"Love The Way You Lie" - Eminem featuring Rihanna, 2010

If I were to list the lyrical themes of songs analyzed throughout the project thus far, it would look something like this: love, respect, perseverance, jealousy, curiosity, joy, the future, cowboys, bikinis and heartbreak.  There's a little bit of everything, ranging from serious to sad to silly.  While all of these provide the listener with some potential insight into their own lives, they are relatively light. 

"Love The Way you Lie" is much heavier.  At it's core, the song is about domestic abuse, shining a light on something far too easy to overlook.  While the message and true intentions can be debated, the end result is the same: a powerful statement delivered by talented performers. [1] 

Eminem's history has been well documented, thanks to the movie "8 Mile," and he has left a controversial and profound mark on pop music, bringing a completely different flavor than that of his peers.  Eminem is a force to be reckoned with rhythmically, lyrically and philosophically.  After stepping away from music for a few years, his comeback was not very encouraging.  A few years later though, add in the Rihanna factor and her close connection to the song's subject matter,  and Eminem is stepping back into the spotlight.

July 31st - September 11th, 2010: "Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem, featuring Rihanna, dominates the charts for 7 weeks!

Musically, this song is cut and dry.  The form, comprised of only 2 sections, alternates between verse and chorus.  There are a few small nuances: The first chorus is 9 measures long, including the hook twice, with the latter choruses tagging on extra measures.  The verse, mostly 16 measures, get a reverse treatment, extending the third verse by 1 measure. 

The instrumentation is stylistically simple as well.  Piano begins the song, leading into the main groove which adds some string like synths, bass drums and an integrally strumming acoustic guitar.  The programmed beat is relatively extensive, but it mostly stays out of the way.  The 4 bar drums groove can be condensed to this,

drum groove

where at the tempo, the syncopated 16th notes create a nice foundation to support the rap verses.

For all its musical simplicity, "Love The Way You Lie" more than makes up for it in vibe and raw emotion.  Both performers have back stories that tie into the meaning of the song.  The public, no doubt aware of this, likely weighted this in their reception.  There was also an emotional video (linked above) that helped to hammer the point home further.  While all of these elements are important, and if anything, helped me understand the song on a deeper level, my main goal is to examine the musical merits.  Let's dice into the musical aspects of "Love The Way You Lie."
  
Chord Progressions

The piano starts things off, playing through the base chord progression:

Gmin  /  Ebadd2  / Bb   /  F/A
i        /   bVI        /  III   / bVII

The F/A chord provides pleasant movement back to Gmin, with bVII being a natural resolution (sub for V7 - FAC in place of DF#AC) and the A in the bass resolving down to the root G.  This chord progression leaves no question where the tonal center lies and consistently gets us back there after 4 measures. 

There are two places in the song where the 4 bar sequence is extended an extra measure to accommodate vocals, percussion and/or sound effects, as in the opening chorus-first verse transition. 

The verse takes the above progression and alters it slightly, adding an 11(4th) to the F/A chord.  The verse is driven primarily by the guitar, strumming this:

verse guitar

Played with capo 3, the guitar strums open chords (Emin, Cadd2, G, Dadd11/F#) and utilizes shared tones at the top of the voicing to create the suspensions.  This adds a subtle, different color to the verses. 

In other songs analyzed in the late 2000's, and those that follow, static chord progressions have been a recurring theme.  In my analyses for "In My Feelings" (2018) and "Old Town Road" (2019), there has been one 4 bar chord loop repeated throughout the entire song.  The same can be said for "I Gotta Feeling" (2009).  It's interesting that as we venture closer to present day, chord progressions are less complex.

Melody

There are two very contrasting melodic themes for the song: the sang chorus, provided by Rihanna and the percussive verses provided by Eminem. 

Rihanna kicks things off with a no frills, right to the point melody, delivered with precision and somberness. 

chorus 1

Two contrasting phrases are each repeated.  The first features a leap up a 6th and then back down a 5th, landing on the chord root.  She repeats the interval leaps and lands on the F, highlighting the 9 of the Eb.  In the second phrase, she sticks to the root  (Eb), working her way down through D and C, chord tones of the next two changes (3rd and 5th of Bb and F).  This structure is repeated with different words for the next two phrases.  She caps of the chorus with a tag of the hook, altering the last note to Bb, the minor 3rd of G, another chord tone.

