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In the first performance article we talked about Rhonda Carlson’s advice on having/creating a backstory to whatever song you are going to sing. The more detailed and personally invested you can make the character singing the song, the easier it is to inhabit that story and sell it… but to sell it, you can’t sell it to a blank wall, or even an arbitrary personality. You’ve got to sing the song to an ACTUAL person, ideally in an actual place.
Let’s take the ‘Someone like you’ example
Specific (but made-up) backstory for the singer: “We dated for years, we were even engaged… but that seems like so long ago… and just now he didn’t even recognise me when we passed each other in the street…”
Our more detailed backstory perhaps can be dramatically enhanced AND focused by creating a ‘where’ to go with that story. Think about it…
Why would our protagonist be saying that story out loud?
Where on earth would they choose to share that story aloud? And to whom?
What context would that make sense in?
An example of WHERE that I think of…
I could picture this occurring just after the person with the backstory (our singer/protagonist) has just been blanked by their ex-fiancee in the street. I picture them being out early with a friend on a harshly-lit winter’s day on the high street, and our protagonist has stopped dead in their tracks due to being blanked. Their ex-fiancee just walked straight by them and into a restaurant where they are greeted warmly by a throng of friends, maybe even another partner or spouse, whilst being completely oblivious they walked by the protagonist.
The WHO
Now we’ve got a where, the who could very easily be the friend they are walking with at the time who doesn’t know the backstory. The friend is concerned and asks them what’s wrong, what has gotten them so upset.
Suddenly the where the story comes to light and who the story is being told to gives greater nuance to the telling of the backstory.
Whilst this is not tied to the backstory of the song we have made up, it IS tied to how we convey the message of that story to different people. E.g. If you were with your boss in the above scenario, how you would tell the story would be completely different if it were a good friend, or a casual acquaintance, or a current romantic partner.
As a hint of the next part, think about how difficult would that be to tell that backstory of an ex-fiancee within the song ‘Someone like you’ to your now husband/wife? How would each of those people react to that story? How would you even phrase it?!
HINT: This leads nearly onto tip number 3, but you’ll have to wait til next time for that one!
Summary
The WHERE and WHO could literally be anything you like, but it MUST be specific and intentional. No story we ever tell is to a generic person in a generic place. We retell the same story different ways to different people in different places BECAUSE of the difference in location context and the relationships we have with those people. We can observe this social rule by figuring out a where and a who to enhance and focus the retelling of our backstory.
Learn More: Related Articles
If you want to learn more about performing and improving your own performances you may enjoy these related articles:
Performance Anxiety: What is it, where does it come from, what can we do about it
Performance Workshop with Rhonda Carlson: Part 1
Performance Workshop with Rhonda Carlson: Part 3
Ease, Strain, Time to think: Improve your performances easily
5 Simple Tips to Improve Your Performances
Pacing yourself: Micro- and macro- rests in songs and sets