not be tagged for
radio-play type songs. For my own ears' endurance, songs that exceed 3:30 tend to lose my attention - those within a range of 2:30 - 3:15 seem more comfortable.
That stated, fitting in 3 verses would probably fill that up.

If it's for film or TV background or source - the length of what you submit probably doesn't matter, as only a chosen fraction would get used anyway.
Therefore, having good 'edit' breaks would be key... along with your song being suited for what the end-user needs.

HTH.

[irthlingz]

I suspect it partly depends on how long the verses and chorus are. The shorter they are, the more of them you can fit without making the song too long. Another variable is the beats per minute. The faster, the more words and potentially verses/choruses you can get in. My impression is that for country, 3:30-4:00 is okay for song length.

I was looking at the first reference for that listing: "'Til You Can't" by Cody Johnson. I would say the structure is:

V1
V2
CH1
V3
CH2
V4
CH3
CH4

with every Verse and Chorus ending with the hook ("Til You Can't")

But both the verses and choruses are pretty short. And it's up-tempo, 160bpm.

And it's 3:41.

So I think as long as the song keeps moving along and doesn't get too long, and you work the hook in enough, four verses is okay.

JM2C

===
Michael

[cosmicdolphin]

Even one is too many

[Gillihan]

Even one is too many

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH
You maybe right. they way things are going in "contemporary country" soon it will be just a hook over and over. one long chorus! hahahah

[Gillihan]

I suspect it partly depends on how long the verses and chorus are. The shorter they are, the more of them you can fit without making the song too long. Another variable is the beats per minute. The faster, the more words and potentially verses/choruses you can get in. My impression is that for country, 3:30-4:00 is okay for song length.

I was looking at the first reference for that listing: "'Til You Can't" by Cody Johnson. I would say the structure is:

V1
V2
CH1
V3
CH2
V4
CH3
CH4

with every Verse and Chorus ending with the hook ("Til You Can't")

But both the verses and choruses are pretty short. And it's up-tempo, 160bpm.

And it's 3:41.

So I think as long as the song keeps moving along and doesn't get too long, and you work the hook in enough, four verses is okay.

JM2C

===
Michael

I saw that. I actually have been studying that song quite a bit. it keeps coming up. and it is one of the few new songs I really like. It is excellent imagery.