Power Ballads

You’ve all heard them. Classic rockers (and the not-so) singing awdry lyrics about their undying love for that special someone. With lyrics like:

I'll be there for you
These five words I swear to you
When you breathe I want to be the air for you
I'll be there for you
I'd live and I'd die for you
Steal the sun from the sky for you
Words can't say what love can do
I'll be there for you (I’ll Be There For You - Bon Jovi)

You can really tell what they mean. Really...

Have you ever looked at that special someone and thought to yourself, man, I really love him/her. Maybe I should write them a song… and then you get stuck? Never have crossed your mind then, eh? Power ballads are simple and sweet, and any nimrod (no offence to professional writers) can write one. So, for all you non-nimrods, I’m going to show you how.

Structure

No power ballad can succeed without a formal structure. The average structure goes something like:

Verse 1

Chorus

Verse 2 (rather similar to V 1)

Chorus

--Solo of some form—

Bridge

Chorus (may be slightly modified from original)

Verses

Verses are usually 4-6 lines of mushy “oh-no-shes-leaving-so-I-need-to-make-her-stay-without-forceable-confinement-charges”, like:

Guess this time you're really leaving
I heard your suitcase say goodbye
And as my broken heart lies bleeding
You say true love in suicide

Another common theme in these songs is the “stalker”, like:

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Well, every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure

Then, either another short phrase follows, or it goes directly into the chorus…

Chorus

The chorus is usually a simple reprise of the song’s theme and title, which has something to do with love or something else that’s rather stalker-ish. The structure of a chorus usually goes:

Song Title

Synonymous reprise

Something totally irrelevant

Song title

Then, some bands add extra spice by adding a second part to their chorus, which structure is like:

Slightly different theme

Synonymous reprise

Something totally irrelevant

Song title

A good example of this is also from “I’ll Be There For You” by Bon Jovi:

I'll be there for you
These five words I swear to you
When you breathe I want to be the air for you
I'll be there for you
I'd live and I'd die for you
Steal the sun from the sky for you
Words can't say what a love can do
I'll be there for you

Why am I using so much Bon Jovi? It’s probably because they’re the “kings” of the power ballad.

But on to other things:

Verse 2

Basically, it’s just the first verse, with a bunch of synonyms thrown in, but, occasionally, it could be a “please-oh-please-oh-please-stay-with-me-because-I-love-you-so” type plea. Other songs usually will use another stalker-like perspective.

Another chorus usually plays, which is followed by the ever-important solo:

Now the guitar solo in a power ballad is usually a little different than a high-energy song type of solo. First off, It’s a little slower-paced, kind of like the song. It will be a bit more melodic than a regular face-melting solo. Keep it in with the key, or do a slight key change for a neat effect (like G to D, etc...) Don’t go from a sharp key to a flat key unless you can make it work very well. Avoid a major key to minor key transition as well; it just doesn’t work.

Now For The Bridge

The bridge is a few lines, which keeps in line with the theme, and it may make use of a past line, or the title.

Finally, there is generally a reprise of the chorus. It either is used in its original form, or a few lines are altered slightly. Usually following this final chorus you will find some sort of vocal ad lib.

That’s the dissection of your basic ballad. Some are different, but for the most part, this is how they go. Sorry if I got a little lengthy, I tried to keep it brief.

Now you can go off, my young grasshopper, and write your own power ballad. Just don’t ask me to help you rhyme something with their name though.

Comments

[timesignal]

I remeber that someone did this article before

[EatsP1es]

:P sad

[GNR4EVER]

Not bad, Not bad at all...

[tttredfluk]

kudos for giving examples to support ur article

[G-Rock]

Nothing too interesting, but power ballads themselves are not. Good job on breakin' em down.

[ZoSo.Led.Zep.]

mmm sweet power ballad solos, i always think of the first solo from guns n roses' november rain

[SRX700]

Great article. You've broken it down well enough for anyone to understand.

[noodles is god]

genious

[Danno13]

great article.

[hell awaits 666]

good

[voodoochild175]

Thought it was goin to be yet another of those rubbish articles, but not too shabby. November rain has gotta be one of the best power ballads out there.

[Tedrick]

You got the format of songs right! Good article

[gpderek09]

i got one bone to pick though. or a couple. i think knokin on heaven's door is a powerballad. 's' not excactly about a girl now is it? and guns n' roses are "kings" of the power ballad. i felt like sayin that. sorry if you think its "ignorant".

[SingingSabre]

You say that switching keys from major to minor doesn't work, but why doesn't it work?!

