What Webster Isn’t Telling You About Strawberries

A strawberry isn’t just a strawberry.

Words are much more than their dictionary meanings.

Aside from definitions, words also have connotations. Much of a word’s emotional resonance and impact come from the associations we have with that word.

For example, in a recent post I touched upon Japanese kigo. Kigo translates literally to “season word”, meaning a word or topic that evokes a specific time of year.

Here in Maine, “strawberry” would be a summer kigo (early summer; June, to be specific). Because of the short growing season of strawberries in Maine, I associate them with a whole category of Summer-related things: warmth, sunlight, bicycles, swimsuits, late sunsets. If you use the word “strawberry” in your lyric—just that one little word!—you’re pulling all those strings in me whether you know it or not.

Of course, strawberries have other connotations too. Given that they’re juicy, sweet, fleshy, red, soft… it’s no mystery why this not-so-innocuous fruit is a symbol of indulgence.

Everything you write about has associations, connotations, hidden meaning, and connection to ideas larger than itself. Scatter puzzle pieces like the strawberry throughout your lyric, and we your listeners will assemble them to create the setting you want us to see, the character traits you hint at, the deeper ideas underlying your song (if there are any). Sometimes implying something is much, much more powerful than stating it.

By the way, here’s a free online kiyose. I hope it turns your gears a bit; it certainly turned mine.