January Birthdays 
After one has the melody & chorus completed and basically said what you want to say is there a need to add some type of brief musical departure before returning to the basic structure? (I'm not really feeling "stuck" because that would imply that there is otherwise some type of regular creative process going on; this is new territory for me beyond which there be dragons. And "regular creative process" in music is not something that usually occurs with me in the same sentence.) 
That said, many traditional songs were pretty short and I have to respect that; limitations of the 45rpm record I guess. Bridges on longer songs these days often seem to take the song from "sorta" happily energetic and end up on some sinister trail for a bit. (I like this stuff alot, it's just generating some thoughts.)
I recall an opinion Ralf rendered on a song that was along the lines of "very nice, but any longer would be boring." I happened to agree 100% with that at the time. Just wondering if it's really "necessary" nowadays - or any time - to add something just for the sake of getting beyond a couple minutes if you've laid down the melody & chorus that encapsulates what you want to say, or what evokes the inspiration for the song?
For those writers who post here, is a bridge the equivalent of a parenthetical statement in prose? In my previous career I've red-lined alot of my own stuff before passing along to eliminate alot of those. I'm tempted to take the thing I've been working on (first one ev-uh) and just say "that's it, it is what is" and put it to bed.
Really new territory, makes my head hurt. As Duff said, hitting things with sticks & kicking things with your feet seems less complicated. Going to refill coffee cup. Argghhhh.
Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
