So a typical pop song has a simple verse 1, pre-chorus, chorus, verse 2, pre and chorus, bridge, and chorus pattern, with quite a lot of repetition. This week's Who songs were really interesting because they didn't exactly follow this pattern, or any pattern for that matter. Disguises and Substitute seemed to be connected lyrically, both covering a topic of a love interest not being who they think they are. Townshend's lyrics are becoming more complex, and A Quick One is also a good example of this, with the engine driver sequence in the middle. The song is not one thing, instead it goes through a metamorphosis of a sort. Again the structure of this song is questionable, because there are so many parts. Bon Iver is another artist who strays from the status-quo song structure in most of his songs. Holocene is an example, but anything from his newest album i,i also holds as a good example.
A typical pop song includes an introduction, first verse, pre-chorus, chorus, second verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, third verse, chorus and outro. Listening to The Who’s “Substitute,” it does not exactly follow that structure. There is not much of an introduction and there is a long bridge early on in the song. Similarly, “Disguises” does not follow the typical structure. It has an interesting bridge in the middle of the song with some unique noises. Listening to “I Can See For Miles” and “A Quick One,” it’s obvious that Townshend’s lyrics are changing – they seem to be getting more varied and intense. This transition makes his new lyrical style different from his other songs we’ve listened to. A popular song that doesn’t follow the typical structure of a pop song is Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” It doesn’t have a pre-chorus before the second verse, and it has two bridges.
to add on just a small bit: I really enjoy the strange noises (knocks/scratches) and rhythms in "Disguises" since it indicates a pretty clear progression from the experimentation of the past avant-garde period and yet they don't reach the edginess expected at this point (at least in my opinion). I can see for miles however hits the psychedelic-edgy stride I would expect from any band who claims to experiment (or have experimented) with structure/form etc. I's say the Zombies "She's not there" strays from the typical pattern of pop songs only by not having an outro but is otherwise very characteristic. -Kara
Pop songs usually go for a verse chorus verse chorus structure, maybe adding in a pre chorus or a bridge. Songs like Disguises still have a repetitive structure, but it's less predictable. In Disguises, we have a verse, chorus, with two lines in between the next verse and chorus. Then, we get a key change into the same first verse, the chorus, and repeating the end of the chorus line "wearing disguises." The lyrics of the song are quite odd, describing a girl he can never correctly recognize in public, constantly wearing disguises.
I Can See For Miles' structure is quite different from traditional structure. It starts with what I think is the refrain and chorus. The first lines, "I know you've deceived me" sound much like a verse based on the sound, but the lyrics never change, and there's a better candidate for the verse. Then we get our first verse "If you think that I don't know," going into a pre chorus. The song has a lot of different parts that aren't completely repeated and come together in an interesting way that makes this song my favorite of those this week. The lyrics of the song are about a guy confronting who I think is his girlfriend about cheating on him while he was away, claiming to have magic eyes.
A Quick One changes its sound completely when it mentions Ivor the Engine Driver, and once again later. The lyrics seem all over the place in a very fun way. It took me a few listens to figure out what was going on with them.
A song I've been listening to that strays from the typical song structure is No Pain for the Dead by Angra. The structure is: intro, verse, chorus, post-chorus, verse, bridge, bridge, chorus, chorus, with variations in the last two chorus.
I found that the first two songs, Substitute and Disguises, were more traditional pop songs in the vein of The Beatles or The Beach Boys. Their tones were steadily happy throughout the song and the instrumentation and harmonies were easily digestable. The latter two, on the other hand, showed much of The Who's progression towards the rock opera. The intros were longer, the guitar solos were more aggressive, and the drums were more erratic. Singles are designed to be short and captivating to the listener right away, but neither of these songs had these attributes. It shows The Who's confidence in their music at the time; they weren't afraid to change up the formula.
