"Circles" - Post Malone, 2019

 Spoiler alert: I know nothing about Post Malone, other than his appearances in beer-alternative commercials and that slick Nirvana tribute he did.  Apparently, Post Malone is a genre bending hip hop artist that has had some massive chart success.  If you listen to his 2019 single, "Circles," that vibe does not clearly come across.  I found many reviews of the song that all praise it for its catchiness, but almost dismiss it due to it departure from Post's normal musical stylings. [1]

Vocal Media's Sean Patrick comes in a bit hotter with his take: "Circles" is a perfect pop song. [2]  He makes some salient points in his article, many of which I agree with.  As someone who had never heard this song prior to analyzing it, I am very impressed.  Not only is this a well crafted pop song with a simple and relatable message, there is some clever musical composition happening under the surface.

November 30th - December 7th, 2019 and January 11, 2020 - "Circles" by Post Malone logs in 3 weeks at the no.1 position!

The form of "Circles" is one of the most simple and effective pop song forms I have analyzed. It starts with an extended 16 measure intro.  The first 8 establish the intro melody and chord progression.  Bass, drums and vocals enter in the next 8 to round out the 16 bar section. 

Then, there's a little color by numbers action happening.  Verse 1 (A) is 16 measures long.  It is immediately followed by the 16 measure chorus (B).  He repeats both sections with the same length.  We do get an 8 measure bridge (C), which is followed by one more 16 measure chorus to end the song.  ABABCB.  This is almost the pop music equivalent to rondo form.  What's interesting is that there is some variation in the performance, especially in the verses. 

Most importantly, the song thrives on this simplicity.  The ultra pop presentation is enhanced by simplistic elements such as the overall structure.  The lesson here may be less is more.  For this song, it certainly seems true, as we will see with the chord progression and aspects of the melody. 

Chord Progressions

"Circles" utilizes the same chord progression throughout.  You could say the same chords keep running in circles?  If this was the intention, Post Malone is taking word painting to another level.

The intro gives us the chord progression right away with a strumming acoustic guitar accompanied by another guitar/synth combo with a melody on top:

Intro - meas. 1-8 (guitar melody and rhythm)

CMaj7 starts off with two strong downbeats and leads into the very cool Emin7/B chord.  Out of the 5 notes, 3 stay the same while the other two resolve down a half and whole step.  It's an interesting and eerie sound that gives this tune its atmospheric sound.  Notes continue to move in small intervals resulting in Fmajor7: E stays while B and G move up a half and whole step, respectively to form the F major chord.  Then, in a wild move, F major7 moves to F minor, seeing the E move up a half step to F and the A move down a half step to Ab.  Super cool voice leading!

The first 3/4 of the progression repeats and instead of Fminor the second time, it stays on F and then plays two beats on a G6 with the E string continuing to ring out.  Also note the quick open G string during the firs Fmaj chord.  It provides the slightest bit of movement in the progression, even when the melody note isn't happening.

Speaking of the melody, it basically outlines C pentatonic, visiting the 6th.  This will quickly become a vocal theme as well as a background melody during the chorus.  The diatonic Cmajor choices over the non-diatonic Fmin result in a continuation of the unique vibe this song puts forward.  

The bass part, which comes in for the next 8 measures of the intro, plays a G over the Fminor chord, resulting in a temporary Fmin/G:

Bass Line

That's basically it.  In the key of Cmajor, the chords flow as follows:

CMaj7  / Emin7/B   / FMaj7  / Fmin   / CMaj7   / Emin7/B  /  FMaj7   /    G6

I           /   iii            / IV          / iv         /  I             /  iii            /  IV          /      V

As seen in several songs, iii - IV is a common progression, as is IV-V, as is iv-I.  I love how these common combinations are combined in an uncommon way.  

Melody

The melody of the song is diatonic to Cmajor, despite some non-diatonic chords.  Again, we see this in the intro melody, first played instrumentally and then sang by Post himself.

Intro - meas. 9-16 (bass and vocal)

Scale intervals 5-6-5-3 are repeated and lead to 3-2-2-3 with the instruments finishing 2-R.  It's a pleasant, mostly stepwise melody that presents a predictable start to the song.  

