Billboard Hot 100 no.1 Hits, spanning decades, analyzed in attempt to answer the question: "What makes a good song good?"
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9/8/20
"Alone Again (Naturally)" - Gilbert O'Sullivan, 1972
One of the greatest joys this project has given me is exposure to new music, new to me, anyway. When I looked up the no.1 hit around august of 1972, I was completely unaware of Gilbert O'Sullivan and was impressed with a 4 week run at no.1. Upon further digging, I discovered that a week after being dethroned (by Looking Glass's "Brandy"), it climbed back to no.1 for two more weeks!
In 1972, Roberta Flack's "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" stayed at no.1 for 6 consecutive weeks, the longest running no.1 that year. To put this into a little context, earlier in the year, "American Pie" by Don McLean hit no.1 for 4 weeks. Other notable entries in the no.1 position that year included "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers, "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young and "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green.
I'm trying to convey that fact that"Alone Again (Naturally)" was in fine company. When I first listened to it, it seemed dated, but in a good way. Gilbert O'Sullivan's sound reminds me of Burt Bacharach meets The Beatles, another complimentary comparison. As I continued to listen, I became obsessed with the delicate balance of complexity and simplicity. Musically, this one is a bit of an outlier. It is, however, a killer song! Hopefully I can figure out how this obscure classic reached such popular heights on a musical level.
Looking at the form, it's strikingly simple. Each verse is a 16 measure cycle. The way each A section is structured reminds me of a jazz standard, repeating the changes and the same melody each time with little variation, aside from lyrics. After two verses, we get a 6 measure bridge that leads to the back half of the tune. There, we find two more verses, one of which features a guitar playing the vocal melody, before the song tags the hook.
While there is no formal chorus, each verse contains a refrain: "alone again, naturally." This refrain is even heard in the guitar solo verse and is used as a fitting ending. I'd like to think the simplicity of the form, along with easily understood and relatable lyrics provides a balance to the complex chords and melody that comprise each section?
In a way, I see similarities with "In The Year 2525" by Zager & Evans from 1969. That featured 11 verses with no chorus: AAA or strophic form. While "Along Again" does contain a short bridge, the A section is the main attraction. This type of song composition is surprising to see in a pop song, and I am continuously surprised as I learn more about Gilbert O'Sullivan. UPI (United Press International) gave him a "Shlock Rock Trophy" and called him "the worst potential influence on the direction of pop music since Tiny Tim" in the wake of his success. [1] While I actively disagree, it does affirm my suspicions that, despite success on the charts, this song must have seemed strange to listeners in 1972.
Chord Progressions
Why do I keep referring to this song as strange and obscure? Get ready.....it's all in the harmony. The 4 measure intro gives us a small taste of what's to come:
F# / A#min7 / G#min C#7b9 / F#6 F# I / iii / ii V / I
Very rarely in pop music does a iii chord resolve to ii. Usually, we get iii - IV or iii - vi. The b9 sound on the dominant chord sticks out as a little dissonant, usually reserved for resolving to a minor chord in the home key. Instead, we get a major 6 chord. When the vocal comes in, the first two measures repeat, then things go way out! Below is the full 16 measure A section:
Verse (A) Chord Changes
In the third measure, we begin a ii-V sequence to G#min (ii), moving through some half diminished chords. This is a very unusual sound in pop music and is comes off quite dissonant. While it strangely works with the gloomy lyrics, it is certainly surprising. (The A#min7b5/C# chord could also be viewed as a C#min6, resulting in v/F# or even iv/G#min). When we finally arrive at G#min7, that gets altered to G#min7b5 (half diminished). If you think of G#min7b5 as B minor 6, that acts as the iv chord, moving back to F#. You could also think about it as the ii min7b5 of F# minor. When it resolves, we get F# major instead of the more appropriate minor. Either way it feels like home.
Measures 7 and 8 keep evolving with an chromatically ascending inner voice: F# - F# + - F#6; C# - D - D#. While this is just the glorified I chord, if you look at where we are going, they take on different function. Measure 9 rests on A# minor. To get there, F#+ could be considered the V of D# (A#,CX (D) root and 3rd); D# minor and F7 are iv and V of A# minor. These two bars provide some interesting voice leading to get us back to the iii chord, now the second time we've resolved there.
