Song Writing Competition Best Peer Review winner Miriam Reichenberg (US) proves how helpful it is to have a solid grasp of the genre in which you are reviewing. In Miriam’s case, her understanding of the inherent musicality of a song allowed her to edit for flow and rhythm, even in the absence of instrumental accompaniment!
Below, Miriam gives us her reviewing tips as well as her current song recommendations!
How did you go about choosing which song to review?
I read many songs when the competition first opened and even reviewed a couple of different ones before settling down to review “A Beautiful Ache.” I first chose to review it because the songwriter and I had connected before, but I also loved the topic of the song. Anything about old books, memories, people, and experiences shaping our future and informing our present is just my thing!
Though song writing may seem similar to poetry on the surface, a successful poem won’t necessarily translate into a song. How did you keep the unique objectives of song writing in mind when offering advice on this piece?
I see song writing as taking the imagery and emotions that poetry invokes and adding an audible component. To get emotions across, poetry benefits from visual tools like punctuation or formating, but song lyrics tend to use repetition and rhythm instead. When I reviewed "A Beautiful Ache,” there wasn’t any music set to it yet. Somehow, I still felt myself humming along with a melody in my mind. This is how I went through the whole song, noticing places where the lyrics didn’t feel natural, where I stumbled over the words that didn’t flow, where I rushed through parts. I mainly looked for repetition, because if done well, the same line or word repeated over and over can build the intensity and weight of a song.
Our judges praised your review for its deft use of the highlighting tool. What tips do you have for other young writers on making the most of this tool?
When writing a review, it’s good to give some general information about how the piece made you feel or what the author could improve on in the peer review comments section. However, really taking the time to go line by line and give in-depth impressions or thoughts on parts of the original piece is extremely helpful to the author. It lets them know what you are thinking in one particular part of the piece, not just the whole thing. Highlight and comment on lines or phrases that make you think, make you confused, make you want to know more. I like to see peer reviews of my writing that make me connect more with someone because I got a better understanding of how their mind works. This makes writing a less solitary experience.
What are a few of your favorite songs right now and why?
I have so many favorites! I primarily listen to songs by the band Sleeping at Last, but I’m also a big fan of classics by The Beatles and absurd rock songs by They Might Be Giants. I’m the kind of person who listens to a new song for a week straight before either getting tired of it or listening to it for another week. This week, I’m a big fan of “The Woods” by Hollow Coves, “Neptune” by Sleeping at Last, and “Bloom” by The Paper Kites. Both the lyrics and the melodies of these songs make me happy. Also, any song with a theme that I can relate to instantly becomes a favorite.
