Feature Lede Example- Happy Musicians Can't Write Sad Songs

Hello all,

I think this article in the NY Times has a good "soft" lede:

On a damp April night, Stuart Murdoch sat at the piano in his Glasgow West End apartment and struggled to finish another sad song. It’s not as easy as it once was. Now beautiful women distract him. Perched next to Murdoch was Catherine Ireton, a singer from Ireland who features prominently in Murdoch’s new project, a movie musical he hasn’t quite finished writing. She texted while Murdoch hummed a melody. His wife, Marisa Privitera, was curled up on a nearby couch. She bears a striking resemblance to the French New Wave actress Jean Seberg, Murdoch’s favorite screen heroine — a likeness that was hard to miss, since she sat under a poster of Godard’s “Breathless” that featured Seberg. Murdoch played a few notes, but then stopped abruptly.“Marisa, what are you doing?”

The writer answers the who, what, where, when, and why, but makes it a feature lede with all of the details: the texting, humming, etc.

I also think the article is pretty timely, because so many artists have miserable lives (aka Michael Jackson) but produce wonderful, heartbreaking music...Can a happy artist write a great sad song?

-Tina
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