Where do the people in my dreams come from? Do they have occupations In their dreamy dreamy lives? Do they wake up in the morning And kiss their dreamy wives? Where do the people in my dreams come from? Do they inhabit other people’s dreams Or only visit mine? Do they all hang out together? Do they live in space and time? Where do the people in my dreams come from? Do they exist in dimensions That humans cannot see? Do they go to bed at night And dream about me? by Richard W. Bray
it only takes you to open up the door you wash away the blue you refresh and you restore it only took you to melt my frozen heart you fix me just like glue when I’m falling apart In a cold and bitter world You’re a special kind of girl it only takes you to turn blizzards into fire doo be doo be doo be doo there ain’t no way to get higher it only takes you to right me when I’m wrong if the world disappears there will still be your song by Richard W. Bray
The quiet of the sky The passion of the trees The wisdom of the rocks Educating me Unremembered kindness Murmurs in the breeze The wonders of a world That willed itself to be Experience the grandeur Of a world that isn’t clean Open up your senses Pull away from the screen by Richard W. Bray
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. –Carl Jung Patrick’s always talking About everybody else He doesn’t even know He’s just talking about himself "Two-faced Tommy Is such a stupid clown Always talking trash When people aren’t around" Patrick’s always talking About everybody else He doesn’t even know He’s just talking about himself "Albert's so angry Screaming all day It makes my blood boil When he acts that way" Patrick’s always talking About everybody else He doesn’t even know He’s just talking about himself “Walter’s such a drunk He’ll never get it right Always at the bar I see him every night” Patrick’s always talking About everybody else He doesn’t even know He’s just talking about himself “Heather’s so jealous She’s bitter and cruel If I had all her privileges I wouldn’t be such a fool” Patrick’s always talking About everybody else He doesn’t even know He’s just talking about himself by Richard W. Bray
What holds all the molecules together? Was there a beginning of time? Does space go on forever? What makes you so clever? Is there any reason in my rhyme? I wonder about everything I see Who made all the tygers and the trees? I wonder why I met you And what you’re gonna do Wonder is good enough for me I wonder about things I’ll never know I wonder if our love is gonna grow What’s inside the sun? The biggest number plus one? Wonder is good enough for me by Richard W. Bray
I remember thinking I was the coolest guy in the world when I took my iPod to the gym. It’s funny because I’m not an early adopter and I’ve never really been into gadgets. But I got my first iPod about a year after they came out, and I can’t think of anything I ever bought that made me feel so good.
Effective advertising tells people how your product is going to solve their problem. My iPod solved a problem I didn’t even know I had. I needed a device smaller than a Sony Diskman that could hold my entire CD collection. And there it was.
“A thousand songs in your pocket” was the perfect slogan, even though an iPod actually holds a lot more songs than that. A thousand songs on one device sounded pretty miraculous at the time, and the slogan flows really well. (Like all forms of writing, copywriting is essentially poetry.)
Byron Sharp* notes that the iPod advertising campaign “did not mention the term ‘MP3 player.’” In fact, “their advertising didn’t talk about this new technology at all.”
Instead of selling new technology, Apple was selling joy. As Sharp explains, the iPod advertising campaign
always employed the same silhouette figures against colourful backgrounds and these figures were always joyfully dancing (while listening to their iPods) and the white headphones were always obvious. Technical details were left to sales people and web sites to explain.
A lot of people are willing to pay three times as much for an 8-ounce can of Red Bull than they would for a 12-ounce can of soda. But when it comes to ingredients, the only real difference is that Red Bull has a lot more caffeine and a smidgen of Vitamin B.
So how did Red Bull convince so many people to pay so much more for a beverage that tastes like carbonated cough syrup?
The obvious is answer marketing, which is the art of convincing people to buy things. One of the most effective ways to convince people to buy things is by appealing to their internal narrative, which is the story everyone tells themself about who they are.
According to Seth Godin**, “our actions are primarily driven by one question: ‘Do people like me like things like this?’” If you align your product with the customer’s internal narrative, you can make oodles of money.
To align their product with the internal narratives of millions of customers, Red Bull spends billions of dollars in advertising every year, creating the perception that people who drink Red Bull are:
People drink Red Bull to get amped up on caffeine. But Red Bull had to convince customers that they weren’t just buying a new type of hyper-caffeinated soda. Instead, Red Bull sells people a whole new lifestyle.