The remaining choruses add harmony and an additional tag of the hook.  The first and third phrases are harmonized in octaves with the 2nd and 4th phrases adding a higher third.

choruses 2, 3, 4

Rihanna sings the same melody each time and stays away from any variation.  This is a direct contrast with Eminem's verses.

Eminem's name comes first on the track listing, so it's fitting he takes the limelight in the verse.  There are three 16 measure verses and the longest rhythmic value used is 1 beat.  The rhythmic assault is relentless, a trademark of Eminem's unique style.  His delivery sometimes resembles singing and even when he's clearly speaking, there is pitch distinction, indicated below. 

verse 1 - m.1-8

The first four measures end with two 8th notes, which gives way to a slightly different beat 4 figure in the next four measures.  The last four measures are also bookmarked with entrances on the 2nd sixteenth note of the measure.  This continues with the concluding 8 measures of the verse:

verse 1 m.9 - 16

Of these eighth measures, 7 end with the same rhythmic figure (SSE).  Measures 9 and 12 also borrow the rhythmic entrance established in measures 5 and 8.  All verses end in just enough time to give Rihanna a solo entrance for the chorus. 

This pace continues throughout verses 2 and 3.  Towards the end of the third verse, there is an extra measure before the final chorus.  Notice how the flow is changed, including 16th notes at the end of the measure to keep building momentum towards the final bar. 

Verse 3 - m.13 - 17

The last three notes of this verse are the only time in these 5 measures with more than two 8th notes in a row.  The fast flow of notes leading to a dramatic halt certainly create an exciting moment, heightened by the grim lyrics. 

Musical Sticking Points

"Love The Way You Lie" is musically simple.  A single chord progression runs throughout alternating verse and chorus sections.  That's it. 

The chorus melody is essentially copy and pasted, offering no variation between each iteration.  The verse makes up for this in spades, featuring more rhythmic theme and variation that instruments could ever get away with. 

The production is stellar and there are melodic bits and pieces flying around at various points.  All of these, however, are short lived and not very memorable.  They flow in and out to add color as the sections build, but don't repeat enough to be essential. 

I was happy to transcribe an Eminem rap.  He has such a command of rhythm and flows in and out of sync with the drums and other instruments effortlessly.  His mark in popular music is undeniable.  Check out this article, comparing Eminem to Jimi Hendrix, from Rapanalysis.com [2]. 

Lyrics

The musical simplicity of this track accommodates the depth of the lyrics. 

Rihanna's choruses tell the tale of someone willingly entering a scenario which they will be hurt.  This can be viewed as a cautionary tale or resonate as familiar.  She uses the rhyme scheme AABB, with a tag on the B.

The verses are filled with vivid descriptions of love, hate, dependence and violence.  Eminem is known for over the top lyrics and he delivers here (from verse 2):

Now you're getting fucking sick, of looking at 'em

You swore you've never hit 'em, never do nothing to hurt 'em

Now you're in each other's face

Spewing venom in your words, when you spit 'em
You push, pull each other's hair, scratch, claw, bit 'em
Throw 'em down, pin 'em, so lost in the moments, when you're in 'em

Looking at the above excerpt, you can get a sense of Eminem's complex rhyming ability.  The first line end with the syllable "em," which is used two more times in the next line.  The following line strays before bringing back "em" 5 more times! 

Choose any set of lines in the song and you will find similar craftsmanship....(from verse 3)

Same routine, but your temper's just as bad, as mine is
You're the same as me, when it comes to love, you're just as blinded

When I first absorbed these lyrics, with the help of the video, I got the main gist.  A girl and a guy are in a doomed relationship but keep it going, even when it gets violent.  There are many interpretations of how this can be viewed.  In the end, listeners can make their own conclusions. [3]  Obviously, the ensuing debate worked in Eminem's favor, gaining him more publicity, both positive and negative.

Common Threads

This is the 6th analysis "on the 0's."  For each song, I have compiled a list of common musical elements.  Picking up from the last analysis, Sisqó's "Incomplete" from 2000, let's see how "Love The Way You Lie" fits into the musical puzzle, 10 years later. 

