Bridge?

Well boxer, this is an unexpected question. As far as I think, a classic song is a strophe followed by a refrain and another strophe. I don't know why, but I think they use chords, used when writing a song. I love to play, and sometimes you play chords, not really fitting when used in a refrain.
My point is, you can use some of these extra chords, to improve your song, the transition from a strophe to a refrain isn't that what you really wanted, and (this is subjective) I use them sometimes, the chords, to fill in an empty space, with the mean goal, to have a better song.
A beautiful example is  NEVER MY LOVE, by the ASSOCIATION. They start with a strophe, followed by a refrain, here in this case Never my love, never my love, and than you have a bridge, not so easy, but if you play the song Strophe Refrain Strophe alone, something is missing and take the bridge playing it for the second time, you can really feel how nice a song can be using a bridge.
There are CHORDIANS who are MUCH BETTER in explaining this topic. What I wrote was just my impression

James McCormick
Administrator

From: Starkville, Mississippi USA
Registered: 2006-03-04
Posts: 1311
E-mail  Website

Hi Boxer
this is how James  guided me with the same question?
Re: Bridge?
Hello Old Doll,
A bridge is usually just one part of a song that has some melodic or lyrical contrast to the rest of the piece (verses & chorus).  Often, the bridge will contain some different chords than the rest of the song.

Usually the bridge has different melody than the other parts.  Most songwriters use a bridge to further dramatize the lyric somehow or to somehow offer a different perspective on the song's topic.

Not all songs have a bridge.  Most pop songs have some sort of bridge usually after a couple of verses and maybe a chorus or two.   I guess it is called a bridge because it is near the middle and connects the beginning and ending of the song?

A chorus, on the other hand, is a part that typically repeats after verses and usually carries the overall theme or idea of the song.  Sometimes a bridge takes the place of a chorus in between verses. 

Listen to just about any popular song and you'll be able to spot the bridge - it's the bit that sticks out from the rest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"That darn Pythagorean Comma thing keeps messing me up!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_comma.

Well boxer, that's right. It is so obvious to use a word, that it took me by surprise.
I gave you information, not technical, I could look on the web, but personal. How do I see and feel a bridge, my impression is not so different than what James and Lena wrote.
It adds something "extra", and I use it sometimes, reason: if you play a song, I have the feeling that something doesn't sound right. I use sometimes chords, extra chords and it add something more, a kind of extra dimension, and there are some great examples, like the association with their beautiful song NEVER my LOVE. You can hear the song on youtube.

Tiberius, the ISBN number is 0-87930-611-4 (Price printed on back of cover is US$19.95)

I know that such a book exists. Will it add an extra value too? Making a song has to come from the heart. I believe that you can find a lot of useful information, and I'll try googling: making a song.

aj1 I agree with you. An own song, is still very personnel, and I do agree that such a book can be helpful, but it ain't writing a song. In fact I have NO RIGHT TO JUDGE A BOOK, MEDICAL PROBLEM, if you don't know what it means. I compare this ALWAYS with a Catholic Priest, who is not allowed to marry, but who teaches about a matrimony. Giving critics is normal these days: you write a book, comment and critics, you play in a movie, same problem, you write a song, they will judge you too, and they start talking about the "meaning of your lyrics". That can give us real funny situations, like A WHITER SHADE OF PALE" by PROCOL HARUM. They searched and searched, even giving comments, on lyrics who are totally "insane", these lyrics meant nothing. What about Obladi-Oblada?

Bridges.  They are what makes playing in a band a pain in the neck and fun at the same time.  They add contrast, texture, and sometimes a little extra oomph to move the story of the song along. 

If you hear a song that's going along just swimmingly and about the time you decide to change the channel and all the sudden the song takes a twist to a different sound and then it pops back into the next verse (often the verse will have a little different feel than the first time) you've just experienced a bridge. 

If you know sissified '70s folk/pop like I do, think about Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver.  It's a song about a place, West Virginia (yeeha).  Then after the first verse and chorus it goes into a minor key and starts singing about a particular person "I hear her voice in the morning hour she calls me, the radio reminds her of my home far away", etc.   Then it goes back into the same major chording but stays personal.  That section that starts "I hear her voice..." is a bridge.  It changes the sound of the song and the course of the song. 

Hope that helps. 

If it doesn't, then think of it as the predictable point in an Alternative Rock song where the rhythm section goes spastic. 

- Zurf