Watch the video again and notice where each song section begins. The bridge is four lines starting with “Thanks to you…” It provides a peak moment in which the singer clearly reveals the message behind the song with plenty of attitude and strength. (For more on writing a strong pre-chorus read “Hit” Shortcuts #26 and #86.) By this time, the writers just want to get us to that powerhouse chorus. Notice that the second pre-chorus is only half the length of the first. The first pre-chorus section starts with the line “You think you got the best of me.” After the second verse, the pre-chorus starts with “You heard that I was starting over.” Both sections build intensity and anticipation going into the chorus by raising the note range of the melody and picking up the pace of the notes and words. It’s double the length we would expect, repeating the phrase “What doesn’t kill you…” four times in each chorus – that’s fourteen times before the song is over! This is a good thing because the chorus (beginning with the line “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”) is quite long. The verses in this song are short, just four lines. It’s a great combination.Īt 3:42, the song is on the long side, but once it gets rolling, there’s no stopping it! The basic song structure is:īRIDGE / CHORUS / REPEAT 2nd HALF OF CHORUS It has enough pumping beat to work in the Dance Clubs and enough lyric depth and craft to make it stands alone as a Pop/Rock song. It also made it into the top ten on the Hot 100, Pop, and Dance Club charts.
This is a great Pop/Rock song that went to #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary (AC) chart.
Writers: Jörgen Elofsson, Ali Tamposi, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin. The Shortcut numbers refer to specific chapters in my books “Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting” (“Hit”) and “Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV” (“Film/TV”).