• Repeated melodic motifs - I would say this one qualifies.  Though Eminem's verses are not structured like a traditional melody, he uses rhythmic themes quite effectively within each verse.  The chorus is also built on two repeated phrases.  
• Strong harmonic motion from V to I  - The progression does not include a V chord in the key, though the bVII is a common substitution.  
• Background singers contribute to melodic/harmonic texture - There are background singers, but I'm not sure they contribute a ton to melodic and harmonic structure.  
• Modulation -  
• New material presented at the end 
• Hook that uses the title of the song
• Contains a lyrical refrain - 

 Only 2 1/2 out of 7 musical elements are shared between "Love The Way You Lie" and the other songs "on the 0's."  Looking back at previous round's common threads, two not mentioned here are "repeated chord progressions" and "music evolves throughout."  

"Love The Way You Lie" definitely checks the box on repeated chord progressions, a common element seen in many tunes "on the 8's" ("Poor Little Fool," "Hello, I Love You," "Roll With It," "The Boy Is Mine," "I Kissed A Girl," and "In My Feelings").  

In terms of musical evolution, it's still iffy.  Musical evolution refers to a song's nuanced changes and variations that result in hearing the same thing without hearing exactly the same thing.  As mentioned, there are several production elements that pop up throughout the song resulting in slight evolution.  At the end of the day though, the carbon copy choruses don't quite get there, in my opinion.

Final Takeaways

This is the first analysis I have done where the song's lyrical impact grossly outweighs the musical composition.  "In the Year 2525" (1969) came very close, but that song had a ton of musical stuff going for it, including evolving instrument parts, two modulations and significant texture changes.  Regardless, I like this song.

Eminem's vocal delivery and lyrical flow are truly admirable.  They way he relays a story or a point with the ferocity and pace that he does is dizzying.  As I transcribed parts of this song, I attempted to perform with him, checking for accuracy.  It was not easy.  His ability to flawlessly work through verses is amazing.  I already had respect for Eminem and it has significantly grown after this analysis.  I know his lyrics turn many people off, but I think I understand his hyperbole in an effort to make a point.

What do you think of "Love The Way You Lie?"  Did I miss any musical elements in "common threads?"  Leave me a comment!   

Up next time, I am in line to analyze the no.1 song in the first week of August for 2020, however, it's not August yet!  So let's take a detour and analyze the song that "Love the Way You Lie" beat out for the no.1 spot in July 2010....

June 19th - July 24th, 2010....a 6 week run at no.1, "California Gurls" by Katy Perry, featuring Snoop Dogg.   

This is a very interesting selection indeed.  Another song featuring a prominent male and female personality, one of which has undeniable credibility in the rap world.  I'm wondering if we will see any overlap of common musical threads between "California Gurls" and "Love The Way You Lie."  THis should make for an interesting detour!

[1]https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/music/love-the-way-you-lie/meaning
[2]https://www.rapanalysis.com/2014/04/why-eminem-is-rap-jimi-hendrix-rap/
[3]https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/08/love-the-way-you-lie-what-s-eminem-trying-to-say/344563/

"A Big Hunk O' Love" - Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires, 1959

Elvis Presley's Billboard Hot 100 legacy is quite impressive: 7 no.1 hits, 25 songs breaking into the top 10 and 109 songs making into the top 100 overall.  This is even more impressive, considering many of Elvis's signature hits like "Hound Dog," "Blue Suede Shoes," and "Jailhouse Rock" were chart-toppers before the established Hot 100 chart.  (check out the track listing on "Elvis: 30 #1 Hits")

Elvis is certainly an iconic figure in music.  I admittedly don't know much about him, outside of the previously mentioned tunes, so I was eager to come across this gem from 1959.  As an interesting note, Elvis joined the US Army on March 24, 1958.  In June of that year, he managed to squeeze in a recording session, his last before discharge in 1960. [1]  In that session, we would get this no. 1 hit:

August 10 - 17, 1959: "A Big Hunk O' Love" by Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires lasts two weeks at no.1!

At it's core, this song is a 12 bar blues.  We have seen 12 bar blues in no.1 hits before ("Roll With It" by Steve Winwood in 1988).  Like many no.1 hits, we hear something familiar, like a 12 bar blues, then get a slightly altered version to keep things interesting.

