Interestingly, songwriters also use placeholder text when they reach something they need to work on: research, refine, or develop. When I write, I use XXXX (so I can globally search and highlight to come back to it) and keep the writing flow going. But my XXXX is not as snappy as what Earth, Wind, and Fire’s leader, Maurice White, used in every song he wrote. He once intentionally kept ‘ba-dee-ya’ (his placeholder bit) in what’s become one of the band’s iconic songs. Leading one vocalist in the recording session to realize, ‘Maurice believed you never let the lyric get in the way of the groove.’
Read a great article at NPR about that iconic song: The Song That Never Ends: Why Earth, Wind & Fire’s ‘September’ Sustains
Keep your groove going…
