...Billy Joel in his song “We Didn't Start The Fire” claims that the current generation, as of the time the song was written, did not, in fact, start the fire. Thought the song many events are listed until the chorus comes along again to remind the listener the they did not start the fire. The “fire” in this song that Billy Joel speaks of are crazy and shocking events to the world not only being generally harmful to the public but events that changed how people viewed things. The songs repetition of not starting the fire, the lengthy lines used for verses that completely list events, and the the listing of events as opposed to common verses in an average song shows how they did not start the fire and the fire had been going on for generations...
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...(Big Mike), recorded a song called “Six Feet Deep.” This song was an instant hit, because so many people in the inner city could relate to the death that was depicted in the song. Although this song was released more than twenty years ago, it still has relevance today. The things that went on then are still going on in black communities today. Each verse described each person’s view on how death has come into their lives. In the first verse, performed by Scarface, he talks about losing a close friend to a gun shout wound to the chest. He described the scene at the wake when he said, “And everybody dressed up in black suits.” The black suits is a part of a tradition practiced in many parts of the world. People are to wear something black to the wake or funeral of the deceased. He also described the sad expression on the faces of others around the death of his friend. Scarface recalled some things about their past, letting the listener know that he would never forget his friend and that his memory will live on forever. This verse was his way of saying good bye to his friend. He also explained how he felt about the situation saying that “it hurts to see the boy you broke bread with six feet in the dirt”. The second verse was performed by Bushwick Bill. He talked about how death seemed to be something that was happening quite often in his community. It also talks about how people are unwilling to accept the death of a loved one. This verse gave a glimpse into his...
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...compared to a normal Beatles song, such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Usually, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and John Lennon played a variety of electric guitars while Ringo Starr played drums. In “Eleanor Rigby”, the entirety of the band is not playing their usual instruments. Starr was not even a part of the song hence the lack of drums. Harrison and Lennon instead sang harmony while McCartney sang as the lead vocalist. Furthermore, with the lack of guitars and drums, the music heard below the vocals was played by a string octet. Usually, a string quartet consists of two violins, one viola, and one cello. However, in this case, the string quartet is doubled, which means 4 violins, two violas, and two cellos, in order to create a more powerful sound. Oddly, “Eleanor Rigby” begins strongly with the chorus. While the cellos are arpeggiating, the violins and violas are playing a series of short, fast notes. While the cellos are sustained, the violins and violas are playing a brief subject that eventually returns to the tonic. At 0:14, the first verse begins with vocals and, again, short notes from the upper strings. From the lower strings, we hear a punctual, driving bass line with an occasional arpeggio. We also hear another brief subject of eighth notes from the upper strings. At 0:31, the first of two bridges begins. The violas are playing eighth notes underneath the vocals while the violins and cellos are sustained. At 0:46, the second verse begins with the same melody...
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...The Concepts of Music Dylan Wright Pitch/Melody Pitch represents the fundamental frequency of a sound reflecting generally the lowness or highness of a sound and the melody is the pitch and rhythm combined. In Australian popular music composers tend to pick one or two melodies (verse and chorus) and stick with them. The variety then occurs in the lyrics. The beat and the melodies in pop songs have a tendency to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment. This is so the piece is catchy and remains in our head. The pitch is usually within a one octave range, for the simple reason of the vocalist being unable to reach certain notes. It also makes it ‘singable’ for the listeners. What's more, this means that there are no large leaps from notes as popular music is more written with small steps of notes rather than octave leaps. In more recent Australian popular music, it has become less uncommon for us to hear pitch perfect vocals. The reasoning behind this is an ingenious plug-in called Auto-Tune. It’s a studio trick that can take a vocal and instantly nudge it onto the proper note or move it to the correct pitch. You could say it's like Photoshop for the human voice. It can transform an okay performance into something technically flawless. Pitch and melody play a big part in Australian Popular music because, obviously, something that is not pleasing to our ears is not going to entice listeners. Duration Duration is the amount of time in a piece and how long it lasts...
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...I picked “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by Rolling Stones. The song released in 1965 and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote it. The song starts with a guitar riff that consists three notes. This melody continues until the end of the song and it is very catchy. Lyrics are presented in a rhythmic way in the beginning and they have like a call and response relationship with the guitar. I choose this song for my paper because I listened to a lot of songs for this paper but this song has the most memorable melodies in terms of the lyrics and the guitar for me. The song starts with a close range melody in the first verse but it opens in the first bridge. Moreover, when we arrive to the chorus, it becomes a wide ranged melody and the chorus is definitely higher than the verse. From the verse to the chorus, this increase in the melody is building an expectation and it gives a natural feel of build up. Especially the bridge is getting higher and higher into the chorus. As a result, the melody is lifting before arriving the chorus, building a great approach to the chorus. The wide range of the chorus is giving the listeners a rebellious feel and it supports the lyrics. Moreover, there is prosody throughout the song. The song based on the three-note guitar riff and the lyrics are very similar to the pattern. The lyrics are using some long notes with some sharp, staccato notes like the guitar riff. Particularly in the chorus, two staccato notes are occurring in the same time with...