Post enters with verse 1, using similar syncopation to the intro guitar ostinato.  

Verse 1 - meas.1-8

He starts on a B, the major 7 of C and the 5th of Emin.  That resolves up a half step to C.  In measure 4, he sings the A natural, 6th of Cmajor and major 3rd against the Fmin chord.  While this should clash, it doesn't.  There is almost an audio illusion going on where our ear retains the F major and because the Fmin is far back enough in the mix, and exists from two contrary half step resolutions (E↑F; A↓Ab).  It doesn't come off as a wildly new chord either, it's more of a pivot.  When we hear the same melody in measure 8, the chord remains on F major, so it sounds completely correct.

After these 8 measures, the rhythmic theme continues with new pitches.  He moves his primary pitch to E, now major 3rd of C and root of the Emin.  When we get to Fminor, once again, he sings a "wrong" note.  The E over the Fminor results in a Fmin-maj7 chord, a classic mysterious sound.  It's short lived though and we return to chord tones.  The last measure of the verse banks on the D, 5th of G, even though it's not sounding, and resolves to the tonic.

Verse 1 - meas.9-16

Verse 2 is very different from verse 1.  The empty measures from verse 1 are filled in and for 8 measures, the syncopation borrowed from the guitar part, is abandoned.  The notes change as well, exploring a G in the first 8 and a C in the second 8.   If you account for both verses, his primary pitches are B, E, G and C....he covers each note in the CMajor7 chord.  Too cool!

Verse 2

The second 8 measures introduce a rhythmic theme borrowed from the chorus and augmented in rhythm.  "Special," "sex though," and "echoes" are reminiscent of the "run away" syncopation in the choruses.  In looking at the Fminor measures (4 and 12 above) he avoids harmonic clashes in this verse.  In measure 4, he rests and in measure 12, he sings a C, part of the F minor chord.  

The end of this verse uses a figure we will see in the bridge as he, once again, uses C pentatonic to rise 6-R-2-3.  This verse, like verse 1, and the chorus, and the bridge, uses diatonic pitches to fill out the melody.  

Let's dissect the chorus.  Here's what Post sings in the chorus:

Chorus - Melody Only

The first 6 bars present a line that descends from E to B, bumps back to C and finishes with A-G.  It's all diatonic and, once again, outlines notes of C pentatonic.   In measure 7, he changes the pattern and employs some syncopation on the the repeated "run aways," which eventually passes through F (not C pentatonic) and up to the G.

Measures 8-11 use similar patterns and transition with measure 12, more musings in C major.  Measures 13-16 combine the first 6 measures with the middle "run aways," recylcing themes and getting melodies stuck in your head!

On top of this great melody, there is some substantial vocal harmony added.  a higher part that begins a 4th apart from the melody eventually works its way into 3rds.  As the melody progresses, a lower voice comes into the mix, a third lower than the melody.  

Chorus with harmony

In measures 9-12 of the chorus, we actually hear a reprise of the intro melody figure, played by a keyboard.  The last 4 measures pick up with familiar harmony.  While transcribing this chorus, my ear was definitely playing tricks on me.  Harmonic overtone, studio effect or sang harmony?  Some of the time, I wasn't completely sure.  In the last 2 measures though, I definitely got both higher and lower parts accompanying Post's melody.

The entire chorus is comprised of diatonic melodic passages that are almost all derived from C pentatonic.  When the F pitch is introduced, it coincides with the F or G6 chords, making perfect sense for the cadence and resolves to the C in some fashion.  

There is a bridge, once again built upon the same harmonic foundation.  Here, Post lays down more diatonic C major passages and hinges on the F-E motion a bit more than before.  Rhythmically, he sticks to some of the same patterns, he just more phrases together.  The section, in turn, moves along at a quicker pace, helping to feel like a proper bridge, which is marginally succeeds at, in part thanks to the rhythm section backing off a bit.

Bridge

There is some interesting symmetry with the line "it's only me," happening in measures 3 and 7.  He ends the bridge with the familiar "let it go" flourish from verse 2.  

  

Lyrics

"Circles" tells the story of someone trapped in the negative cycle of  relationship.  The lyrical content here is certainly relatable to many.  Post Malone is good at making powerful statements in plain speak.  (There are plenty of articles about the meaning of this song, so take my analysis for what it is.  Here's a similar, but alternate take to consider [3]).