This weeks songs were pretty interesting, some in structure, some in content, some in both. I was honestly pretty confused trying to decipher the structure of "I Can See for Miles". I felt like it hit the chorus at really odd times (in the beginning and maybe at the end?). What was especially confusing is that the lyrics changed too often for it to have a true repeating structure. Nonetheless it was definitely interesting and enjoyable to listen to. When I think of songs with unusual structure, the first that comes to mind is "Got to Give It Up" by Marvin Gaye (heres a link to the song https://youtu.be/8LU6S1KpsgI ). I've heard my parents play this song way too many times and every time I both love and hate it, because it doesn't have any real chorus. Its smooth, and very classic Marvin Gaye, but its so smooth it just feels like one big verse that builds up to nothing. In terms of lyrics, it seems that Townshend's content was increasing in complexity at this time. In songs like "Substitute", "A Quick One", and "Disguises", he tells stories dealing with love that are far deeper and more continuous than any of the predating songs I've heard. I think its pretty cool to see the progression of this group, and Pete Townshend as a songwriter specifically, and the way that they matured with age.
As many have mentioned, a typical pop structure is usually verse, (maybe a pre-chorus), chorus, verse, (maybe a pre-chorus), chorus, bridge, chorus. However, it's evident in a song like A Quick One (While He's Away), that the Who is definitely straying from this structure. There's no discernible chorus or verses. Sometimes, it feels almost like the movements of a symphony (or other classical piece) because it has multiple parts that almost feel like separate songs, but do connect. For example, the beginning of the song doesn't feel at all like the part where they start singing about Ivor the Engine Driver, nor the part after where they sing "soon be home." It feels as if there's many songs within this one.
In analyzing the lyrics of this week's songs, I think I'm seeing an increase in metaphors and complexity. There's definitely some lyrics that don't make sense to me, like "I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth" in Substitute, but I like it. It gives me more things to think about.
A typical pop song usually is made up of a mix of verses, choruses, and a bridge. A lot of music (primarily pop music) follows a very methodical formula of when each of these elements is “supposed” to appear in a song. The songs we listened to for this week definitely stray away from that formula and I think that ties back to the idea that The Who wanted to be different. I think that some of the major bands of the ’60s (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys) were often pitted against one another and easily compared so it is understandable why Townshend would want to set The Who apart from the rest. As others have pointed out, songs like “Disguises” and “A Quick One While He’s Away” do not follow the formula. They are sort of all over the place, but it still works sonically. As far as lyrics go, they are definitely unique. I noticed the move to a more story-telling style of writing. This style, as we know, will develop into the rock opera genre. I also found it interesting to note that Green Day covered “A Quick One While He’s Away” and they are another band known for writing rock operas and having a story-telling lyrical style like The Who.
A typical pop song structure goes something like intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, outro (with some variation, including pre-choruses). In regards to this week’s songs, we see The Who gradually move away from a typical song structure as they move towards more complex and non-traditional compositions. For instance, the songs “Substitute,” “Disguises,” “I Can See For Miles,” and “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” include a fair amount of repetition for particular verses and/or choruses, but they are not ordered in the structure of a typical pop song and are more freeform. Particularly, “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” is quite long and varying in its content, as it tells a story without really repeating particular verses or having a chorus, but instead turning the repetition inwards to make up considerable portions of the verses. Additionally, it seems as though many of Townshend’s lyrics have also increased in complexity and intricacy, as well as in their ability to tell a particular story. Thematically, they cover a range of topics revolving around the central theme of love/relationships, like cheating, inadequacy, long-distance relationships, etc.
A few other songs that don’t follow a typical structure include "Twenty Four Hours" by Joy Division, which is interesting as it basically has no chorus or bridge, and is just a collection of 5 verses, as well as "Human Fly" by the Cramps.