Entertaining article...I can't decide whether you meant it as satire or as educational. I'm guessing it's somewhere inbetween those options.

Cheers!

[Slashfan#1]

First off GnR is not a power ballad band ( get in the ring, its so easy, shotgun blues, ect) i think there more known for being the first band to put really foul and lude music out as a matter fact they were the first band to have a album released with a parental advisory sticker on it ( APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION ). But anyhow the article was good.

[lacey_the_crazy]

Not bad...

[Lucero]

bleh. november rain? patience? dont cry? good power ballads, but i think they fit the category. and who cares at all about parental advisory? its just a sticker, nothing to be proud of

[rockinlewis]

i dont like power ballads, but good article nonetheless.

[DiscipleOfRock]

Haha good article.

Time to go write my very own power ballad now...

[Flowerpot]

Power ballads rule ok.
Especially 'Save Me' by Queen.

[underaidbassist]

A few points:

I never said I liked power ballads. i just decided one day to dissect one. This is the result.

Some of them, however, are alright.

I realise that not all power ballads are about girls. Knockin' on Heaven's Door is a good example of a power ballad with a deeper meaning.

I am not a music expert: this is purely my opinion on the subject.

And GnR are.... well...they're both.

What should I dissect next...hmm..

[Hosscat]

Good stuff, good topic.

Could have a little more history of the "Hair" bands of the eighties. They'd all break big with a rock song, and then the second or third hit would be the obligatory POWER BALLAD. It became a formula for success.

Have to mention one of the first and best ... from a hair band, i.e., "Beth" by Kiss.

[guitarist163]

good article, 4*'s

[LedZeppelin]

Haha, nice, so true about the "stalker" aspect. I kept thinking "Don't Cry...November Rain...Estranged..." as I read this. Good job.

[jimmypage2]

Prince is the man who put parental advisory on albums

[uselesssouls]

GnR is the greatest at what ever they want to do and chinese democracy will be great
..Much Love

[omega5]

pretty good, could've used a list of notable power ballads

[Kartman]

Your article's pretty funny. It's good though, because there are alot of power ballad stuff out there, ranging from GNR's "Sweet Child o' Mine" to Blink-182's "I Miss You." Good Article. 4 stars.

[BlindingStrings]

Great Article, dry humor, but great article.

[voodoochild175]

Kartman:
Your article's pretty funny. It's good though, because there are alot of power ballad stuff out there, ranging from GNR's "Sweet Child o' Mine" to Blink-182's "I Miss You." Good Article. 4 stars.

I miss you by Blink 182 does not deserve to be called a power ballad. They shud stick to wat their good at, shitty pop punk songs, and leave the proper music to good bands

[craig_thomson]

Does nobody remember that knocking on heaven's door was originally by Dylan and nothing at all like a power ballad? well, i guess you could call the guns n roses version one...but still, it can't be a real power ballad without the traditional, 'oh baby please don't leave me, i love you more than anything' lyrics. good article, highly amusing, if nothing else

[darkstar9814]

Good article with good humor... 5 stars

[sexualrocket]

Overall good and cool article.

[Lacquer_Head]

something totally irrelevant... lol how true... good article

[Design4Life]

i like it. nothing like a good power ballad...save me by queen is good.

[Captain Colon]

hhahahahahaahahahahahahaha!! This is great! I love playing power ballads

[underaidbassist]

Thanks for all the comments people...

I should expand my last comment by saying that "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is not a power ballad, in it's original form. GnR did, however, transform it into some sort of super meld; they made a classic folk rock song into a sort of ballad without the general ballad qualities.

Don't even get me started on the Avril Lavigne version though. T'was a waste of time...

THat's all for now...

[IzZy_sTRaDlLiN']

I like November rain and don't cry by guns n roses they r my faves

[Slashfan#1]

Yeah she ***ed that one up!

[younggunforlife]

i agree with underaidbassist...bon jovi are definatly the kings of the power ballad, maybe I'm biased but they have certainly written more and better power ballads than probably any other band.

[underaidbassist]

Thanks Younggunforlife.

Slashfan#1:
Yeah she ***ed that one up!

Most definitely

[underaidbassist]

And Blink-182's "I miss You" is DEFINITELY not a power ballad.

You actually have to be relatively decent to produce a decent "power ballad"
"I Miss You" is not a power ballad. It's a harmonic wail from the bowels of pop-punk. Not that there's any problem with that. I just don't appreciate whiny over-harmonized "music" the same way I do other forms of rock.
Their bassist is a one-trick kind of guy.
However, this isn't a band-bashing forum, so I'll carry on with my relative normalcy now.

[monkeyspks]

good.

