What's a bridge?

[Janice Johnson]

In some songs (in lyrics,) I see something that says, "BRIDGE" what does that mean?

[Superstar]

I the part between the verse and chorus....its hard to explain.

[Steve M.]

It's the part where the music changes melody in key. Like in the Beatles song "And I Love Her," where Paul McCartney sings, "A love like ours could never die as long as I have you near me."

[musicradio77]

The bridge means the in-between lyrics of the songs between the second verse and the third verse. Here is the bridge from the song "If You Can Dream" as sung by one of the Disney heroines:

So the story goes
Never die the rose
There's a whole new world
Waiting there for us

[Hollow]

a verse in a song that differs from the rest of the song in key/musical structure/lyrical structure.

i find that a lot of metallica songs have really kick ass bridges. the "die by my hand, i creep across the land"..etc part in their song "creeping death" is the bridge. but that was probably a bad example to use merely because i doubt a lot of people here have even heard it.

[Ohio8]

Examples: The Doors' "Hello, I Llove You"...right after the "my brain screams out in song" line there's the LooneyToons-like keyboard from Ray Manzarek, and then it changes. In "The WASP..." it changes before "I'll tell you this no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."

Cream's "Badge": It changes before the "Yes, I told the the light...Yes, before they bring the curtain down" verse, then it changes back for the final verse that begins with "Talkin' about a girl..."

P.S.: There's a story about how "Badge" got its name. I'll write it here soon.

[Ohio8]

And here's the story: Eric Clapton and George Harrison, the song's co-author,
were shouting out the words. George misread Eric's handwrting when he got the word "bridge," and he said "badge." Clapton said it's a good name for the song and it stuck. (source: Page 114 of Michael Schumacher's book Crossroads.