“Twenty Four Hours”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnM9X0IgUmg&t=101s “Human Fly”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TR6QuOj-Gw
This weeks' songs were really interesting to me. I felt as though I saw a big shift in The Who's music style already from "Substitute" to "Disguises" and of course "I Can See for Miles". I felt like they began to experiment more with their sound by incorporating new instruments we didn't hear from them before. "I Can See for Miles" in particular displayed a rock feel that I'm more used to; it had a more heavy, intenseness to it. As a more current pop song, I find "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish to have an abnormal structure to it. She made a video with Rolling Stone breaking down each aspect of the song in which she incorporated everyday noises (like a cross walk meter) and even transitioned to a completely different song in the middle.
As many have already stated, the typical pop song consists of verses, a repeating chorus, and maybe a bridge near the end before the final chorus. The Who definitely began to break away from this structure in the performances we were assigned this week. I really like watching this band perform, and my favorite was definitely the fourth assignment, A Quick One (While He's Away). They are captivating to watch and this song was also very unique in that it does have elements of repetition, but it does not follow the traditional song structure at all. I think this really added to the performance because it was unclear what would come next in the song, so it was super fun to watch. I also liked Disguises a lot because the lyrics were really unique and told a weird and interesting story, and paired with the unique noises around the middle it was a memorable listen.
Overall, the songs from this week showed a big increase in experimentation, not only with structure but also with lyrics.
As others have mentioned, a typical pop song is "upbeat" and trades off between a verse (1), chorus, verse (2), and chorus. The chorus is typically lyrically and musically the same, but can have small variations. Additionally, for musicians at the time get get radio time, their songs needed to fit on a 45 RPM record, so this limited the length of the song. The songs of this week were released on albums instead of as singles. In this way, The Who deviated from pop. Also, “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” in particular rings in over 9 minutes and the lyrics tell a story of a sad, adulterous girl with less repetition of lyrics than usual pop songs.
Pop songs typically have a catchy pre-chorus, a chorus, verses that tell the story or the message of the song, and a bridge. The typical structure of a song is something to the effect of A B A B C B. This week the songs told stories. They experimented more with new sounds, but lyrically they took listeners on a journey. My favorite was "A Quick One (While He's Away)" because it was from many different perspectives including that of the train man, the girl, and the man once he came back. Most of the songs tell love stories which is a popular subject of pop songs. "I Can See For Miles" as well as "A Quick One (While He's Away)" don't follow the typical song structure featuring more new sections as the song continues. Personally, I think this shift away from pop was for the best as it helped develop new styles and genres of music. The stories were more engaging than previous songs, yet the band still broke typical structure and made room for their solos and experimentation with sound. -Julia Alanis
This week’s songs were very exciting to me. They were unlike most of the other songs of the Who that I had heard in the past. To me, some of them seemed lighter and less down on life than some of their other more well known songs. In regards to song structure in particular, I do not know very much at all about the mechanics behind songs. I would imagine that a typical pop song structure would consist of approximately two verses, a chorus that is repeated several times, and a build that connects all of the pieces together, but this is almost purely based on what I learned last week in your class and through the class follow-up email, so hopefully I am getting the right idea. “I Can See for Miles” is definitely a very interesting song, but, at this point, the song structure is a little confusing for me to break down. Although the songs “Disguises” and “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” seem more upbeat to me, paying attention to the lyrics, they are not as light-hearted as I assumed them to be. The lyrics almost seem more random, and with less grandiose intent. Although the songs are quite interesting, the lyrics do not seem as special to me as some of the other songs to which we have listened. In regards to a song that has an interesting structure, I thought of hip-hop music. Here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb1ZvUDvLDY. Tupac’s “Dear Mama” definitely is outside of the bounds of traditional song structure. It is not the shortest song, but I think it is pretty easy to tell that Tupac makes his own rules with the structure of this song, likely at least partially due to the genre of music in which the song fits.
