"I Gotta Feeling" - Black Eyed Peas, 2009

The spring and summer of 2009 was a great time to be a Black Eyed Pea.  April 18th, "Boom Boom Pow" jumps from no.39 to no.1, an impressive feat to say the least.  "Boom Boom Pow" sits at no.1 for an impressive 12 weeks!  10 weeks into the run, the Black Eyed Peas debut another song on the charts, at no.2.....where two weeks later, it soars to no.1, for another 14 weeks!  Complete and total chart topping dominance!

July 11, 2009 to October 10, 2009 - "I Gotta A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas marks the second long running hit, in a row, for the group!

Will the song's popularity match its musical integrity?

In my last analysis, we explored the difference between a chorus and a refrain.  While both labels are often used interchangeably, there are some subtle differences.  Consider this:

The chorus contains the main idea, or big picture, of what is being expressed lyrically and musically. It is repeated throughout the song, and the melody and lyric rarely vary." A refrain is, "a repeated line or musical phrase that ties a song together...[1]

With the above definition in mind, I landed on the following:
"I've got a feeling..." is the chorus.  It accounts for the most real estate in the song and is the most developed musical section throughout.   While it could be considered the refrain, there are too many elements that make it more than that.

"Let's do it, and do it...." is the refrain.  Going with the above definition, this section repeats a musical phrase that does tie the verses together and flows into the chorus and bridge over the coarse of the song.

As in "Old Town Road," there are two strong hooks that repeat several times.  As I think about this conundrum with fresh ears, I am tempted to change my thoughts about refrain and chorus in my "Old Town Road" analysis.  In any case, it's somewhat ironic, that for the second analysis in a row, randomly selected for the date of its no.1 placement, ten years apart, that two songs have a similar form involving two repeated hooks that could be called either the chorus or refrain.

The form shines a light on this song's repetitious nature.  Every section, except for the outro (one sustained synth note and a "hoo hoo") is an 8 measures long.  Each 16 measure chorus section is really just a repeated 8 bars.  Verse 1 and Verse 3 are repeated verbatim.  The only two things that differentiate the sections are the lyrics (which repeat) and the arrangement of elements in the loop. 


Chord Progressions

There is a singular chord progression that runs throughout the entire song.  I / IV / vi / IV in the key of G: G / C / Emin / C.  It is, however, changed ever so slightly by harmonic nuances in the instrumental layers.  The keyboard/synth/string lines lays the foundation from beat 1:

Main Harmonic Theme

The Gsus chord previews the tonality that will happen in several sections, with the 4th resolving to the major 3rd.  8 bars into this, higher strings enter, introducing the A - G theme that will appear later, in the vocals.

Strings - m9 - 16

The guitar provides a percussive moving line that helps the momentum continue in the absence of the drums.  This line sticks to the chord roots.

Guitar Line - opening choruses 

The driving root motion is taken over by the bass and drums in the verses.  The synth sneaks in with a repeated G note on the upbeats, replacing the intro synth line's static G.

Drums and Bass Verse

Also in the verse, the chords are outlined by another synth playing on all the upbeats.  This line creates a few subtle suspensions: G6 over the G chord and Csus4 over C.  It then exploits the shared tones E and G of Emin and C.

Verse Accompaniment 

Another treatment to the base chord progression happens in the return of verse 1 and carries through to the bridge.  A new synth pattern outlines the chords.  This time though, there are no suspensions and notes stay within the chord tones.

Synth Development - V1(2x), V3(2x) and B 

As illustrated above, this song plays on idea of repetition with a few varied elements along the way.  Aside from the occasional suspension or rhythmic variation, the instrumental foundation of the entire song is unchanged.  Another way it staves off the ad nauseam effect is by varying the overall texture with the intensity of the drums.

The drums range from light and understated to full blown dance club to non existent.  One of the most interesting stretches in the song happens between verse 1 and the first refrain.  In these sections, there is silence interjected, which provides some nice moments of suspense.

Rhythmic Variance - V1 - R1

Notice how the 2 beats of silence gets moved around in various positions.  This is certainly a shining moment for me amidst the relentless unchanged harmonic progression.  I found an interesting summary of how this repetition stays varied, breaking down the additions and subtractions of each element. [2]

Melody

The chorus melody contains the hook of the song and provides the most melodic space in the song.  The opening line, starting on beat 3 in m16 of the intro, climbs up in 4ths and resolves down a half step to the major 3rd of G.  So far in this analysis, half step motion is a rare interval for catchy hooks.

Chorus Melody

As the melody progresses, the same phrase is repeated several times: "tonight's gonna be a good night," which descends the G major scale from the C or D notes each time, landing on G and returning to the E to start the next phrase on the "and of beat 3.  In summary: lots of ascending leaps of a -6 followed by descending motion to the root with more half step resolutions to the 3rd.

This melodic content was foreshadowed in the intro.  The primary synth part featured the half step resolution in the G chord.  The strings also foreshadow this "hoo hoo" vocal we hear the 2nd time though the 16 measure chorus (A - G).

As the song moves through the verses, the focus shifts to speaking in rhythm, the very definition of rap [3].   The rhythms stay consistent within the verses, save the last measure which lines up with the drum break.

