Format
There is also a reason why the Verse, or Verse/Channel/chorus format works. Thirty seconds or four-six lines are what you should need to set up the initial settting for your story. Like a television show or movie, you ESTABLISH the characters, the settings, the visual furniture displayed. It is like people are walking into a room and you are introducing the newcomer to who they are.
The CHORUS is the emotional part that makes you FEEL something. It gives the listener a way to become involved in the song too. They can sing along. The HOOK is the entire reason FOR LISTENING, SINGING, AND BEING INVOLVED IN THE SONG.
The second verse expands the action, develops the story. It introduces more characters or continues the senario. Or it does back story telling us what happened BEFORE the story got started. But it has to encapsulate the action and keep it moving. If it repeats information already introduced, people get bored and the "been there, done that, MOVE ON!" attitude.
So you come back to your CHORUS again, so people can say "Hey I remember this, this is MY PART!" And it reintroduces the HOOK which is the REASON WE ARE HERE! Part.
The BRIDGE is usually done as a WRAP UP, or lawyers summation. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we have presented the evidence of this song. Now you have to make your decision on this song and pass judgement on if it meets your standards or not!"
The final chorus reminds people of WHY we are a part of it, and WHY THEY SHOULD CARE. And one more time they get to BE A PART OF THE SONG!
All of that usually wraps up in three and a half minutes or under. That keeps people involved. If you go much farther they really don't stay involved.
If you watch television and use a stop watch, there are about 3-3 1/2 minutes of commericals about every 12-15 minute segments. Then it is back to the regularly scheduled programming. Most everything we do is ordered in three minute segments.
In Nashville we get THREE SONGS per writers night.
Thirty Seconds to get to a chorus.
Three songs are usually played in the progress of a song pitch.
Songs are about three minute and thirty seconds in length.
If you deviate from that (except in being shorter. There really IS no such thing as TOO SHORT) people will get anxious, squirmy, restless, and lose attention span.
So that is the reason that songs are in that format, time limit and why we try to conform to that limit. Anything else, is probably going to lose their attention.
MAB