I think of a pop song as normally having the formula of intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus. Usually the chorus is what people hold onto the most and in my personal opinion, I tend to see the choruses as the only meaningful part of many popular songs (first song that popped into my head like this was tubthumping by chumbawumba lol). What is interesting personally about The Who is that their earlier songs did tend to follow a more traditional pop structure but as they progressed and their sound changed, they began to go away from these structures. One thing I think about a lot personally is how when bands 'make it,' they tend to be more experimental as they already have plenty of money and have fans that will pretty much like anything they put out. I think the Who are a little different though because they were doing many different things at the same time. What is always so surprising about "A Quick One While He's Away" is how it proceeded bohemian rhapsody by like a decade but it's clear that the idea of an ever-evolving song with many different genre shifts and timbre changes was 'borrowed' from the Who as this is the first song, at least that I'm aware of, that did this in popular music. This has become very popular throughout the years especially in the more recent split songs where two songs will be released together as one track with a beat switch in the middle (such as 'PartyIsntOver / Campfire / Bimmer' by Tyler the Creator or '21C/Delta' by Jack Harlow to name a couple).
I really loved this week's songs! Especially A Quick One (While He's Away)... that's one amazing song. I am a huge fan of all of the performances at Rock N Roll Circus, so I was happy to see that included. I love how this song has about 5 different songs in it. The Beatles do a similar thing in songs like A Day In The Life and Ive always found it so entertaining and exciting because it's not predictable at all. I think in this week's music you can really see The Who growing up and coming into their own unique sound and songwriting style, as compared to when they would just punk-up old American blues songs. I also am personally relived that they are no longer making a complete mess of the stage and destroying all of their instruments. It was fun for a bit, but I think after a while it becomes too much of a shtick and takes away from the musical performance.
So a typical pop song has a simple verse 1, pre-chorus, chorus, verse 2, pre and chorus, bridge, and chorus pattern, with quite a lot of repetition. This week's Who songs were really interesting because they didn't exactly follow this pattern, or any pattern for that matter. Disguises and Substitute seemed to be connected lyrically, both covering a topic of a love interest not being who they think they are. Townshend's lyrics are becoming more complex, and A Quick One is also a good example of this, with the engine driver sequence in the middle. The song is not one thing, instead it goes through a metamorphosis of a sort. Again the structure of this song is questionable, because there are so many parts.
ReplyDeleteBon Iver is another artist who strays from the status-quo song structure in most of his songs. Holocene is an example, but anything from his newest album i,i also holds as a good example.
A typical pop song includes an introduction, first verse, pre-chorus, chorus, second verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, third verse, chorus and outro. Listening to The Who’s “Substitute,” it does not exactly follow that structure. There is not much of an introduction and there is a long bridge early on in the song. Similarly, “Disguises” does not follow the typical structure. It has an interesting bridge in the middle of the song with some unique noises. Listening to “I Can See For Miles” and “A Quick One,” it’s obvious that Townshend’s lyrics are changing – they seem to be getting more varied and intense. This transition makes his new lyrical style different from his other songs we’ve listened to. A popular song that doesn’t follow the typical structure of a pop song is Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” It doesn’t have a pre-chorus before the second verse, and it has two bridges.
ReplyDelete- Kate Latham
to add on just a small bit:
DeleteI really enjoy the strange noises (knocks/scratches) and rhythms in "Disguises" since it indicates a pretty clear progression from the experimentation of the past avant-garde period and yet they don't reach the edginess expected at this point (at least in my opinion). I can see for miles however hits the psychedelic-edgy stride I would expect from any band who claims to experiment (or have experimented) with structure/form etc. I's say the Zombies "She's not there" strays from the typical pattern of pop songs only by not having an outro but is otherwise very characteristic.
-Kara
Additionally White Rabbit as a personal favorite lacks any real repetitive structure since its more of a poem/story
Delete-Kara
Pop songs usually go for a verse chorus verse chorus structure, maybe adding in a pre chorus or a bridge. Songs like Disguises still have a repetitive structure, but it's less predictable. In Disguises, we have a verse, chorus, with two lines in between the next verse and chorus. Then, we get a key change into the same first verse, the chorus, and repeating the end of the chorus line "wearing disguises."
