I attended a song-critique meeting the other day (where people bring in songs they've written, play the songs and invite comments from the meeting's leader and the group). One of the participants (not me!) had a song with an ABBA rhyme in the verse followed by a CDCD rhyme in the pre-chorus (a.k.a. the "lift"). The leader of the group, a songwriter with connections to Nashville TN and some success in having his songs published, commented that he couldn't think of a popular or commercially successful song with that sort of rhyming scheme, and suggested that the writer change her lyrics if she intended to submit it for publication.

That has got me to thinking: there must be some known songs out there that do have an ABBACDCD rhyming scheme... mustn't there? The nearest I came to coming up with one was to think of Don McLean's "And I Love You So" (a day after the meeting, of course!), which has an ABBA CDDC EEEFFE rhyme scheme:


"And I love you so.
The people ask me how,
How I've lived till now;
I tell them I don't know

They say they understand
How lonely life has been
But life began again
The day you took my hand.

CHORUS: And yes, I know how lonely life can be.
         The shadows follow me
         And the night won't set me free.
         But I don't let the evening bring me down
         Now that you're around
         Me."


Can anyone think of any ABBACDCD songs? They don't necessarily have to be popular songs, though I'd be curious to know if there are any (and vindicated in my refutation of the leader's criticism -- I didn't see anything wrong with using that rhyme scheme even if it isn't commonly heard on pap... I mean, pop radio stations!).

Thanks,
Sharon