Songs in Fiction

Songs can play a role in storytelling. However, there are several things to consider when including a song in your fiction–especially if you’re creating an original song for the work. In this article, I delve into a variety of such considerations:

• songs as a literary device
• formatting songs in fiction, including how I formatted my song and why
• song structure
• why an author would want to write a song for their work as opposed to using someone else’s song
  • namely, why I wrote a song for The Beauty of a Spiral
• the songwriting process (if you’re creating an original song for your book)

*The article does NOT recommend a specific way to format songs in fiction. Why? Different authors have different visions and different style standards. Another thing you won’t find here is a “How To” on song structure and songwriting.

I am not an expert on songwriting or song structure. I don’t even play an instrument. So if you’re looking for professional songwriting advice, you’re in the wrong place!

Song as a Literary Device

A song is a group of words meant to be sung. It “sings” on its own when constructed with words that sound good together. Like a good poem or any good literary work, a song evokes imagery and emotion. It tells a story. It can even help a story.

As a literary device, a song can :

• symbolize or depict the transformation of a character
• abstractly or directly tell a story
• deliver theme(s) in an attention-grabbing way
• set a mood
• complement a scene’s pacing, theme(s), mood, etc.
• bring musical flair to a scene
• deliver a cryptic message
• deliver a clear message
• establish or complement the book’s aesthetic
• offer insight into a fictitious world and/or a character

Formatting Songs in Fiction

Songs can be presented in a number of ways in fiction. They should be offset from the rest of the text in a clear fashion. Proper formatting clues the reader into whether a song is sung by a character, played on a device, or simply mentioned.

I couldn’t find a preferred style in The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), 17^th ed., for song formatting. Therefore, below l use a few successful books and my imagination to exemplify how an author could format a song in a fictitious work:

• verse (in poetry, stanza) format: left-aligned, italicized or not, quotes or not, a hanging indent for longer lines 
  • See the “Deep in the Meadow” song in Suzanne Collins’s  The Hunger Games (2008), the first book in her The Hunger Games series (Chapter 18).
    • Note: main character Katniss, who also narrates, sings the song.
    • Fairly lengthy, it’s italicized and without quotation marks. The formatting works because it’s clear that Katniss sings this song:
      1. In the same scene, another character tells her to sing.
      2. Katniss gives a brief history of the song.
      3. Right before singing, she says, “I give a small cough, swallow hard, and begin.”
      4. She interrupts the italicized song twice with brief narration (paperback, 234-5; Kindle version, 202-3).
    • Compare this song with Collins’s “Hanging Tree” song in her  2009 novel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second book in this series. As with “Deep in the Meadow,” each new line of “Hanging Tree” is indented and italicized. However, there’s no hanging indent for longer lines (Ch. 9, paperback 754-5; trilogy ebook 202-3).
      • This exemplifies how an author’s formatting style can vary or evolve.
    • My writing software, currently Vellum, formats verse with hanging indents for longer lines. I choose whether to italicize or not.
      • The software doesn’t specify whether the “verse” option is for songs or poetry. (The two are similar, if not the same.) 
• block-style: indented, left-aligned, italicized or not, and quoted or not.
  • In 1984, George Orwell formats song verses in italicized, block-style-quote fashion, with quotation marks. A couple of examples are on page 194, but single verses are scattered throughout the book. Characters often sing these bits of song, which could explain his quotation mark choice. (He treated it as he would dialogue, adding the italics, I surmise, to emphasize the flowing words of song.)
    • In contrast, his quote from the Declaration of Independence is italicized and block-quoted with no quotation marks (278).
• centered and italicized, as in The Beauty of a Spiral.
• an image of a sheet of paper (or whatever) with a song scribbled on it (I’ve never seen it done, but it’s possible.)
• handwritten font (Again, I’ve never seen it done for a song, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be or hasn’t been done.)
  • If using this option, indicate somehow that the text is a song and cite accordingly.
• other: use your imagination and common sense

Non-negotiable rules for songs in fiction

1. Cite the source of the song if you didn’t write it yourself. Copyright law requires it, it helps the reader, and it’s simply the right thing to do. Citations can take various forms, as mentioned in Section 14.2 of the CMOS.
   • If lyrics are mentioned or sung in dialogue, a character or the narrator should somehow reference the source.
2. Offset the song from the rest of the text.
   • Identify it as a song, as opposed to a quote pulled from another type of work.
   • Clue readers in. They should be able to decipher whether the song is sung, quoted, or played on a device or in the background.
3. The song should complement the story’s theme and surrounding text and action. It should add to the mood, spark emotion, and carry story-specific symbolism.

Who makes the final formatting decision?

The author? The publisher? The editor? It depends on the situation. Traditionally published authors might have to format within the confines of a particular style, probably with the help of their editor, while independent authors have more freedom. But with that freedom comes responsibility. Self-indulgence could come across as selfish, as if the author didn’t consider ease of reading. Funky formatting could frustrate a reader, causing them to skip over the song or worse, close the book. Clarity matters.

Note: Factor in space considerations when deciding how to format a song.