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics of the song are quite odd, describing a girl he can never correctly recognize in public, constantly wearing disguises.
I Can See For Miles' structure is quite different from traditional structure. It starts with what I think is the refrain and chorus. The first lines, "I know you've deceived me" sound much like a verse based on the sound, but the lyrics never change, and there's a better candidate for the verse. Then we get our first verse "If you think that I don't know," going into a pre chorus. The song has a lot of different parts that aren't completely repeated and come together in an interesting way that makes this song my favorite of those this week.
The lyrics of the song are about a guy confronting who I think is his girlfriend about cheating on him while he was away, claiming to have magic eyes.
A Quick One changes its sound completely when it mentions Ivor the Engine Driver, and once again later. The lyrics seem all over the place in a very fun way. It took me a few listens to figure out what was going on with them.
A song I've been listening to that strays from the typical song structure is No Pain for the Dead by Angra. The structure is: intro, verse, chorus, post-chorus, verse, bridge, bridge, chorus, chorus, with variations in the last two chorus.
I found that the first two songs, Substitute and Disguises, were more traditional pop songs in the vein of The Beatles or The Beach Boys. Their tones were steadily happy throughout the song and the instrumentation and harmonies were easily digestable. The latter two, on the other hand, showed much of The Who's progression towards the rock opera. The intros were longer, the guitar solos were more aggressive, and the drums were more erratic. Singles are designed to be short and captivating to the listener right away, but neither of these songs had these attributes. It shows The Who's confidence in their music at the time; they weren't afraid to change up the formula.
ReplyDeletethis is Ben
DeleteThis weeks songs were pretty interesting, some in structure, some in content, some in both. I was honestly pretty confused trying to decipher the structure of "I Can See for Miles". I felt like it hit the chorus at really odd times (in the beginning and maybe at the end?). What was especially confusing is that the lyrics changed too often for it to have a true repeating structure. Nonetheless it was definitely interesting and enjoyable to listen to. When I think of songs with unusual structure, the first that comes to mind is "Got to Give It Up" by Marvin Gaye (heres a link to the song https://youtu.be/8LU6S1KpsgI ). I've heard my parents play this song way too many times and every time I both love and hate it, because it doesn't have any real chorus. Its smooth, and very classic Marvin Gaye, but its so smooth it just feels like one big verse that builds up to nothing.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of lyrics, it seems that Townshend's content was increasing in complexity at this time. In songs like "Substitute", "A Quick One", and "Disguises", he tells stories dealing with love that are far deeper and more continuous than any of the predating songs I've heard. I think its pretty cool to see the progression of this group, and Pete Townshend as a songwriter specifically, and the way that they matured with age.
^ Preston Patam
DeleteAs many have mentioned, a typical pop structure is usually verse, (maybe a pre-chorus), chorus, verse, (maybe a pre-chorus), chorus, bridge, chorus. However, it's evident in a song like A Quick One (While He's Away), that the Who is definitely straying from this structure. There's no discernible chorus or verses. Sometimes, it feels almost like the movements of a symphony (or other classical piece) because it has multiple parts that almost feel like separate songs, but do connect. For example, the beginning of the song doesn't feel at all like the part where they start singing about Ivor the Engine Driver, nor the part after where they sing "soon be home." It feels as if there's many songs within this one.
ReplyDeleteIn analyzing the lyrics of this week's songs, I think I'm seeing an increase in metaphors and complexity. There's definitely some lyrics that don't make sense to me, like "I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth" in Substitute, but I like it. It gives me more things to think about.