By making the can so distinctive, Red Bull creates the perception that it’s a totally different type of product.
Rory Sutherland*** of Ogilvy & Mather Group explains:
How can Red Bull charge £1.50 a can when Coke only charge 50p? Weirdly you make the can smaller. Suddenly people think this is a different category of drink for which different price points apply. If the can had been the same size, I am not sure they could have charged £1.50. Logic won’t tell you that and research won’t tell you, because in research we all pretend we are maximisers and hyper-rational.
by Richard W. Bray
* How Brands Grow, p142
* *This Is Marketing, p104
***Quoted in The Choice Factory by Richard Shotten, p67
Time was somewhere else In a universe of two Bewitched and bedazzled There was only you The light, the air The space between Charged by the sparks That cannot be seen Colors overflow Molecules conspire Angels hold their breath And stop to admire The light, the air The space between Charged by the sparks That cannot be seen by Richard W. Bray
Wake and rise Live aware Hunks of matter Dance in air Raise your arms Plant your toes Release your body Mix your soul Get outdoors Touch some dirt Smell the sky And live the hurt by Richard W. Bray
unruly, rambunctious, exhausting and wild there’s no greater love than the love of a child boundless, colossal, extending for miles there is no restraining the love of a child needy and hopeful, touching and mild the heaviest burden, the love of a child investing your marrow, refunded in smiles there’s no greater love than the love of a child by Richard W. Bray
I'm at the tip of the top There's a pep in my step I got the hippity hop Winning all of my bets I’m hanging on a hope Met a special sort of friend I’m such a silly old dope Am I falling again? Gonna get a new start I’m so happy I could scream For the bounce in my heart And the sparkle in my dreams I’m hanging on a hope Met a special sort of friend I’m such a silly old dope Am I falling again? By Richard W. Bray
Lester Wunderman
Brand storytelling is about standing for something and striving for excellence in everything your business does. It’s about framing your scarcity and dictating your value.
—Bernadette Jiwa, The Fortune Cookie Principle
The human mind tells itself stories to make sense out of this crazy old world. We think in narratives. For example, if I told you there were ten thousand orphans created by the latest war, that would upset you. But you would be much more moved by the details of the plight of a single orphan child.
Lester Wunderman was “the first direct marketer ever to be on the senior board of a major (advertising) agency.” He’s often referred to as the Father of Direct Marketing.
Decades before the internet existed, Wunderman envisioned a future where “a better, less time-consuming way of shopping would evolve, and the home would become the shopping center of the future.”
In 1980, when he was working for Young & Rubicam, Wunderman was convinced he could sell premium Swedish Gevalia coffee by mail, but he faced three significant hurdles:
Although Y&R’s research showed that Americans enjoyed the taste of Gevalia, Wunderman knew it wasn’t going to be an easy sell.
First of all, there are countries that we naturally associate with coffee – think Brazil, Kenya, Columbia, Italy, or Costa Rica. But Wunderman realized that “No one in America thought of Sweden as a source of great coffee.”
(Actually, the Swedes are crazy about their coffee! Only their Nordic neighbors in Finland drink more coffee than the Swedes. Maybe it’s those long, cold nights.)
Another problem was getting people to accept a brand new way to buy consumable products. In 1980, Americans weren’t used to receiving packaged goods in their mailboxes.
Wunderman decided he needed a come up with a “new word” to “describe the process of selling something people regularly consumed.” He settled on the phrase “automatic replenishment.” This would allow people to buy a coffee “subscription” so they “would never run out of Gevalia.” It was a very shrewd marketing strategy.
Automatic replenishment is an evocative phrase, and the word replenish contains some very pleasant connotations (refresh, restore, renew). In copywriting, it’s important to remember that the connotations of words trigger all sorts of emotional responses.
When it came time to write the copy for Gevalia, Wunderman realized that he had to do more than simply choose the right adjectives. Clever advertisers had already sold a lot of coffee by convincing people that it would provide a rich, strong, aromatic, and satisfying experience. These are some wonderful words that convey a sense of wealth, power, comfort, and even a hint of sexual gratification.
It was time to try something else. So Wunderman used storytelling to convince Americans to buy expensive Swedish coffee through the mail. He decided to focus on the tale of Gevalia’s master coffee roaster Victor Engvall and his “obsession with the perfect cup of coffee.”
How did Wunderman do it? To hear rest of the story, see Lester Wunderman’s exceptional memoir Being Direct, Chapter 22.