Most notable about "A Big Hunk O' Love" is length of the verses.  Verse 1 sticks to the standard 12 bar blues.  Verses 2 and 3 use a modified 12 bar blues, extended to 14 bars.  Verse 4 further modifies the form with a 16 bar version (more on that in Chord Progressions). 

The verses are interrupted with a standard 12 bar blues bridge, which are instrumental solos!  There have not been too many improvised solos seen throughout this analysis project.  It's exciting to hear both a piano and guitar soloing in this song.  Both seem organically improvised and fit perfectly with the blues/rock&roll styling of the tune.   

The song ends with a tag of the refrain, "just a big-a big-a big-a hunk O' love, will do."  We finally get a proper refrain, a repeated lyric line that occurs in each verse.  This line is very catchy and got stuck in my head throughout my analysis.  For me, the surprising quality of this song gives Elvis a little more credibility, in light of my limited experience with him. 

Chord Progressions

As mentioned above, this song is a 12 bar blues in the key of C.  12 bar blues generally follow the sequence below.  In "A Big Hunk O' Love," we hear this in verse 1, as well as behind both solos.

12 bar blues - verse 1 and solos

In verses 2 and 3, the sequence is extended to include two additional bars on the I chord.  The result is a 14 bar blues that sounds far more smooth that a 14 bar section of music should sound.

14 bar blues - verses 2 and 3

The rhythm section becomes the star in those extra bars, providing a call and answer with Elvis's vocal, which we will examine in Melody.  The 4th verse extends the I chord again, with a different call and answer pattern in the rhythm section, to get a 16 bar blues:

16 bar blues - verse 4

The end of the song "tags" the final 4 bars, repeating the refrain lyrics 3 times before fading out. 

Within the blues progression, there are few funky chord extensions.  The I chord (C) is often heard as a C6, or C with an added A.  In addition to that, we hear the #9, or D# (Eb) on top, giving it that dirty blues feel.  The result is a C13#9 sound.  This occurs in the opening bars:

opening rhythm section

  The upright bass plays a common blues walking line, outlining root, 3rd, 5th and 6th (13).   The guitar (top) plays the 6th and #9, or minor 3rd of C.  The piano connects it all together with a moving line that touches on the #9 as well as 6th.  This pattern is transposed through the chord changes.

Melody

"A Big Hunk O' Love" has 4 verses with 2 different melodies throughout, tied together with the repeated title refrain. 

The first verse kicks things off with a melody we only get once:

Verse 1

Starting on beat 3+, Elvis hits the 5th of the chord and then works down a C minor triad.  The repeated "no's," outline the 6th and #9 and lead to the IV chord.  Over F, Elvis uses the same melodic content, typical of blues based melodies, and outlines the minor triad of the I chord.  In the final 4 bars, we hear the refrain, an outline of the G triad with some chromatic motion to get to the root of the IV chord.  He settles back into the tonal center of the tune with the C on "will do."

The second and third verses, a 14 bar blues, change things up a bit.  Here, he starts on the #9 (minor 3rd), dipping down to the root to cement the bluesy flavor.  The rhythm section play call and answer with a nifty blues scale riff.

verse 2 - bars 1-6

After four bars, he revisits the repeated note motif ("no's" in verse 1), this time hanging out on the minor 3rd before visiting the 6th and 5th, like before.  The rhythm section also accents the chords at an increasing rate, pushing us into the IV chord.

In the second half of this verse, we hear the background vocalists, the Jordonaires.  They were present during the first verse, but stuck to the chord roots, tightly blending with the bass.  Here, we get some annunciated words answering Elvis's calls.

Verse 2 - bars 7 - 14

The background vocals date this song with a doo-wop feel.  The close voicings provide a perfect bed of support for the lead vocal.  Notice how the "no's" use the Eb, minor 7th of F7, and bump it to E natural, the major third of C.  This arrangement repeats in the third and fourth verses.

Speaking of verse 4, it starts like verses 2 and 3.  The rhythm section call and answer is reduced and they take a little longer in their rhythmic build up.  Elvis takes a little longer to get to the "no's" as well.  Before he finally gets to the IV chord, he bumps up, every so slightly, to the E natural, bringing back the C7 sound before we hear more familiar material to lead to the F. 

