"Old Town Road" - Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, 2019

"Old Town Road" is like the Cinderella story of pop music.  This genre blurring song, which was independently released on Lil Nas X's Sound Cloud account, would gain serious traction and debut on multiple Billboard charts [1].  Sprinkle in a viral TikTok craze, a little bit of categorical controversy and Billy Ray Cyrus - five months later we get the start of the longest running no.1 hit ever.

April 13 - August 17, 2019: "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus makes history reigning supreme for 19 weeks straight!

The general consensus of this song is either glowingly positive or glaringly negative.  I plan on leaving my opinions out of it and focusing on observable musical elements (until we get to lyrics).

The form of "Old Town Road" is something unique.  Here we see an example of both a chorus and refrain.  These two terms are often used interchangeably, but they are slightly different.  A useful definition may be "all choruses are refrains, but not all refrains are choruses." [2]  A refrain is a term used for a single repeating line, rather than an entire section.  While the two sections in question could fall into either categorization, it made more sense to call the title bearing section the "refrain."

So to be clear, "I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road..." is the refrain" and "can't nobody tell me nothing..." is the chorus.  Both sections use the same 8 measure instrumental track.


The tune also comes pretty close to classical rondo form: ABACABA.  It ends exactly as it begins, in reverse, with the refrain and the instrumental sections.  That little form trick gives the song a feeling of completion.  It's also less than three minutes long, so ending it in a predictable and recognizable way helps close the loop and leave the audience satisfied. 

Chord Progression
The instrumentation is relatively minimal.  The song starts with a sample of "34 Ghosts IV" by Nine Inch Nails.  The atmospheric guitar and string sounds (pizzicato violin sound?) repeat in some fashion throughout the entire song.

Opening Guitar Ostinato

These two lines set up an interesting harmonic structure, that on their own, leave some room for interpretation.   The dyads (two note chords) do fill out with additional harmony as vocals and additional sampled melodies enter.  The first vocals happen in bar 2, introducing a melody that we never get again in full, altering the chords just a bit.

Intro vocal

As the refrain begins, there is an instrumental lead that occurs, furthering the harmonic development.

Refrain Instrumental Lead

The static F# on beats two and four create some cool suspensions with a min7 on G#, hence the G#7 chord, and the 9th over the E6 chord, which also provides the #11 as well!

Then the bass comes in....

Bass (drum) Ostinato

Now the tonal center becomes more clear...G#min?  The bass motion from G# up a minor third to B leaves a G#min modal taste in my mouth, especially when combined with the various vocal melodies.  In any case, the progression comes out to: VI - I - V - IV.  Ahh the power of this chord progression.  If you venture into the archives, we saw this same progression, switched around, in Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" all the way back in 1958.

Melody

Let's start with the refrain.  The catchy hook of the song has a few sneaky things happening.  Each phrase starts on the D# (5th of G#) and works its way down a G# minor triad with the passing 4th.  It then jumps back up the 5th and comes down again, stressing the 4th, a bluesy/rock sound for sure.  In the 3rd full measure, over the F# chord, we get the C# again, now the 5th of F#, before working back down through the G#min chord, this time passing through the A#, hammering that G#minor feeling home with the "me re do" resolution (that's "me" as in "may," not "mi" as in "me"...the flat 3rd).

Refrain

Rhythmically, each phrase starts with 3 eighth notes (+4+).  The beat 2 "ride" also helps to give a little rhythmic surprise without upsetting the apple cart too much.

Lil Nas X's first verse picks right up with the melodic rhythm of the refrain (+4+) and then introduces a new rhythmic theme, spitting out 4 eighth notes at the start of every measure.  The pitches also move back and forth between two notes, working their way down through the G# minor chord, like the opening notes of the refrain.  We also get that anchoring G# tone several times ("match," "ha," "you ain't" and "now").

Verse 1

 The Lil Nas X verses and chorus are also very low in range, which provides a nice contrast with the higher chorus and Billy Ray verse.

Chorus

The chorus, which provides a strong secondary hook, also anchors my ear to a G#minor tonality.  We get the 4 eighth notes from the verse, a beat 2 C# from the refrain, the repeated low G#'s and the descending G#minor scale (C#-B-A#-G# from the last measure) to tie it all together.  It is impressive how these 4 bars incorporate so many elements of the song in a short space.

The biggest variance comes in the third and longest verse, provided by Mr. Cyrus.  Here, he focuses on some new, higher pitches, giving even more contrast to the low Lil Nas X parts.  We now get the full blown G# minor 7 sound with generous helpings of root to minor 7 motion and minor third leaps back and forth between G# and B.   

Verse 3 - first 8 bars

Rhythmically, he introduces a new pattern of 4 quarter notes before giving us the verse 1 rhythm of four eighth notes.  The first four measures are, rhythmically, a mirror image.  The second 4 measures are the same 2 measure patterns repeated.  He also borrows Lil Nas X's melodic pattern, alternating between two notes as he works his way down the scale.

Billy Ray isn't finished yet though.  Check out the second 8 measures of his double verse.