If you read the whole book, you’ll learn a whole bunch of fascinating stuff: Wunderman’s involvement in the early days of record clubs; how he used catalogues to sell millions of rosebushes; how he helped convince people not to leave home without the American Express Card; how he was courted by the legendary David Oglivy.
Spoiler alert: Wunderman was very impressed by Oglivy, “the best presenter of advertising I had ever seen,” but he decided to merge his firm WRK with Y&R instead.
by Richard W. Bray
i need to see you
every day
my insides hurt
when you’re away
i love you like a puppy
i couldn’t love you any more
i just wanna hold you
and curl up on the floor
you melt all my defenses
just by being you
you invigorate my senses
and fill me up with you
i love you like a puppy
i could live inside your gaze
you could make me happy
in a million different ways
by Richard W. Bray
All is grand in Fancy Land
With towering mushrooms growing wild
There’s purple skies that mesmerize
And no one ever hurts a child
The unicorn band in Fancy Land
Plays heavenly tunes with a thundering beat
Wishes are granted and all is enchanted
And everyone has enough to eat
Hate is banned in Fancy Land
Everyone lives how they want to be
An endless sensation of happy creation
Where all the creatures are roaming free
You’re welcome to visit Fancy Land
As long as the magic lives inside you
With access forbid to all but kids
But grownups wanna go there too
by Richard W. Bray
Ira Gershwin
Style guides and writing teachers say we should avoid clichés like the plague. They’re bad, hackneyed, and trite. They say clichés are crutches, used by writers who are too lazy and stupid to think up new ways to say things.
But the experts wrong. Clichés have all sorts of wonderful uses.
Many clichés are metaphors. According to George Orwell, an effective metaphor “assists thought by evoking a visual image.”
The anti-cliché crowd argues that no matter how strong or evocative a clichéd metaphor might be, its power dwindles with repeated use. But that ain’t necessarily so.
If you say, “Mary is burning the candle at both ends,” a vivid picture comes to my mind which highlights the possible pitfalls of Mary’s behavior. This is an example of an outstanding metaphor that doesn’t diminish in fortitude no matter how many times you hear it.
The phrase “you’re just putting a band-aid on that problem” is another clichéd metaphor which remains evocative and effective despite repeated use.
These two clichéd metaphors are still effective because, even if we no longer light our houses with candles, candles and bandages are still part of our shared consciousness.
But metaphorical clichés will lose vigor as words go out of fashion. For example, the expression “hoisted by his own petard” packed a much greater rhetorical punch in an age when people commonly referred to bombs as petards.
Sometimes linguists employ the term “dead metaphor” to describe phrases like “hoisted by his own petard.” They reason that metaphors only remain “alive” as long as we can picture them in our mind’s eye.
But what if I tell you that Larry, who’s a very casual sports fan, just jumped on the Dodgers’ bandwagon? Even if you don’t know that there was a time when politicians actually hired wagons full of musicians to attract voters, it’s still easy to see what this expression means. So, is the bandwagon metaphor, alive, dead or somewhere in between?
Not all clichés are created equal. And the better ones deserve respect.
Of course, many clichéd metaphors are duds. And a bad cliché is about as effective as a screen door on a submarine.
I tell students that the best way to judge the potency of a metaphor is to visualize it. For example, try to visualize yourself “throwing some shade on someone.”
The cliché “throwing shade on someone” means to deprecate a person. It’s a lousy metaphor and it sets my blood to boiling every time I hear it.
On the other hand, when Victor says, “Yo, man. I’d loved to hang out with you guys all day, but I gotta bounce,” he’s employing a marvelously robust metaphor. It tells me that Victor is so active he’s downright kinetic.
As Ira Gershwin explains in his book Lyrics on Several Occasions, “The literary cliché is an integral part of lyric-writing.”
Sometimes lyricists cleverly rework a familiar cliché into a song. Like when Smokey Robinson says “I’m a choosy beggar, and you’re my choice.” Or when the Temptations sing “Papa was a rolling stone/Wherever he laid his hat was his home.” Or when Paul McCartney asks: “Would you walk away from a fool and his money?” Or when the Who’s Rodger Daltry laments, “I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth.” Or when Ian Hunter complains that love has left him feeling “Once Bitten, Twice shy.”
