Excellent subject easybeat. I've thought about bringing it up before in the songwriters forum. How much is too much or too little? I've heard songs that would have been great had they been a verse or two shorter, but dragging it out just seems to bore the listener.
In my opinion one of the greatest songs ever written was "My Girl", recorded by the Temptations. 1st verse has only 17 words, 2nd verse 20 words, 3rd verse 18 words. Chorus has only 18 words (unless you want to count 6 words used by the back-round singers) and the "turn" is just "Hey, Hey, Hey" sung twice. Simple but effective and one of the most recognizable songs ever recorded. I try to use the song as a "model" to try and condense my songs down to the basics while still getting the message across. So far I've never even came close.
DE
I want to read my own water, choose my own path, write my own songs