** Each week I measure the #1 song of the week in “Measuring a Hit” for you to readily see common threads in today's biggest hits. A post titled “A Closer Look” follows in a few days that brings a few craft issues of the song to your attention.
Let’s look closer at the #1 country song from a couple of weeks ago. The first thing that strikes me about this song is its frequent use of images. We’re given turnips, a flatbed truck, a pork rind, and a Hollywood license plate all in the first verse alone! Those images paint a picture in our minds eye, and by involving our mind an important connection is made with us as we listen.
There’s also a lot of symmetry in this song (the first four lines of the verses to be exact).
Look at my markup of this lyric and you’ll see the symmetry goes as far as pairing action words in the same spot of the second line in each verse.
Tomorrow we'll measure this past weeks #1, co-written by a couple of old friends of mine.