Gershwin notes that clichés are an essential part of the songwriter’s toolkit because:
The phrase that is trite and worn-out when appearing in print usually becomes, when heard fitted to the appropriate musical turn, revitalized, and seems somehow to revert to its original provocativeness.
Here are some examples of songwriters putting clichés to good use:
Irving Berlin—I’m Putting all my Eggs in One Basket
Phil Collins—Against All Odd
Gene Autry—Back in the Saddle
Ira Gershwin—Bidin’ my Time
Arthur Hamilton—Cry Me a River
Waldo Holmes—Don’t Rock the Boat
Cole Porter— I Get a Kick Out of You
Sammy Cahn—High Hopes
Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong—Heard it Through the Grapevine
Neil Diamond—Love On the Rocks— (Nice pun, Neil)
Robbie Robertson—The Weight (Take a Load off, Annie)
Stevie Wonder—Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours
Al Hoffman and Dick Manning—It Takes Two to Tango
Larry Blackmon and Tomi Jenkins–Word Up
Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold–It’s Now or Never (Music by Eduardo di Capua)
by Richard W. Bray
Moments of sweetness
Moments of you
Memories of wishes
That finally came true
Moments of tender
Moments of pure
Memories drag me
The lovely we were
Moments of sunshine
Moments of you
Memories of stupid
I cannot undo
Moments of happy
Moments of smile
Memories mangle
You walk down the aisle
by Richard W. Bray
I feel my face smiling
All day long
And I can’t stop humming
An old love song
Flowers gonna bloom
The fiddler gets paid
Love is too dizzy
To be afraid
Every step I take
Is a leisurely stroll
And my head is all full
Of Nat King Cole
Flowers gonna bloom
The fiddler gets paid
Love is too dizzy
To be afraid
I’m probably crazy
In this melancholy world
Cuz I’m goofy in the head
For a brand new girl
Flowers gonna bloom
The fiddler gets paid
Love is too dizzy
To be afraid
by Richard W. Bray
Everything
I say and do
Has a single
Purpose
I long to know
The tender soul
That lurks below
The surface
Ramparts guard
A supple heart
Bruised to
Hesitation
Time to go
Cuz she says “No”
And gives no
Indication
What I adore
Is nothing more
Than my
Imagination
by Richard W. Bray
tell me where it hurts
you don’t have to tell me why
maybe you don’t know
don’t be afraid to cry
tell me where it hurts
you don’t need me to reply
i’m just gonna listen
just gonna be nearby
tell me where it hurts
bleed it till it’s dry
i’m not gonna judge you
remember i’m your guy
tell me where it hurts
where it went awry
together we can heal
together we’ll get by
by Richard W. Bray
You always listen
To my words
And you never
Criticize
You’re astute
And self-assured
Sensible
And wise
When we’re alone
I take solace
And comfort
In your eyes
You’re solid
As a stone
Your presence
Pacifies
We don’t even
Have to talk
I love to
Brush your hair
I love it
When we walk
Together
Anywhere
Thanks for keeping
Me content
And helping
Me survive
Truly heaven-sent
You’re the
Greatest
Dog alive
by Richard W. Bray
you deserve so much better
than me
i picked you up and then i
set you free
there ain’t a thing that i could
say or do
to make up for the hurt that
i gave you
i’d live my penance for ten
thousand years
but i could never pay for
all your tears
we’ll never resurrect what’s
dead and gone
i’ll try to be more careful
from now on
i hope you find a man who
helps you see
you deserve so much better
than me
by Richard W. Bray
Round the rampant rugged rocks
Rude and ragged rascals run.
—W.H. Auden
Queasy koalas quarrel and quibble
Noisy gnus nag and nibble
Hefty horses heave and hoe
Shameless sheep shop and show
Playful pigs prance and preen
Careful cats cook and clean
Dancing dogs dally and drink
Thirteen thoroughbreds thank and think
Buoyant bunnies broil and bake
Rampant rhinos rush and rake
Slippery seals splash and splish
While wayward weasels wonder and wish
by Richard W. Bray
My Funny Farm
My monkey makes my mother mad
He also aggravates my dad
He took his car the other day
And drove it to the Hudson Bay
My kitty cat is kooky too
He likes to strut down to the zoo
And tell the tigers to all stand back
If they don’t want to get attacked
I have a hamster named Houdini
And though he is rather teeny
He’ll quickly pick a thousand locks
You could not hold him in Fort Knox
My kangaroo’s a real joker
Up all night playing poker
His friends come to destroy the house
I think I shoulda’ got a mouse
I got a hippo last July
He really is one swell guy
Everything he does is super
I got a giant pooper scooper
Living on this funny farm
I know my pets don’t mean no harm
But both my parents moved away
And no one wants to come and play
by Richard W. Bray
How do I Say?