[Screech]

good article but you could do a power ballad without a solo if you do an acoustic version of it

[metal_til_im_60]

I always thought November Rain was an epic, not a ballad.

[wicked_angel]

True any "nimrod" can write a ballad, but how many can write a truly great ballad?

[Man_In_The_Box]

I LOVE POWER BALLADS!!!..

[Lymbe]

Ha ha ha ha that article was great 5

[clwy87]

not bad...not bad...

[griff1987]

Poison were the masters of the power ballads, great band. Hair metal kicked ass and it definitely deserves a comeback.
(BTW it was sum rapper who was the first person to get the black and white parental advisory sticker)

[griff1987]

you've got here (in the verses bit)-

And as my broken heart lies bleeding
You say true love in suicide

Few power ballads are actually about suicide or anything really depressive. That kind of stuff came along in the early 90s with artists like nirvana who just whined about how much life sucks. the majority of power ballads actually have positive messages behind them (eg Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue and Life Goes On by Poison to name but a few)

[Jpinales2004]

Fedaykin:
Yup, Bon Jovi SUX

Come on..... don't diss Bon Jovi. They may not be exceptional but they are nowhere near bad. At least to me.

[Mental Hop]

Is this satire?

[WeirdMariachi]

Aww *** good job for ***ing it up for me I was thinking about making a ballad about a girl.*Does evil grin* (But no one ever said anything about making a ballad about your friends grandma)

[Steph Bets]

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
that was an awesome article

[GNRobsessed013]

i liked this article. It was good and made me laugh sort of, idunno why.

ZoSo.Led.Zep.:
mmm sweet power ballad solos, i always think of the first solo from guns n roses' november rain

Great Solo, Great Song, Great Band.

Spam deleted.

[AnnaPlaysGuitar]

An article that doesn't suck.

Cheers!

[Lonely_wolf11]

Good article, a power ballad is something good to keep girl wet.
Put some power ballad in your car with your girl and then let me now...

[kirk_rules!]

good, well-written article,

but your idea of a power ballad is a little different from mine.

Fade to Black by Metallica is a ballad and it has nothing to do with love. (It's about their gear getting stolen in Boston on a tour.)

[kirk_rules!]

I don't really agree with the "follow the guidelines of a typical ballad" thing. It just doesn't work for me. And I'm pretty sure bands don't sit and say "okay,I want the chorus to go after the first verse." Ballads are very "feely". And what comes out comes out.

[Shredder_Sixx]

Just a little thing to point out to G N R fans...

Knockin on Heaven's Door was originally by Bob Dylan. And his ballads have always been unique, not nessecarily love ballads.

Very informative article though.

[Shredder_Sixx]

griff1987:
Poison were the masters of the power ballads, great band. Hair metal kicked ass and it definitely deserves a comeback.

Indeed. Hair metal didn't whine, it just played. There's nothing around anymore that could really hold a candle to that type of energy.

Great...now I'm depressed about the current music scene...I think I'll go listen to my Poison CDs to keep me occupied.

[floyd_rose]

Yeah.. really liked this article... I printed it to show it to my bandmates... they need to learn

[VoodooChild15]

# Song Title
# Synonymous reprise
# Something totally irrelevant
# Song title

Hahaha, I love it.

[flame843]

Fade to Black by Metallica is a ballad and it has nothing to do with love. (It's about their gear getting stolen in Boston on a tour.)

Oh, God, that's depressing. I always thought it was about suicide.

Decent article, the part about "song itle/synonymous reprise/something completely irrelevant/song title" is so true, it's funny.

[TimmyEatWorld]

no offense, but i think that was horrible.

[107]

i dont really understand power ballads,isnt ballad meant to tell a story? i was under the impression that was the whole point of a ballad, and no(t many) power ballads do this, so do they really qualify as ballads?

[buckethead101]

I f***.. can't get enough of power ballads. Man it makes me sick. Broken by Seether featuring Amy Lee is a great power ballad to me and yeah I guess that Bon Jovi were the kings of power ballad. When I'm writing a slow but powerful song, I just think of Bon Jovi's songs.

floyd_rose:
Yeah.. really liked this article... I printed it to show it to my bandmates... they need to learn

well I guess that I will do that too.

[chrus]

Way to put a formula on a writing a song and totally taking everything rock n' roll is about and taking a shit on it.

[WeirdMariachi]

Ballads make girls wet in cars ? Geez I had no idea I have to try that when I get my van. Thanks for the advice.

[Clapton101]

Journey is the king of Power Ballads...that or Queen.

