The was a tv program on BBC2 last sunday about how to write a pop record and it was a really excellent program. (If you live in the uk and didn't see it it's worth a watch on iplayer)

It mostly followed guy chambers working with Rufus Wainright, and how they coloborated on a song together, but also dicussed what was the recipe for a great pop song with song writers who have had massive hits.

As a song writer myself I thought the tone was rather cynical on reflection as it was really a case of use these ingredients and you'll have more succesful pop song, but what I also took from it was one of the reasons pop songs are so successful was that they are always saying something new. A new lyrical twist usually, saying the same thing but in a different way, and it occured to me that one of the reasons Prince has possibly become less relevant in the pop world, is due to this fact.

He is saying the same things musically and lyrically, as in there isn't a new spin on his recent tunes.

This isn't nessecarily about subject matter, but a case of how song writers present subject matters in a fresh way. An example from the program was, "you've lost that loving feeling" was a brand new way of saying you dont love me at the time, or "unbrake my heart", not a saying which has really been heard before.

Writing a song that becomes a hit is all about following a formula and successful marketing. Writing a song that becomes a beloved classic involves capturing the zeitgeist before it crests.