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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9/2/20
"Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" - Neil Sedaka, 1962
"Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" is one of those titles that has made it's way into the subconscious lexicon of song titles, much like the opening line of Bobby Lewis's "Tossin' and Turnin'." Prior to this analysis, I was familiar with the name, but not with the tune, though my wife belted it out with surprising accuracy on a cold ask.
The early 60's were an interesting time in music where influences from the 40' and 50's were still relevant, but waning in the rock and roll assault that was underway. Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield's doo-wop number riffs on sounds of the past, pepped up with call and responses and longing pleas for reunited love. The poppy hit, released a few days before July 4th, 1962, gained quick traction and shot to no.1 about a month later. [1]
What's most impressive is this song's massive shelf life, thanks to a different version in 1975. The slower, jazzier reboot, with an alternate intro, reached no.8 on the Hot 100, a fairly unique accomplishment for any song. The charm of this 1962 version is undeniable though, and brings a few common threads of no.1 hits through the decades to light.
This is a great example of classic pop song form. If you exclude the intro and outro, we see AABABA, an extended version of a 32 bar form typical in jazz. The intro and outro bookend the form with a doo-wop treatment of the verse (A). Like many songs covered in this project, this form has a few twists, notably the extra measure at the end of the chorus (B) that leads back to the verses. The final verse goes the opposite way and cuts a measure off to lead into the outro. We get a full 8 bars of the outro before it quickly fades.
When labeling this tune, a few issues came to mind. I rehashed my inner struggle with "refrain," which is often used to describe a repeated section like the chorus, or a single line that reappears. The refrain here is certainly "breaking up is hard to do," as it pops up in each section. I also questioned the label of "chorus." Usually, the chorus is a repeated section that contains the hook of the song and ends with closed harmony, resolving to the tonic. The chorus here doesn't really feel like a chorus. It harmonically functions like a B section (with a key change), per the simple form. I ended up going with "chorus" only because it repeats the same lyrics and harmony each time.
I started to research the intricacies of form and came across this paper about song form that raised some interesting questions. Pages 3-6 offer explanations on basic terminologies with insights I haven't thought of. It's worth checking out the first few pages. [2]
Chord Progressions
Keeping in step with classic song form, we get a classic chord progression in the doo-wop style. Borrowed from jazz, this progression is found across multiple styles of music. The intro reveals this variation:
B G#min / E / -%2%- / -%2%- / B E / B I vi / IV / / / I IV / I
I expect to see the V chord leading back to I every time, but if you listen closely, it doesn't happen. The vocal melody undoubtedly moves there, but the rhythm section doesn't follow. I'm sure most people don't notice, but it is a cool auditory illusion, in a way.
The verse takes the above progression and varies it slightly:
B G#min / E / -%2%- / B F#/A# / G#min / C#7 F#7 / B
I vi / IV / / I V / vi /II (V/V) V / I
The above progression is even varied further in the first verse only, giving an entire measure to both C#7 and F#7 before getting back to B in verse two.
In a nutshell, I-vi-IV-V progressions are very common in popular music. "Breaking Up..." takes that and gives it a slight twist by not fully getting to the V chord and adding in the ii-V-I, going to V/V instead of ii for the strong pull to V and I.
The chorus section uses more familiar progressions, transposed across a few different keys. The 8 measure section plays out to be:
ii V / (of bVII) / I / (bVII of B) / ii V / (of bVI) / I (bVI of B) / V/B
He starts in Amaj with a series of ii-V's. Amaj changes to Amin to set up ii-V's in G. After getting to G, a half step resolution to F#7 brings us back home to B. This whole progression is pulled directly from countless jazz standards and works well as a contrast to the A section, venturing to new keys while maintaining a similar character.
During the chorus, an acoustic guitar provides some Jobim-esque arpeggios that give it a nostalgic feel and smooth character. The last two bars feature an ascending tremelo line from the string section. This is such a classic accompaniment I had to transcribe it:
Chorus - guitar and strings (last system)
Each time, the guitar arpeggios are slightly different, yet they maintain key intervals: minor 7 resolving to major 3rd. There is also the 16th note figure in measures 1 and 5, mixed way back but giving the slightest rhythmic bump. The tasteful string run at the end, moving stepwise through the changes, is the perfect punctuation to end the section.
Melody
The intro establishes the verse harmony without completely giving away the melody. What we get is a bouncy doo-wop figure in 3 part harmony. Neil provides the lower melody with female backup singers harmonizing above him.
Intro/outro
Looking at the lowest note, we see lots of roots and 3rds, as well as the hint to the F#7 chord in measures 2, 4 and 6. We also get a little taste of the refrain, "breaking up is hard to do," which also happens to be the hook. This refrain is actually presented several different ways throughout the tune. Here, Neil's melodic path goes: (5) ↑ 2 ↓ 2 ↑ 4 ↑ 2 ↓ 2 ↑ 2 ↓ 2. Keep this in mind as we encounter the same phrase in subsequent sections.
The first verse follows with a 3 beat pickup (shown below), which fits in the empty space in the last measure above. The harmony arrangement changes considerably with Neil providing two part harmony on the lead melody as well as his part from the intro, minus the ladies. His background vocal is the same up until measure 5, which is seen in the stem down notation:
Verse 1
The lower voice acts as the melody, blending seamlessly with the higher harmony. We see lots of chord tones that move up and down in steps, resolving down a minor 3rd, E to C# in the second and 4th bars, fueling the fire to the phantom F#7 chord. The descending line in measures 5 and 6 effectively shifts the melody from the lower line to the upper line. If you were to sing only one of the lines with a guitar or piano, you reach a point where the opposite line sounds like the proper melody.