How do I say when it’s over
I meant every word that I said
When the world we knew is dissolving
And the love we shared is dead?
How do I tell you it matters
The joy you brought to my life
When the dreams that we shared are all shattered
And you’ll never be my wife?
How can I tell you I’ll miss you
Every day for as long as I live
When the well that we drank from is empty
And nothing is left to give?
I don’t blame you if you hate me
Cuz’ right now I hate me too
I hate the whole damn world
For what I did to you
I just want to see you happy
But there ain’t nuthin’ I can do
Neither one of us will be happy
Till we get past me and you
Someday when you’re not lonely
Cuz’ you’ve found a better man
I just hope you will remember
When my heart was in your hands
by Richard W. Bray
Sunshine and Happiness
Melanie Margaret McClintock, The Third
Can’t stand to hear an encouraging word
So if you want to send her away
Here’s a list of words that you can say:
Sunshine and happiness, polka dots and pie
Puppy dogs and moonbeams, a clear blue sky
Friendship and families and root beer floats
Kindness and cleanliness and cozy woolen coats
Flowers and rainbows, warm winter gloves
Freedom and Motherhood, goodness and love
Birthdays and holidays, crunchy candy bars
Bubble baths and babies, twinkling little stars
Fairgrounds and Fridays, fun that’s always funny
Pinballs and pizza, a truck with loads of money
Grandpa and gumballs, a week at summer camp
Barbeques, fresh-cut lawns, a genie in a lamp
A night under the stars and a day at the beach
Everything that’s good and true, all within your reach
But if you are with Melanie, try to be polite
Speak of dark and gloomy days and long, depressing nights
Mention graveyards and garbage and grungy old grime
And the two of you are sure to have such a lovely time
by Richard W. Bray
Fill the world with song Sing until you're silly Wild and beguiled By Roses and Lilys Stars on Alabama The way you look tonight Baby I'm amazed When you hold me tight Nobody to see us Nobody to hear us Pay no mind to stupid words With nobody near us Those ordinary things That I gotta do I throw em out the window To be alone with you By Richard W. Bray
Weak and wounded people Let the spirits in Play a demon's game The demons always win Entertain a demon And grovel at its feet Revel in destruction And tales of deceit Spin a tangled web Stab a thousand backs Demon grabs your virtue And eats it like a snack Dance with the devil Sing his favorite song Never ask yourself Where it went wrong Do all the things A demon says to do And never admit The demon is you by Richard W. Bray
When your life’s a walking shitshow And you fill the world with lies You don’t know why you’re empty Saying your goodbyes In a room where you say your name And try to tell the truth Don’t miss out on fellowship Searching for proof Alone on a computer You muffle your cries As you try to find your truth In other people’s lives Searching the whole world Looking for your purpose Cast your buckets down And try to be of service by Richard W. Bray
Everything is broken It’s about to get worse I know what’s wrong with everyone I know just what to do If I could punch you every moment Then I could fix you Everything is broken So I make my own truth It isn’t really lying cuz I’m not even there I know what’s wrong with you Cuz I live in your head It isn’t really me sleeping in my bed Everything is broken I live outside myself Reality is bad for my health No one can handle my sad little poem A little girl got broken And she never went home by Richard W. Bray
choices matter syllables flatter promises as empty as the wind broadcast near and far tell us who you are fabricate and fantasize and spin goodness will not say what it gives away treasures more valuable than gold love unassailable beauty unexplainable the best things cannot be told By Richard W. Bray
The marriage went stale We lived our separate lives I had a pocket full of floozies She slept with some wives Drinking in a crowd And laughing way too loud Ignoring what I lost Forget about the cost On a dusty old road With nothing left to see I burned down every bridge From Barstow to Western Tennessee Drinking in a crowd And laughing way too loud Ignoring what I lost Forget about the cost I'll buy another round And cut myself some slack I'm telling you for sure in this crazy ole world There ain't no way to turn ever back Drinking in a crowd And laughing way too loud Ignoring what I lost Forget about the cost By Richard W. Bray
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