-Sara Lim
the normal phrase is born with a silver spoon in your mouth so he wasn't privileged since he was born with a plastic one
DeleteA typical pop song usually is made up of a mix of verses, choruses, and a bridge. A lot of music (primarily pop music) follows a very methodical formula of when each of these elements is “supposed” to appear in a song. The songs we listened to for this week definitely stray away from that formula and I think that ties back to the idea that The Who wanted to be different. I think that some of the major bands of the ’60s (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys) were often pitted against one another and easily compared so it is understandable why Townshend would want to set The Who apart from the rest. As others have pointed out, songs like “Disguises” and “A Quick One While He’s Away” do not follow the formula. They are sort of all over the place, but it still works sonically. As far as lyrics go, they are definitely unique. I noticed the move to a more story-telling style of writing. This style, as we know, will develop into the rock opera genre. I also found it interesting to note that Green Day covered “A Quick One While He’s Away” and they are another band known for writing rock operas and having a story-telling lyrical style like The Who.
ReplyDeleteA typical pop song structure goes something like intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, outro (with some variation, including pre-choruses). In regards to this week’s songs, we see The Who gradually move away from a typical song structure as they move towards more complex and non-traditional compositions. For instance, the songs “Substitute,” “Disguises,” “I Can See For Miles,” and “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” include a fair amount of repetition for particular verses and/or choruses, but they are not ordered in the structure of a typical pop song and are more freeform. Particularly, “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” is quite long and varying in its content, as it tells a story without really repeating particular verses or having a chorus, but instead turning the repetition inwards to make up considerable portions of the verses. Additionally, it seems as though many of Townshend’s lyrics have also increased in complexity and intricacy, as well as in their ability to tell a particular story. Thematically, they cover a range of topics revolving around the central theme of love/relationships, like cheating, inadequacy, long-distance relationships, etc.
ReplyDeleteA few other songs that don’t follow a typical structure include "Twenty Four Hours" by Joy Division, which is interesting as it basically has no chorus or bridge, and is just a collection of 5 verses, as well as "Human Fly" by the Cramps.
“Twenty Four Hours”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnM9X0IgUmg&t=101s
“Human Fly”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TR6QuOj-Gw
This weeks' songs were really interesting to me. I felt as though I saw a big shift in The Who's music style already from "Substitute" to "Disguises" and of course "I Can See for Miles". I felt like they began to experiment more with their sound by incorporating new instruments we didn't hear from them before. "I Can See for Miles" in particular displayed a rock feel that I'm more used to; it had a more heavy, intenseness to it. As a more current pop song, I find "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish to have an abnormal structure to it. She made a video with Rolling Stone breaking down each aspect of the song in which she incorporated everyday noises (like a cross walk meter) and even transitioned to a completely different song in the middle.
ReplyDeleteAs many have already stated, the typical pop song consists of verses, a repeating chorus, and maybe a bridge near the end before the final chorus. The Who definitely began to break away from this structure in the performances we were assigned this week. I really like watching this band perform, and my favorite was definitely the fourth assignment, A Quick One (While He's Away). They are captivating to watch and this song was also very unique in that it does have elements of repetition, but it does not follow the traditional song structure at all. I think this really added to the performance because it was unclear what would come next in the song, so it was super fun to watch. I also liked Disguises a lot because the lyrics were really unique and told a weird and interesting story, and paired with the unique noises around the middle it was a memorable listen.
ReplyDeleteOverall, the songs from this week showed a big increase in experimentation, not only with structure but also with lyrics.
-Violet
As others have mentioned, a typical pop song is "upbeat" and trades off between a verse (1), chorus, verse (2), and chorus. The chorus is typically lyrically and musically the same, but can have small variations. Additionally, for musicians at the time get get radio time, their songs needed to fit on a 45 RPM record, so this limited the length of the song. The songs of this week were released on albums instead of as singles. In this way, The Who deviated from pop. Also, “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” in particular rings in over 9 minutes and the lyrics tell a story of a sad, adulterous girl with less repetition of lyrics than usual pop songs.