In the first verse, the refrain moves (3) ↓ 2 ↓ 2 ↑ 3 ↓ 2, leaving off on C#, 5th of the F#7 chord (finally!). This is the only place in the tune we hear this arrangement as the chords move faster through the last two measures elsewhere.
The second verse is mostly the same as the first, changing rhythmically throughout the first 4 measures. This verse feels lighter, with more space between phrases:
Verse 2
At the end, the refrain is different yet again and reflects, in my opinion, the hookiest of the hooks, resolving on the root: (3) ↓ 2 ↓ 2 ↑ 2 ↓ 2. The lower harmony here is a little tricky, getting to the root an eighth note before the higher harmony. The last measure above contains a great drum fill to kick in the B section, or chorus.
When the chorus comes in the first time, we hear a single line, shifting the texture from the multilayered vocals of the verse.
Chorus 1
The section kicks in with a B minor scale up to the 5th before it moves in steps over the next three chords. Over the Amaj chord, we get a partial arpeggio (C# and E) before returning to the F# and E notes from before, now acting as 5th and 6th of the Amaj. In similar fashion, E and D move through the chords in the next two measures. Over the Gmaj7, we hear a B Phrygian scale (the third mode of Gmajor) that morphs to F mixolydian (B major) as the F#7 chord sounds. This modal interchange is very cool and works perfectly with the modulating theme of the section.
The second time the chorus happens, there is a call and response between the female singers and Neil. Melodically and harmonically it's mostly the same, varying some rhythm, like the first two verses did. I should also mention yet another variation on the refrain. From "breaking up is hard to do," in the key of A, we hear: (4) ↑ 2 ↑ 2 ↓ 2 ↑ 2 ↓ 2 ↑ 2 ↓ 2. This has a very similar intervallic structure to the proper hook, but feels considerably different thanks to the starting note and harmonic variation:
Chorus 2
Also of note is the added harmony in the penultimate measure, a repeated F#, root of the chord. It creates some close intervals, hearkening back to the opening of the verse.
Lyrics
It didn't occur to me, until I read this article, part of a great series by Tom Breihan at StereoGum (he's reviewing every no.1 song on the Hot 100 ever...he started in 2018 and is just now reaching the mid 80's! [3]), that this song about heartbreak and loss is pretty darn cheerful.
There are some emotional lines, that in a vacuum, seem like they would accompany some much darker music:
Don't take your love away from me Don't you leave my heart in misery
I beg of you don't say goodbye Can't we give our love another try?
All of this heavy emoting is somewhat negated by his worst-case scenario: feeling "blue." I suppose people had less to worry about in the 60's on a broad global scale? Feeling blue is the worst!
Every verse, and chorus, follows the rhyme scheme of AABB. Nothing tricky here, just straightforward rhyming in a cute little package.
Common Threads
What musical elements do no.1 songs across decades have in common? Over the course of these analyses, I have compiled a list of elements present in each, adding or subtracting elements as needed. Picking up from "Tossin' and Turnin' (1961)" let's see what musical elements have endured.
Repetitive Melody - The meat of the melody is very repetitive, built on repeated chord tones moving in steps.
Texture Changes - For sure. We see the intro texture of female singers with Neil. The verse has three versions of Neil. The chorus has one Neil and then Neil answering the background singers. Lots of texture changes afloat, and that's just with the vocals!
Strong motion of V- I - The elusive F#7 resolves to B, even when it doesn't get played!
Use of Vocal Harmony - Lots of stacked harmonies in this one with multiple groupings of singers.
- Stepwise Motion Common in Melody - This could be counted twice for the stepwise motion in the harmony part!
(hold overs: - new material at the end - this one repeats the intro at the end.)
Chord Count:12 - B, G#min7, F#/A#, E, F#7, C#7, Bmin7, E7, Amaj7, Amin7, D7, Gmaj7 - for such a poppy and "light" tune, there are a lot of chords! This is the most chords seen since I've been counting.
Final Takeaways
I really enjoyed this one. It has a fun vibe, despite the emotional subject matter. Doo-Wop is a style I'm not terribly familiar with or fond of. This one makes me curious about more doo-wop, which I bet I could enjoy in small doses.
I was particularly intrigued by the chorus section, both in function and form. The section would be called a B section if this were a jazz lead sheet. I have always been confused when non-jazzers try to pinpoint one part of jazz chart as "the chorus," mainly because the entire form, AABA, would be considered a chorus. In pop music though, these terms are common and this part is only the chorus because it repeats the same lyrics and harmony both times. And speaking of the harmony! A series of ii-V's moving down through foreign keys to come back to the home key is done tastefully. The guitar accompaniment is a highlight for me and is filled with little nuances that make it feel special.
I did briefly listen to Neil Sedaka's 1975 arrangement of this song. I was not hooked right away. It is also very jazzy and the hook brings with it some strong nostalgic value. Neil Sedaka is one of those names I have heard numerous times but probably couldn't name any of his songs.....I'm not sure I can name another one aside from "Breaking Up...." It was nice to put a sound to the name.
Up next time, continuing "on the 2's," we go back to 1972. July 29 - August 19, 1962...a 4 week run at no.1. "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan. Whew....now we're venturing into completely uncharted territory, pardon the pun. The artist's name sounds somewhat familiar but I'm mostly clueless. You never know what you're gonna get in the 70's!
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