It’s the bit that many (but not all) pop songs contain after a couple of verses and choruses that have a different chord progression/melody before the choruses kick in again at the end. Justin does a very useful lesson on this in his (paid for) music theory course.
It might be well worth your time having a look at the first couple of free modules and then taking out at least one month’s (couple of dollars) subscription, not only to get the lesson, but also to have a look at a lot of other useful material if you are thinking about wanting to go down the songwriting route 
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Thanks for the explanation and the advice, Brian. I was doing a lot of learning with Justin early on before I pivoted to classical guitar and got absorbed in material specific to that. There’s so much to learn on so many topics it can be overwhelming!
But this would probably be another worthwhile pivot, because I do like to write music for songs, and I do often have tunes in my head to go along with it, but have no idea how to convert what’s in my head to the guitar neck.
Wow that was a powerful song Kevin, full of emotion. I stuck with it because I wanted to find out the end of the story. Clearly it’s a heartfelt song and a story that’s burned deep into your soul.
As for constructive criticism……difficult to critique something so personal.
It’s too long. The melody is too repetitive. But you know that yourself already. Others have made suggestions that I’d echo.
You needed to tell the whole story here so perhaps this version could be kept as a spoken poem. Perhaps you could write another version of the song that tells parts of the story with a repeated chorus about the brothers as they were growing up. A bridge section about the dealers and another bridge section about the second brother giving up. Try to use a standard song structure that would allow you to use different chords /strumming patterns for the verses chorus bridge etc.
I don’t think you need to make the lyrics for this version so literal. Just hint at the events.
Just some thoughts. As I said, difficult when the story is so important to you.
Thanks for the input, Gordon.
Yeah, it’s a difficult song to condense while remaining true to events. I guess there are just too many stories in one song - Randy’s, Brandon’s, mine, and a lesson for others to contemplate. I actually felt like I didn’t give Randy and Brandon the attention they deserved, but then it would have been even longer. I need to study up on song structure for sure.
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Hi Kevin. Just a thought. Have you ever listened to Harry Chapin’s Cats in the Cradle? It’s a story song and clearly could go into much more detail but he manages to distil the elements down.
Might give you some ideas.
You mean the song that makes me cry every time I hear it? Yep! Good idea! I should probably also give a listen to some Gordon Lightfoot.
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That was a sad song Kevin and I take my hat off to you for being able to get that out there and share it.
I’ve never written a song so I cannot help with any input about the structure. I did enjoy the song though.
Thanks, Stefan!
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