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...The song “Hallelujah”, by Leonard Cohen, is a very opaque and dreary song. Cohen was at a low point in his life when he wrote the song. It is a very long and soft-spoken song that was written by Cohen in 1984. Despite the sad time that Cohen was going through when writing the song, it is one of the most popular songs in the world. Many famous singers have performed renditions on this song including: Bono, Jeff Buckley, and Bob Dylan. Many have been inspired by the song’s form and its way to stick in your head. However, people don’t see the biblical stories that the song brings out. The song alludes to prayer and the story of King David. Hallelujah is a word of praise or in other words, “Praise The Lord”, the song is usually used in church...
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...Rounsifer MUSC 143 Professor Miller 23 January 2014 The song used a lot of repetition throughout the song, but also included some variation and contrast when necessary. Even with all the repetition in the song, is allows the listen to focus on the words and message of the song. The use of repetition, variation, and contrast is very important when it comes to a successful song. The song “Call Me” by Blondie uses a lot of repetition throughout the song. For example, the first and second verses have the exact same instrument chords, as well as the female vocals. The first verse begins at 0:16 with female vocals and a constant drum, bass, and distorted electric guitar. The second verse, which begins at 0:56, uses the exact same techniques. Also, The first and second choruses are an example of repetition. During these choruses, a male harmony is added, as well as a cymbal to emphasize certain words. There is a slight variation when it comes to the last verse of the song. The lyrics in the third verse are in a different language, and adding the organ in the background adds to the variation. Additionally, there is a variation between the first and second choruses compared to the third chorus. In the third chorus, an organ is added that emphasizes the idea behind the song. Also, the organ seems to add a feeling of importance because of the quickness of the beats. An example of contrast is only used once in the song, at the last interlude, at 2:09. During this interlude, unlike...
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...Black or White By Michael Jackson The song Black or White is a hip hop, rap song about racial discrimination written and first performed in 1991. The song was written by Michael Jackson in conjunction with Bill Bottrell. Black or White was a popular song reaching number one in 20 countries also, becoming the second best-selling single of the year. The message of the song and why Michael Jackson wrote the song is him not caring about whether you’re black or white. “The lyrics of this song are a plea for racial tolerance.” As stated in Songfacts. Michael uses many effective language features in his song black or white. The song makes use of some minor repetition, including the phrases “I am tired of this” and “I ain't scared of” each repeated...
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...Daquan Jackson 3/11/14 Prof. Powell Mus 101 The song I chose for this assignment is Ordinary people by John legend which to me is a great song. Ordinary people came in out in 2004 in Legends album Get Lifted. The song doesn’t have any personal meaning for me; I just really enjoy listening to song for some reason. There’s only one instrument throughout this song and it’s the piano which Legend plays himself. The man has a great voice which makes me keep listening to his music because if it wasn’t for that I don’t think I would listen to him. This songs is completely different to all the other music I listening I listen to more Spanish and house music then I do to soul, in fact this is probably the only soul song I actually have listened to more than once. This is different to the music I listen to because most of what I listen to makes no sense and has no meaning to it, unlike ordinary people which actually talks about real life situations that people in relationships go through even today. According to Legend the point of this song was to say that relationships are tough and no one will really know the outcome and that even if it does work it will require compromise but even with that the relationship won’t end the way you would want it to. Ordinary people is a soul/ R&B song that talks about guilt, contradiction, fear and doubt. In this line ("I know I misbehaved/and you've made your mistakes/and we both still got room left to grow") he talks about how people in...
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...the album is distant and unfaithful, shallow and overly critical; he is a man who keeps Mitchell at a distance, which in turn keeps Mitchell fleeing from the prison gates of love. In songs like “Court and Spark”, “Help Me” and “Car on a Hill” listeners encounter that typical two-timing sweet talker. Likewise, an insincere critic is evident in songs like “People’s Parties” and “Twisted”. The lyrics to these songs within the album “Court and Spark” authenticate Mitchell’s belief that men cannot be trusted in relationships. Mitchell believes men are unfaithful in relationships. The opening lines of “Court and Spark” demonstrate her cynicism, “Love came to my door with a sleeping roll and a madman’s soul.”(Mitchell, “Court and Spark.” Verse 1, Lines 1-2) Not by chance, the sleeping roll is the first thing she notices about this travelling man. A bed, unlike a sleeping roll, is something permanently fixed and symbolizes commitment. However, he can roll up the latter and leave her for someone else’s door whenever he chooses, a freedom that lacks faithfulness. This evaluation of Mitchell’s first lines provides insight into what might be the true intentions of his actions mentioned later on, “…dancing up the river in the dark looking for a woman to court and spark.” (Mitchell, “Court and Spark.” Verse 1, Lines 5-6) These lyrics create the image of a gypsy searching for a girl to woo into bed, so that he may have a place to sleep and...