[Dark_Sanity]

No motley crue? they didn't do too many power Ballads but when they did they made a few, A FEW, of the best power ballads i can think of. But yeah this was a pretty good article.
and yeah i guess bon jovi deserves the title of "kings of power ballads" alittle more than the crue does...oh well

[Shredder_Sixx]

The Crue had that one that sounded like it was between Sid Vicious and Nancy Spurgen....along with Without You, Home Sweet Home....and if it qualifies, "Don't go away mad (just Go away)"

Bon Jovi has too many to count..

[underaidbassist]

Okay a few more things from me:

WeirdMariachi:
Aww *** good job for ***ing it up for me I was thinking about making a ballad about a girl.*Does evil grin* (But no one ever said anything about making a ballad about your friends grandma)

Umm... that's f***.. scary.

chrus:
Way to put a formula on a writing a song and totally taking everything rock n' roll is about and taking a shit on it.

I know that in rock music there are no real rules, but this is a basic dissection for those who want to know.

In order to take a shit on rock 'n roll, it needs to be in the toilet, which some of it seems to be these days.

Good ol' Motley Crue...

Can we stop the war of the "who's-king-of-power-ballads" already?

I never thought of "Broken as a power ballad before. Just goes to show what I know (not much, obviously).

Now can we all just get back to our relatively normal lives?

[ramstormrage]

.

[ramstormrage]

yeah stop it already..

[Horace]

Well didn't MCR make Helena about a friend's Grandma?

[)Eric(Draven]

I do not like any of my chemical romance's new stuff, but some of their old shit is ok. Anyway; Helena was about Gerard and Mikey's grandma.

chrus:
Way to put a formula on a writing a song and totally taking everything rock n' roll is about and taking a shit on it.
[POSTED: 12 June 2005 - 11:12]|

Uh, Power Ballas are formulaic. This is so true. This whole article is completely 100% true. It made me laugh a little as well. 5/5.

[WilliamVN'R]

hmmmm great article, power ballads work best when GN'R do em!

[ibanez-gnr14]

Yah GN'R rules! Who gives a crap about bon jovi, i'll be there for you, how about sweet child o mine!

[ac/guns n zep]

Its so funny how you called Steven Tyler a stalker.

Also is it true that Appetite for Destruction was the first album with a parental advisory sticker?

[Sqeeezie]

i think it was

[ac/guns n zep]

I thought Zappa had the first album with a parental advisory sticker

[jpburns88]

No, Zappa's Jazz From Hell was the first instrumental album to receive a parental advisory label. I'll say it again: Zappa's INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM Jazz from Hell got a parental advisory label.

[jpburns88]

wait, weren't we talking about power ballads?

[jpburns88]

and to the guy who said adding a formula was shitting on rock and roll? Rock and roll was based on the blues and the same intervallic chord prgression until the beatles came along. Guess what? That's shit's still rock and roll. Who cares if there's a formula? If the message and intent of the writer comes across and you can feel it in the pit of your stomach when it comes on, then who gives a flying fig newton if it's "formulaic." That's why when that damn chromatic chord thing at the beginning of "Home Sweet Home" comes on i still crank it up to eleven.

[underaidbassist]

Okay, you must forgive me here, because I'm having a blonde moment (I'm entitled; I am blonde). How did the parental advisory sticker come up when the subject of this article that I wrote to help people who were interested?

And why does it matter if it is a hell of a good album anyways?

Just wondering...

[underaidbassist]

And I meant to finish my thought, about my article being on Power Ballads. Y'know, you've all gotten me confused!

[jpburns88]

i did try to get it back to that with my ranting..maybe i should do my own column...?

[underaidbassist]

I thin it would be worth a shot...

[fender duff]

power ballad or not November Rain is an awesome song

[diablo_man]

lesser known power ballad bands: april wine(canadian band) and Scorpions. Still Loving You is a tear inducing song in tone, lyrics, and the guitar

[diablo_man]

good article man

[kingurth]

Wow, it's been nearly a year and a half since the last comment, but I feel I must interject: the Frank Zappa instrumental album received a parental advisory for the title of one of the tracks contained the word "G-Spot." So there was legitimate reason for it.

[kingurth]

Actually, tomorrow it'll have been a year and a half.

[Blasphemy10]

I think you all forgot who is claimed to have invented the power ballad and made a musical career playing power ballads....REO Speedwagon!!!

[Wolfinator-x]

The very first power ballad (Home Sweet Home) had almost nothing to do with love or loss. It was about the band getting home after running away from it.

And by the way, Blasphemy10, Motley Crue invented the power ballad, with Home Sweet Home in 1985.