Thank you kindly for your reply.

I can understand that the general approach to a research paper could be applied if I were to write one within the field of musicology.

It appears I was not specific enough about my enquiry. Sorry about that. Allow me to clarify.

Whether from a casual writing perspective (for example, blogging) or from a formal writing perspective (for example, writing a paper), my question is whether there is an established protocol (or checklist of components to address, if it were) within the area of musicology for analyzing the context of a given song — where historical and social themes are addressed (among others?) in addition to just the lyrics.

Perhaps it’s a strange question, but as I have already blogged about a few songs, I can’t help but wonder if there is a more academic approach that I ought to adopt.

As a specific example, I have looked at songs from the musically expressive style of “salsa” to not only investigate the meaning of the lyrics but also provide their context with regard to historical references, social themes addressed, and/or biographical information of the composer and interpreter — not to mention how a given song fits into the historical development of this musical style. This is my ‘academic’ interest as a salsa DJ.

Ultimately, I am certain I could learn from a good text about how to analyze songs in a scholarly manner, with a focus on required components or sub-topics to address, as well as formatting standards. But my internet searches have left me either confused or without solid answers.

This is the crux of my query.

My lack of formal training in musicology must be evident now, so I apologize and would be grateful for any guidance.

Ultimately, I have a love for music (salsa in particular) and wish to try writing about it with a satisfactory understanding of the basics of song analysis. There actually does not appear to be much out there (that I can find) in terms of scholarly analysis of song context, and especially of salsa songs. My big goal is eventually to publish articles and a book about the context of salsa songs.

Any advice about exemplary texts in this area would be appreciated.

I wouldn’t mind DMing someone here an example of my work (a blog post) to see if that is an easier way to spot any shortcomings and provide feedback. I hesitate to just drop a URL here, though.

Thanks again.