ReplyDelete- Kriseira
Pop songs typically have a catchy pre-chorus, a chorus, verses that tell the story or the message of the song, and a bridge. The typical structure of a song is something to the effect of A B A B C B. This week the songs told stories. They experimented more with new sounds, but lyrically they took listeners on a journey. My favorite was "A Quick One (While He's Away)" because it was from many different perspectives including that of the train man, the girl, and the man once he came back. Most of the songs tell love stories which is a popular subject of pop songs. "I Can See For Miles" as well as "A Quick One (While He's Away)" don't follow the typical song structure featuring more new sections as the song continues. Personally, I think this shift away from pop was for the best as it helped develop new styles and genres of music. The stories were more engaging than previous songs, yet the band still broke typical structure and made room for their solos and experimentation with sound.
ReplyDelete-Julia Alanis
This week’s songs were very exciting to me. They were unlike most of the other songs of the Who that I had heard in the past. To me, some of them seemed lighter and less down on life than some of their other more well known songs. In regards to song structure in particular, I do not know very much at all about the mechanics behind songs. I would imagine that a typical pop song structure would consist of approximately two verses, a chorus that is repeated several times, and a build that connects all of the pieces together, but this is almost purely based on what I learned last week in your class and through the class follow-up email, so hopefully I am getting the right idea. “I Can See for Miles” is definitely a very interesting song, but, at this point, the song structure is a little confusing for me to break down. Although the songs “Disguises” and “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” seem more upbeat to me, paying attention to the lyrics, they are not as light-hearted as I assumed them to be. The lyrics almost seem more random, and with less grandiose intent. Although the songs are quite interesting, the lyrics do not seem as special to me as some of the other songs to which we have listened.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to a song that has an interesting structure, I thought of hip-hop music. Here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb1ZvUDvLDY. Tupac’s “Dear Mama” definitely is outside of the bounds of traditional song structure. It is not the shortest song, but I think it is pretty easy to tell that Tupac makes his own rules with the structure of this song, likely at least partially due to the genre of music in which the song fits.
Thank you!
I think of a pop song as normally having the formula of intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus. Usually the chorus is what people hold onto the most and in my personal opinion, I tend to see the choruses as the only meaningful part of many popular songs (first song that popped into my head like this was tubthumping by chumbawumba lol). What is interesting personally about The Who is that their earlier songs did tend to follow a more traditional pop structure but as they progressed and their sound changed, they began to go away from these structures. One thing I think about a lot personally is how when bands 'make it,' they tend to be more experimental as they already have plenty of money and have fans that will pretty much like anything they put out. I think the Who are a little different though because they were doing many different things at the same time. What is always so surprising about "A Quick One While He's Away" is how it proceeded bohemian rhapsody by like a decade but it's clear that the idea of an ever-evolving song with many different genre shifts and timbre changes was 'borrowed' from the Who as this is the first song, at least that I'm aware of, that did this in popular music. This has become very popular throughout the years especially in the more recent split songs where two songs will be released together as one track with a beat switch in the middle (such as 'PartyIsntOver / Campfire / Bimmer' by Tyler the Creator or '21C/Delta' by Jack Harlow to name a couple).
ReplyDelete-Charlie :)
I really loved this week's songs! Especially A Quick One (While He's Away)... that's one amazing song. I am a huge fan of all of the performances at Rock N Roll Circus, so I was happy to see that included. I love how this song has about 5 different songs in it. The Beatles do a similar thing in songs like A Day In The Life and Ive always found it so entertaining and exciting because it's not predictable at all. I think in this week's music you can really see The Who growing up and coming into their own unique sound and songwriting style, as compared to when they would just punk-up old American blues songs. I also am personally relived that they are no longer making a complete mess of the stage and destroying all of their instruments. It was fun for a bit, but I think after a while it becomes too much of a shtick and takes away from the musical performance.
ReplyDelete