Verse 1

Fergie takes verse 2, which is a completely different presentation than verse 1, only labeled verse due to its position in the song and the lack of later repetition.  Her sang melody offers a variation on the chorus melody.  Instead of focusing on the half step C-B, she goes after the E-D (supported in the upbeat accompaniment) before descending down the G major scale.  She then borrows from that upbeat synth accompaniment again, hanging out on G and E shared chord tones.

Verse 2

This verse is also a nice contrast to the first verse in its rhythmic construction.  She generally starts a beat later than will.i.am and her phrases are longer and more flowing.

After this nice melodic detour, we get another rap verse, almost rhythmically identical to verse 1.

verse 3

The verse ends with a shadow of the chorus, a descending scalar lick in G with that -6 leap up to C, which resolves to.....you guessed it, the B, down a half step, directly into the refrain.

Refrain

This refrain really exploits the half step resolutions, repeating them over and over before leading us back to the chorus.  There is one interesting moment, which might actually break the rule for "refrain," in "let's live it up."  This rhythmic hiccup breaks things up just enough before they get too tiresome...or does it?

The last section in the song with new melodic content comes in the bridge.  It starts with another rap section, this time with a new rhythmic structure that repeats twice.

Bridge - first 4 bars

The second half of the bridge returns to a sang melody, but keeps the rap feel by singing the repeated tonal center, G.  This part also features a half step resolution C to B, only in a new position.  Here, the resolution happens between beat 3 and 4, rhythmically unique to the rest of the tune!

Bridge - last 8

Musical Sticking Points

Apparently, people love predictability and repetition.  A theme of every song I have analyzed is its evolution.  I summarize it as "hearing the same thing without hearing the same thing."  Songs accomplish this in many ways: changing lyrics, changing melodies, adding or subtracting musical elements, key changes, etc.  Does "I Gotta Feeling" evolve?  In short, yes.

My longer answer is not so cut and dry.  While this song undoubtedly varies musical elements and textures from beginning to end, it leaves me unsatisfied.  I think I have listened to this song more than any other, for analysis purposes.  Maybe I was hoping to find something more, thinking "that can't be all that's happening?"  I definitely kept getting lost in sea of "let's do its," which forced a few extra listens.  In the end, this song's evolution just doesn't hold up for me.

I do like the variations of vocal delivery.  There's rap, there's a male and female lead and there's copious amounts of gang vocals and antagonistic echoes ("DRINK!").  All of those things keep the song moving and give each repeated section a slightly different feel.  There's a very rhythmic quality to the whole tune.  I wonder if any percussion ensembles have covered this one?

The "7 layer dip" approach to music certainly worked for the Peas in 2009.  I would love to see this tune laid out on a screen, color coded, to see the flow of what's added or taken away.  There are so many little layers popping up everywhere.  I didn't even mention the syncopated "feel" that happens every 4 measures through most of the song.  Gary Ewer has some similar thoughts in his thought provoking article from "Essential Secrets of Song Writing." [4]

Lyrics

"I Gotta Feeling" is a "good times" anthem.  I'm sure it has been featured in countless photo slideshows as the soundtrack for happy nostalgia.  It also works as a party song, conjuring up the idea of letting loose on the weekend.

All of that is well and good, but I have a slightly different take.  As I was listening close to a few sections, several times in a row, I felt like I was listening to some twisted hypnosis track.  "Let's do it, and do it, and do it and do it...."  The voices in my head start to say "do what will.i.am?"  "Party everyday?"  or do you want me to "jump off that sofa," or "burn the roof?"  Yes!  "burn the roof," and "we'll do it again, we'll do it, do it."  I'm just saying, if Ozzy Osbourne had come out with those lyrics in the 80's, there would have been a strings of arson and lots of lawsuits. I guess it's all about context and presentation.

Common Threads

After listening to "Old Town Road," I came up with some musical elements I suspected I might see moving forward.  After reviewing the list, "I Gotta Feeling" can claim these similarities:

• Male lead vocal
• Hook that  uses the title of the song
• Repeated melodic themes
• Singular repeated chord progression
• Texture changes

I'm certain, as with the last round of songs, that this list will evolve different elements will present themselves.

Final Takeaways
After listening several times to finish this analysis, I am confident that I never need to hear this tune again.  It's not that I dislike it or don't appreciate it....I've cracked its code and there's nothing new left to discover.  I could say the same thing about other song's I've analyzed, but their inherent ingenuity is far more interesting than "I Gotta Feeling."

As a funny aside, early on in this analysis as I was searching for information about this song, I erroneously referred to it as "I've Got A Feeling," which is a classic Beatles song.  As that search query kept appearing, it only served as salt in the wounds for what I would repeatedly endure.

What are your thoughts on "I Gotta Feeling?"  Does its singability and strong dance feel give its musical blandness a pass?  Leave me a comment!

Up next: July 31st through August 28th, 1999, a 5 week run at no.1, just when I thought I couldn't take any more pop...."Genie In A Bottle" by Christina Aguilera!  This one may be a guilty pleasure?  We'll see!

[1]https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/69616/what-is-the-difference-between-chorus-and-refrain

[2] https://ronannanor.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/song-analysis-i-gotta-feeling-black-eyed-peas/

[3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rap

[4] https://www.secretsofsongwriting.com/2009/09/22/why-the-black-eyed-peas-i-gotta-feeling-has-been-such-a-success/