Something to Say

There's nothing that annoys me more than when a writer has nothing to say.

I'm thinking particularly about songwriters here. One can tell when a writer is bursting with things to say and just happens to be writing a song or when he's bursting to write a song and just happens to be saying something.

And no part of a song reflects whether a writer actually has something to say better than the bridge.

If a writer's words are vapid, it will be even all the more obvious in the bridge. On the other hand, of course, if a writer does have lyrics with substance, we will usually be treated to a good bridge, where we will then learn another part of the "story," get an additional and vital piece of it.

I don't think it would be very nice to give an example of an artist who doesn't have much to say in a song. Instead, I'll just give you an example of a fantastic bridge.

In Link Park's "Somewhere I Belong," Mike Shinoda and Chester alternate singing parts, with Shinoda singing the main part of the verses.  Chester sings the chorus. But look at the bridge, which Chester also sings. Look how good the bridge of this song is, how much it adds to the story.

Below, I'm going to use colors to help you identify the parts of the song. After reading the lyrics, have a close look at the text in green; that's the bridge. Enjoy.

"Somewhere I Belong"

When this began,
I had nothing to say 
And I'd get lost in the nothingness inside of me (I was confused)
And I let it all out to find that I'm not the only person with these things in mind (inside of me)
But all the vacancy the words revealed
Is the only real thing that I got left to feel (nothing to lose)
Just stuck, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own,
And the fault is my own
I want to heal, I want to feel,
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long (erase all the pain 'til it's gone)
I want to heal, I want to feel
Like I'm close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong
And I've got nothing to say
I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face (I was confused) 
Looking everywhere only to find that it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind (so what am I?)
What do I have but negativity?
'Cause I can't justify the way everyone is looking at me (nothing to lose)
Nothing to gain, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own,
And the fault is my own
I want to heal, I want to feel,
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I've held so long (erase all the pain 'till it's gone)
I want to heal, I want to feel
Like I'm close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong
I will never know myself until I do this on my own
And I will never feel,
Anything else until my wounds are healed
I will never be
Anything 'til I break away from me
And I will break away, and find myself today
I want to heal, I want to feel
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long (erase all the pain til it's gone)
I want to heal, I want to feel,
Like I'm close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong
I want to heal I want to feel like I'm,
Somewhere I belong,
I want to heal I want to feel like I'm somewhere I belong
Somewhere I belong