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...guitar and an enthusiastic 2-4 drum beat giving the songs a steady beat to tap along with, makes rock an unique and awesome genre. Rock combines characteristics of blues, country, folk, jazz, funk and classical music into one of the most thriving forms of Australian music. However, rock truly started during 1980’s, where composers experimented with their songs, creating a unique sound to the rest of the world. Furthermore, no one does this as well as the band Midnight Oil and their song Blue Sky Mine. Blue Sky Mine was composed my Midnight Oil to reveal the damaging effects...
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...art form first heavily relied on having a prolific DJ to match the rapper often referred to as MC’s, focusing on the two to quickly connect and be in sync with each other was crucial. The most notable of these “founding fathers” of the art form that developed it into what it is today, Grand Master Flash and the Furious 5 who used revolutionary techniques of mixing beats and other songs together...
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...political statements that rap music started with began to deteriorate over time. It was as though hip hop went from talking about what was going on currently in a positive way, to rappers encouraging violence as promoting a negative message. Since the 1980’s to current time there has been a persistent problem of how hip-hop has changed. Grand Master Flash’s “The Message” is a sociopolitical rap song that is truly about poverty and how inner city life was in America in 1982. The first verse speaks to the apparent struggle in his time, “Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice”. Many people at the time, even though their surroundings were not safe, had no money to move away. Another verse from Master Flash “Rats in the front room, roaches in the back/ Junkies in the alley with the baseball bat” is a light way to show the public what is going on in some neighborhoods. In the 1980’s there was a crack epidemic. This line refers to the fact that the people addicted to crack cocaine would do anything to get their next fix, even if that meant attacking you. Further down in verses is “I can't walk through the park cause it's crazy after dark/Keep my hand on my gun cause they got me on the run. Which would mean that he needed his gun for protection because the streets were not safe in the night....
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...Droning in Modern Rock The song being analyzed in this assignment is titled, “Slip to the Void” by the Orlando based rock band Alter Bridge. The song was the opening track in the band’s third album titled, “AB III”, which was released on November 9, 2010 (“Alter Bridge – Music”). The song was composed by Myles Kennedy (the band’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist), Mark Tremonti (the lead guitarist), Brian Marshall (bassist) and Scott Phillips (drummer/percussionist). The song’s lyrical content deals with making poor decisions and slipping into a useless state. The technique of droning can be traced back to the Near East. In music, drones are described as sound effects where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or the entire piece. It is usually achieved through a sustained sound or through repetition of a musical note. Though the song being discussed above doesn’t use a drone instrument to sustain the pitch, it achieves a similar effect by the repetition of the same note/chords. The song opens with this repeated harmony, which is played by a clean rhythm guitar. The same chords are repeated in this note and a sustained sound is produced over which the vocalist sings the entire first verse. This combination of unchanged chords borrows from the ancient drones as it involves a sustained sound which serves as a monotonous baseline over which the vocalist sings, which is similar (not same) to the Near-eastern technique. The repeated harmony can be heard till the...
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...Strange Fruit Vocals by Cassandra Wilson The version of the song “Strange Fruit,” by Cassandra Wilson is a piece of music that consists of 4 verses. I have broken these down into Verse A, Verse B. Verse A, and Verse A’. Cassandra’s voice is most certainly the melody of this version of Strange Fruit and is used in all 4 verses. The rhythm of this piece is a 4. The song opens in a high pitch “tinkling” piano, soft flute (that reminds me of the wind bowing) a soft distant sound of an electric guitar and the eerie background bass that has the feeling of darkness and fear. This drew an image of dark and chilling to me. Seventeen seconds into the song an additional instrument possibly the sound of a top hat are added and enter with a startling feeling of an electric shock awakening the original quieter start to the piece. Following this is the hard hit of a drum and high hat symbols that reminded me of a rattlesnake in the desert along with a ticking noise that reminded me of a clock. Forty four seconds after being captured, by the dissonant opening, Cassandra starts to sing. Her voice is low (ghost like; very spooky) and not always clear but it creates a unity with its steady pitch and tempo. I found that with the words I had difficulty making out (until I had listened for the 19th time) that she sounded tight and somewhat raspy, like she was gasping for air. Her voice works so well to create tension and uneasiness in relation to the timbre of the pounding loud drum (rhythm...
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