Measures 9 through 12 rehash measures 1-6, only they move more quickly through the changes. When you hear them the second time, they sound less dissonant, especially when we hear the last 4 bars of the progression, a familiar iii-VI-ii-V pattern in the home key. With 10 chords in the verse alone, I think we may have a new contender for "most chords used in a pop song." I'm not sure Tiny Tim's music can boast that kind of chord volume!
The bridge of the song modulates to A major, a minor third higher. There we see a 6 measure section:
A / E / G#min7b5 C#7b9 / A D#min7b5 / C#maj7 / G#min7 C#b9 I / V / ii/vi V/vi / I ii/III / III / ii/F# V/F#
The bridge continues to use half diminished chords to get to new places. Like the verse, the III chord (C# major) is used as a resting point. The last two measures sneakily get us back to F# with a good ol ii-V.
Verse 3 - arrangement highlights
The last verse uses the same 16 measure progression but adds in a tag over the last two measures. To get there, he goes through another round of iii-VI-ii-V. Below, I pulled the melodic bits from the arrangement to highlight the progression. The arrangement is nicely split between strings, horn and flutes.
Melody
16 measures is rather long for a pop melody. There are certainly 16 measure sections, usually composed of smaller repeated chunks. That is not the case here. There are repeated rhythmic cells as well as melodic motifs, but they are spread out in a way where repetition is not glaringly obvious. For this analysis, we will look at the first verse.
Right away we hear 16th notes that gradually become more syncopated. In the first two measures, chord tones are used with rhythmic anticipation into the next bar. Measures 2-4 expand on this with more rhythmic variance and a killer descending line from E to G natural, major 3rd of D#7.
Verse 1 - meas. 1-8
Measures 5 -6 repeat melody chunks, B and G#, chord tones over the shifting G#min, root and minor 3rd. Measures 7-8 expand this, now using F#, G# and A# in similar rhythms; root, 2nd and 3rd of F#. An ascending line brings us up to the F7, touching chord tones all the way.
Measure 9, below, continues the repeated note motif, this time with A#, B# and C#, root, 2nd and minor 3rd of A#min. Measures 10-11 return to the descending line we saw in meas.3-4, this time only getting as low as G#. Measure 12 is unique, touching on 4th, minor 3rd and minor 7 of G#min7b5. The lyric "remaining" also sounds very low after all the high crooning.
Verse 1 - meas.9-16
Measures 13 and 14 are similar to the opening measures of the section, taking less time to get to the high note, E# (F). We then hear the hook, sequences of 2nds and 3rds with a huge leap down a minor 7th in between. The very last measure is a sample of the impressive guitar arpeggios that permeate each verse. There, the guitar descends through the scale, A#, G#, F#, E#, arpeggiating the F#6 chord along the way.
The bridge uses some familiar conventions like 16th note syncopation and descending scales through chord tones. While it sounds different, it is similar in character. Notice how the "what do we do" line has a similar feel and syllable count to "naturally."
Bridge
The bridge is the most "out" with a suspension to the 4th over the A chord and the b9 and b7 usage in the 4th measure over the C#7b9; still chords, but less obvious ones than the verse. Other than that, notes are generally resolved pleasantly and in an expected way, even if the harmony is moving very unexpectedly.
Summarizing this mammoth melody, the most unifying factor is use of chord tones. Given the dissonant harmony, I think that's the only way the melody could work. Rhythmically speaking, this melody gets around. We see almost every 16th-8th syncopation you can think of....except 16th-8th-16th. There are many spots where the same pattern repeats a few times before it gets varied. It is a wonder it works so well. The element that makes it work has to be:
Lyrics
Songs that hint at suicide have a certain aura. They are usually dark and depressing, loved or hated, depending on your emotional capacity and tolerance. "Alone Again" goes there quite a bit, capping it off with a more universal feeling of loneliness. While the lyrics do fit the music quite well, it's still surprising to me that this song was so popular.
Verse 1 flirts with suicide after being left at the wedding altar. The second verse presumably continues this tale of woe with the narrator contemplating the existence of God. The final verse deals with losing aging parents. Heavy stuff all the way through, delivered with a melancholy matter of factness.