When in doubt about formatting a song in your fiction, consult a copy editor. If you can’t afford one, look at the format of song lyrics in successful novels. You may find a formatting model that works for you. Remember to consider whether the song is part of dialogue, quoted by the narrator, or the background music of a scene.

Writing a Song: What I Considered

I wanted to write my own lyrics for The Beauty of a Spiral because I know the song’s subject and “writer” better than anyone else. I considered how I could use the song as an effective literary device (see the list above) and based my songwriting decisions on the following:

• the (teen) voice of the song’s “composer”
  • This affected word choice.
• symbolic elements of the story
• how the words sounded together
  • I employed poetic devices. (Think: euphony, assonance, rhyme, etc.)
• how the lines flowed 
• how they affected pacing and mood
• how each verse and the bridge flowed with the action
• how the song meshed with the meaning of the scene and the overall story (I wanted it to parallel, in a symbolic way, the character arc of the song’s subject.)  
• FORMATTING . . .

How I Formatted a Song in My Novel

In my novel The Beauty of a Spiral, a character narrates while skating to music she (aka I) wrote. Verses lay in various parts of the scene to complement action and mood. Italicized, center-aligned lyrics reflect the flowing movements of the character and place the song’s subject “center stage.” Upper-cased first letters of lines add to the song’s poetic essence. When formatting, I also considered the song’s story arc.

Song Structure

Recently, I found an article by MasterClass that discusses song structure (“Songwriting 101: Learn Common Song Structures” (August 10, 2021). My song loosely follows a common song structure, which includes the following song parts: intro, verse, chorus, bridge, and outro.

Intro

The intro of my song, which I’ll call “Like the Butterfly,” starts off short and sweet. The “sweet” tone reflects the main character’s sixteen-year-old voice and how Madz perceives a young friend and that friend’s plight. Short lines grow longer, slowing the pace as they introduce the subject’s story. Imperfect rhymes give the lyrics a musical ring. 

Verse

I condensed the verses at the start of the song to reflect the entanglement of the song’s subject: a butterfly “tangled in weeds” (her ailment tethers her “wings”), as the intro depicts. Even the line “Like the butterfly, the one that caught your eye” is on one line. Normally, I’d separate those lines (Like the butterfly/The one that caught your eye). At a glance, the verse cluster resembles a butterfly with imperfect wings, symbolizing the subject’s plight.

You’re fighting for a life you’ve yet to live,
Dying for a breath you long to breathe:
The air outside these walls, unleashed—
Outside these walls, where you might fall,
But at least 
You’ll see stars shimmering,
Heaven, and angel wings glimmering 
Like the butterfly, the one that caught your eye
In the garden.

Chorus

I kept the structure of the chorus consistent because doing so made sense: the chorus emphasizes theme(s) and is a repeated, consistent element of the song. See below:

Some of us fight and win,
But in the struggle, we hurt and spin—
Taking toxic hits, crying in the pits,
Wondering, Will this ever end?

But you, who fought the battle and lost the war,
Whose soul Hell rattled but never tore—
Who never made seven,
Who flies in Heaven—

You shared a smile with me,
And in my misery, 
I found a friend.

Bridge

According to the MasterClass songwriting article, the bridge comes near the end of a song, usually between the second and third chorus. My bridge comes between the first and second (the last) chorus, which is okay with me. Skating music is often an edited-down version of the original.

The bridge of my song ups the pace, complementing the main character’s action and the song’s climax. The words intend to motivate listeners and prepare them for the butterfly’s unleashing:

Break out; break free
Beyond the Sea of Dreams—
Dreamt but will never be—
The Sea of Mothers and Fathers 
Whose hurt you feel,
The Sea of Sisters and Brothers 
Who fight the will
To flee to a place pain-free.

Break out; break free
To the stars, shimmering;
To Heaven, your angel wings glimmering
Like the butterfly,
The one that caught your eye 
In the garden.

Outro

A second chorus precedes my outro, the end of the song, where the pace slows. The lyrics sit in neatly arranged verses that contrast the cluttered verses in the song’s beginning. This signifies (somewhat cryptically) the butterfly’s unleashing, bringing her story to a healing end:

So little, so sweet—
Butterfly among bees—
God carries you outside these walls,
Where you don’t fall.

Your wings untether.
You’re light as a feather,
Flying to the stars, glimmering;
To Heaven, your angel wings shimmering

Like the butterfly, 
The one who flutters by in a memory 
And shares a smile with me—
My friend.

Conclusion

Songs can be an effective literary tool but should be formatted in a way the reader will appreciate. Writers should consider the reader, thus clarity, when formatting a song. They should also consider style requirements (if they apply), formatting styles in successful novels, and how the song and its formatting complement the story. While styles can evolve or vary, proper citation of someone else’s work is a must.

Sometimes, authors create their own songs for a novel. Such songs can be an effective literary device that sheds insight into a character’s perspective or world. Songs can also set a mood, affect pacing, abstractly parallel a character’s journey, and more. Unless the novel is made into a movie, readers must imagine what the song sounds like. But with the right lyrics and effective formatting, a song will sing on its own!