Falling in love with bridges

[Earwitness]

This past year has been very good for me in making up songs--just a period of connecting with the music. Anyway, a common thing that happens is that I first have two interacting chord progressions that serve as verses/choruses, and somewhere along the way, I'll work out a nice counterpoint bridge part that is originally meant to be a little entertaining intermission/palate cleanser/change of pace (both musically and lyrically, if there are lyrics).

So, then, I start to love the bridge, love it as much as the other parts. So, I can't stand it, but to play it twice, or maybe even tempted to play it more, so that the song becomes a three-melody piece. I suppose that's okay, but it makes the songs more involved and the bridge forfeits its position as a unique break from the verse/chorus line.

Is this a common songwriter temptation?

[RedJoker]

Finally a reply!!!

I would agree that you no longer have a bridge at that point. I'm no expert but my first inclination would be to just keep that melody in a bag of tricks and use it for another song. During the Coursera songwriting class, they made a really good point that a real life bridge takes you from one place to another. A song bridge should do the same thing. It isn't the destination, just a way to travel. On my songs that have a bridge, I tend to use the IV, V and vi chords in a bridge to finally resolve on the I chord at the conclusion so that I 'land' on the last verse.

But I'm just learning so I'm sure there are far more sophisticated ways of handling it.

[catdaddy]

I'll give you another very belated reply. I don't think it's a common temptation but it's not unheard of.

How you use a bridge is up to you. As long as the song as a whole still works for the listener then whatever you do structurally is ok. There aren't any hard and fast rules in songwriting. However if you deviate from the 'norm' there are risks which you yourself have already noted.

In my songwriting I often utilize a bridge for the effect of key modulation. It's something that I think adds interest and prevents listener boredom. In most cases using it once accomplishes that. There are times though that I've used a bridge twice. In most of these cases I found that bridge placement immediately after an instrumental break that was based on the verse/chorus chord structure gave me a second modulation that prevented over repetition of the verse/chorus, and provided a nice palate cleanser/change of pace as you put it. Probably worth mentioning that I seldom use the same chord structure for my instrumental breaks as for the verse/chorus. Helps to avoid too much repetition and adds a little element of surprise for the listener, almost like a pseudo-bridge.

Breaking the rules or inventing new ones is part of the songwriting experience. Using this freedom is one of the reasons that I find the creative process to be so much fun. How far you go is your choice, and as long as the end result engages the listener then the song has accomplished its ultimate purpose.

[rick-slo]

You can chord progression from one section to the next without need for any bridges per se. Maybe that is the way for you to approach it.

[Earwitness]

See, the squeaky wheel gets the grease! (I had commented on another thread that I got no response--thanks Red Joker!)

I sure appreciate the input.

Maybe saving the piece for another song is an idea--I may tend to "kitchen sink" things, which is why I asked.