The rhyme scheme is complex. First off, the verse is so long and lines blend together so often, it's hard to get a sense of properly segmented phrases. There are also many internal rhymes that further muddle the mixture. Here is verse 2 with the rhymes underlined.
Looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to hide the tears
And at sixty-five years old
My mother, God rest her soul
Couldn't understand why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start with a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
Alone again, naturally
There is a hint of AABBA that gets disrupted the 2nd time with "taken." The third chunk then adds AABBCCD, with "naturally" acting as the refrain and un-rhymed line. The other verses are similar in this approach.
I implore you to read the lyrics while listening to get a full sense of how well they compliment the music. Maybe that's to blame for the song's success. There is a somber feeling that comes from listening, that despite the apparent unpleasantness, smothers you like a dark warm blanket. You know it's sad but it doesn't stop you from wanting more. Way to be Gilbert O'Sullivan!
Common Threads
For the past 7 song analyses, I have compiled a list of common musical elements in each no.1
hit. Last time, I looked at "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" by Neil Sedaka from 1962. Let's see how "Alone Again" figures into some of these commonalities:
Repetitive Melody - This one barely qualifies. As noted, the primary 16 bar melody borrows from itself on several occasions. It is also repeated 4 times throughout the song. Note, this is not the type of repetition pop songs usually employ. Generally, we hear phrases repeated throughout a section. This is certainly different, but repetitive none-the-less.
Texture Changes - again, this one is barely sliding in. The arrangement features strings, flutes and French horn adding background pads and melodies throughout. We also hear classical guitar arpeggios ripping in the background. While each verse has these elements, they are varied in intensity from verse to verse. The guitar solo verse provides an actual texture change.
Hook that Uses Title of the Song - yes, though the "hook" is relatively weak in terms of strong melodic hooks. It's really the only candidate for hook as it repeats five times, like a good refrain should.
Strong motion of V- I - There are many resolutions of V-I. There are several other resolutions, but it technically qualifies.
+ Stepwise Motion Common in Melody - While there are other intervals used, 2nds are mostly dominant in the melody.
- Use of Vocal Harmony - no background vocals! This is a first in 8 analyses.
(hold overs: - new material at the end - the hook gets the tag ending)
Chord Count - 14 - F#, F#6, F#+, A#min7, A#min7b5, D#7b9, G#min7, G#min7b5, C#7b9, A, E, C#Maj7, F7, D#min7b5
We have a new winner! Wow, that's a lot of chords. Last time, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" took the lead with 12 chords. This one is going to be tough to beat!
I have to say there are more common threads than I initially expected. For as strange as the harmony is, there are many strong cadences, a trend more prevalent in older decades. The melody, though lengthy, is repetitious, which is somewhat expected. Repetitive melody has been an enduring common thread through every analysis I have done.
Final Takeaways
This tune hit me hard. I certainly did not expect to admire it so much. It was a thrilling challenge to transcribe with every chord change becoming an exciting discovery. In a rare move, I listened to the entire record, Back to Front. It has some charming moments, even though the 70's sound is a little grading after a while. "Alone Again" is the album closer. I'm not sure if that was a ploy to get people to listen all the way through or not. In any case, I was happy to learn about Gilbert O'Sullivan and his music.
I'm still taken aback by the harmony. In perusing my end of round recaps, no song has the same complexity. The closest might be "Magic" by Olivia Newton John from 1980. But that one had a definite verse and chorus and repeated dissonant harmony enough that it sounded "normal." I became obsessed with playing and singing that one on my acoustic guitar. It's safe to add "Alone Again" to my playlist of "obscure no.1 hits."
One explanation for "Alone Again's" rise to the top may be the state of the world at the time. Tom Breihan's "The Number Ones" series does a nice job of summarizing the toils of the early 70's. He also touches on a lawsuit involving good old Gilbert and Biz Markie......Gilbert won in case you were wondering. [2]
What do you think of "Alone Again (Naturally)?" If you were alive when the song came out, do you remember the mass appeal? Are you surprised it made no.1 twice and was tied with the longest running no.1 single from 1972!?!? Leave me a comment!
Up next time, we continue to the assault "on the 2's," travelling to my birth year, 1982! July 24th - August 28th, 1982: "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor! I know this one quite well and look forward to diving into the transcription! This should be a fun one to add to the catalog of no.1 hits through the decades!
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