Verse 3 - second 8

Rhythmically, we get something closer to the refrain.  The position of the 4 eighth notes shift, there's syncopation on 1+ and 2+ and we hear more of an emphasis on +4+, figures that all occur in the refrain.  He drives this point home by actually quoting the refrain lyrics, this time with a melodic variation, the A# on "ride," instead of the C# that we have heard since the beginning.

The last two bars, in my opinion, are the most interesting moment in the entire song.  The harmony on "ride" is the first time we get a full F# major tonality, thanks to the A#.  The "whoa oh oh" figure also leads us back to the refrain one final time in slick fashion, returning the focus to G# minor, just in case that little flavor burst of harmony didn't sit quite right.

We also hear a slightly more pronounced flourish on "old town road," a variation I could be convinced happens, albeit more subtle, at other times in the song.   

And after all that, refrains, choruses and verses, each with shared melodic and rhythmic characteristics that develop and morph over a static chord progression, we get the final 8 measures of the song and.....slightly new melodic material...whistled!

closing whistle

This has a little bit of the intro vocal "mmms," a bit of the the refrain and a bit of the third verse all rolled into one.  I mentioned that the form of this song closes the loop and makes it feel like it is complete, ending in a similar way that it began.  Perhaps this slight bit of new information raises the replay value?  Judging by the unprecedented popularity, that may be true.

Musical Sticking Points 

After analyzing the various sections of this tune, there is way more happening than I initially believed.  After rereading my melodic diatribe, I think this song takes advantage of our collective desire to be surprised and exposed to change without ever going too far out of the comfort zone.  Every section uses a similar group of notes, over the same instrumental loop, that continue to be presented in slightly different ways.

The refrain establishes a vocal rhythm, which the verse borrows from, but changes.  The chorus borrows from that, which is used to influence the third verse.  It's like this song keeps eating itself and regurgitating a new beast that's a little different from the original.  At the end of the day, this is a great example of song writing from some thoughtful musicians.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the genre dispute this song created.  It was originally on the Billboard Hot Country chart, but was removed for not being "country" enough.  There can be a case made for this song to be identified as country, pop or rock, which surely contributed to its overall success.  I read an interesting article about the perception of a song's genre based on lyrics alone, chord progression alone and lyrics and chord progression combined. [3]  Either way, it's an interesting notion and a relevant point for the song in question.

Lyrics
Remember my analysis on this song's masterful evolution of rhythmic and melodic content squished into a 2:37 package?  Good.  Keep remembering, because I can't say that many nice things about the lyrics.  As stated before, I am not a "lyric guy," so take my opinion for what it is, an opinion.

"Old Town Road" tells the inspirational story of Lil Nas X overcoming adversity and becoming a successful musicians through an analogy of all things cowboy, fitting into the "country rap" or "hick hop" mold.  "Can't nobody tell me nothing" is the rallying cry to his naysayers, throwing hi success back in their faces.

But then there's a bunch of goofy stuff.  The one line that makes me cringe and laugh out loud has to be: "hat is matte black, got the boots that's black to match."   Matte....

It is impressive that the same song manages to include lyrics about "whipping your Porshe," "bull riding and boobies," and "riding down Rodeo in a Masserati sports car."  The genre breaking culture clash continues.

Common Threads
In the last round, I went through 7 decades of no.1 hit songs from the first week of August, on the 8's.  After each song, I compiled a list of musical traits the songs had in common.  That being said, the first analysis of no.1 hits in the first week of August on the 9's, I have nothing to compare it to, yet.  I also plan to start the list fresh and then compare my two lists.  For now, here are some strong musical points that may appear through this round of analyses.

• Male lead vocal
• Hook that  uses the title of the song
• Repeated melodic themes
• Implied tonality in spite of harmony
• Major 2nds are the dominating melodic interval
• Variations appear throughout

Final Takeaways

When I first heard this song, I was not a fan.  Virtually every day, students in my music class requested I perform it.  I not only neglected to perform it, I neglected even listening to it, confident in my belief that one listen was enough to get the basic idea.  That may be true, but you can't see a tree for the forest.  

This song if far more intelligent that I was willing to give it credit for.  The hooks are plentiful, even if the lyrics are a little hokey.  I honestly wish I has been aware of the Nine Inch Nails sample earlier.  I respect Trent Reznor for his musical sensibilities and knowing of his involvement would have, likely, peaked my interest a little more.  

It is slightly amazing to me that the intro guitar work, when actually listened to and played on a real instrument, is much different that the overall perception of this song's sound.  I remember feeling that way about Drake and Katy Perry, perhaps a sub theme of commonalities that will be presented in songs from the past 20 years?

What are your thoughts on "Old Town Road?"  If you are firmly against it, I implore you to give it another listen.  Play it on an instrument if you have the ability.  It's not as bad as you think!  Leave me a comment!

Up next: coming off two weeks at no. 2, sliding into an epic 14 week run at no.1 going from July 11, 2009 to October 10, 2009 - "I've Got A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas!  "I've Got A Feeling" we might see some common musical threads as we travel down the "Old Town Road."

[1]https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/lil-nas-x-old-town-road-810844/
[2]https://www.learneverythingabout.com/lyrics-songs/songwriting/what-is-chorus-versus-refrain.html
[3]https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/audio/a28708811/old-town-road-algorithm/