We couldn't turn around 'til we were upside down

I'll be the bad guy now, but know I ain't too proud

The two parties can't walk away from the relationship until it's completely upside down, though they likely knew it would end up there in the first place.   Post Malone decides he will initiate the break up, becoming the bad guy, even though he's not proud of it.

He goes on to lament about the struggles of the relationship and makes a bold and honest statement that, once again, is relatable to many.

You thought that it was special, special

But it was just the sex though, the sex though

The chorus has one of my favorite lines and sentiments of the song.  It sees Post Malone, knee deep in the struggle of ending this relationship for good, going on the passive aggressive offensive:

I dare you to do something

I'm waiting on you again, so I don't take the blame

I love the image of him daring this person to do something, knowing that if he makes the next move, he will most certainly be to blame.  He did already admit to being the bad guy, though........

There's also the sweeping refrain of "let it go" that appears at the end of verse 2 and in the bridge.

In the end, these two keep "feeding the flame" and this negative cycle continues to run them around in circles.  Easily understood, relatable lyrics that are clever, personal and honest.  

Common Threads

Repeated Melodic Motifs - rhythmic motifs are repeated, with varying pitches, all over the place.  We also see phrases within the sections repeated.  Repetition is key in this one.

Diatonic Melody - despite non-diatonic chords, the melody stays diatonic.  Moving largely in steps and through the C major pentatonic scale.

Texture Changes - there are a few textures here, mostly driven by the presence or absence of drums and bass.  The song actually ends with the sparse texture presented in the intro. 

Vocal Harmony - the vocal harmonies add an ethereal quality to the melody and occur in each chorus.

Song Title Used In Hook - "running in circles...."  "run away" is arguably more prevalent, but "circles" makes it in regardless.

Singular Chord Progression - Not sure if this one will endure as a common thread, but it's worth mentioning.

Chord Count - 5 - CMaj7, Emin7/B, FMaj7, Fmin, G6

5 chords throughout the song is slightly higher than the average chord count of the time, as I have analyzed.  That being said, the fact that the 5 chords are spread over one chord progression is even more impressive.

Final Takeaways

I really like "Circles."  The musical composition is sneaky good, even if the overall presentation is uber poppy.  I actually listened to Post Malone's record, Hollywood Is Bleeding.  My first impression was actually exactly what I expected from an artist who gets labeled as "pop/rap."  He didn't do too much rapping, but there were several guests who did.  "Circles" features a little bit of Post's "billy goat" vibrato, thankfully.  It comes off much more prominently on the recorder.   At first I though it was an effect, but watching some live videos, he's definitely part goat.  It's a cool effect, but like most pop music, gets tiresome after a while. 

Pop records end up having this glossy finish that makes every song sound the same.  I determined this is mostly do to the drum sounds and syncopated cymbal patterns that permeate modern pop.  Hollywood Is Bleeding has plenty of that, but a few songs did stick out as sounding different.  "Circles" was certainly one of them.  I'm glad I took a moment to become acquainted with Post Malone and though I like this song, his other stuff isn't really that appealing to me.  Not to say in the future I wouldn't check something out, but for now, I came, I saw and I'm moving on.

What do you think of "Circles?"  Did you pick up on any of the nuanced details or did they get swallowed up by the poppyness?  Leave me a comment!

Up next time, we star the journey "On the 3's!"  Let's kick things off, keeping in the past themes, with the song that was number 1 in the first week of August, 2013.     June 22nd - September 7th, 2013 - A massive 12 week run at no.1..."Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, featuring T.I. and Pharrell, reigns supreme.  Reading the no.1 hit songs in 2013 is like a time warp.  I was playing in a cover band at the time and played many of these popular songs, including "Blurred Lines."  Hopefully the nostalgia factor will kick in and make this one interesting!

[1]https://vulturehound.co.uk/2019/09/post-malone-circles-single-review/
[2]https://vocal.media/beat/song-review-circles-by-post-malone-is-pop-perfection
[3]https://justrandomthings.com/2019/08/31/post-malone-circles-lyrics-review-and-song-meaning/

"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/