Verse 4 - bars 1 - 9

This melody is relatively simple, but variation makes it interesting.  In a song with no chorus, it's very smart to vary previously heard material so it always sounds new and fresh. 

Musical Sticking Points

Sometimes less is more.  That's exactly what Elvis gives us throughout this song.  He sings and the rhythm section or vocalists answer him, that's basically it.  In the first verse, we get it with eighth note guitar attacks.  In the rest of the verses, the singers reply with words.  The length of verses gets varied, but it's really just the same thing, only different.

I love the simplicity of the instrumentation and overall arrangement.  Guitar bass and drums handle all of the instrumental load.  Elvis's powerful voice is complimented perfectly with the smooth singing of the Jordanaires.  The instrumental solos a refreshing element in pop music and at the time, pop was not so far removed from jazz and blues traditions.

Lyrics

Elvis really wants a kiss from the woman he is singing to.  His lyrical premise of "hey baby, I ain't asking much of you (A).....just a big hunk O' love will do (B)," sets the tone from the start. 

The first verse follow blues lyric construction: AAB.  The second and third verses feature 3 extra lines with rhyme scheme aab.  This is followed by the AB lines established in the first verse.  The fourth verse adds 4 extra lines with the rhyme scheme abcb before going back to the familiar AB.  The c line above also uses an internal rhyme "you know I'd have all the things these lucky charms could bring."

Once again, we see something that is relatively simple get transformed into something much more complex with a little variation.

Common Threads

Picking up from the previous list, we see these commonalities with Elvis and the others songs analyzed "on the 9's."

• Hook that uses the title of the song
• Repeated melodic elements
• Texture changes

The texture changes in "A Big Hunk O' Love" are not achieved the same way as other tunes.  Here, the rhythm section provides the changes with some stops, call and answer patterns and solos.  In the other tunes, instrument parts changed the texture with a synth part here or a horn part there.

The biggest common thread, though, is the idea of repeated material carrying the song.  This one is probably closest to "In the Year 2525" (1969) in form (all verses).  It shares a little bit with "Bad Girls" (1979) in the way the background vocals answer the lead vocal with repeated musical themes.  It shares the element of instrumental solos with 'Right Here Waiting" (1989).  

Comparing Elvis with "Genie In a Bottle" (1999), "I Gotta Feeling" (2009) and "Old Town Road" (2019), we see the use of a refrain (albeit in slightly different terms), reliance on repeated chord progressions and the use of texture changes and slight variation to keep things moving.  

Final Takeaways

When I recently explained this project to someone, they asked "what are you really looking for?"  My answer was "common musical themes that emerge in no.1 hit songs, regardless of when they were written."  I think that statement is proven relevant in this particular analysis.  If someone asked me what Elvis and Christina Aguilera had in common, prior to this, I might have only been able to answer "they are singers."  

The recurring theme in this round of analyses has been repetition with subtle variance to keep things evolving.  Every song has used a significant amount of repeated material.  There has not been much harmonic variation.  Vocal variation has been running rampant, but harmony has remained largely static.  

So where to next?  A recap common threads found in round 2, compared with common threads found in round 1.  This is what it's all about!  What do these songs, the height of popularity in their decade, have in common with one another?  What musical elements help make a song popular?  Stay tuned to see what musical themes emerge from decades of hits!

[1]https://biography.elvis.com.au/

"Bad Girls" - Donna Summer, 1979

Donna Summer is known as "the Queen of Disco."  As the mere mention of disco instinctually causes most music fans to hold their noses, this moniker is not entirely fair.  Donna Summer is more than disco, she was a trail blazer of dance and R&B music.  Her first appearance on the Hot 100 Chart came in 1976 with "Love To Love You Baby," a shining example of her disco prowess.  She would ride this wave to many more appearances on the charts, 14 of which cracked the top ten, with songs that would continue to evolve all the way to 1999.

By 1979, disco was breathing its final breath.  In walks Donna Summer and releases an acclaimed album, "Bad Girls."  The record had two no.1 hits, "Hot Stuff" and the title track.  These no.1 songs, combined with "MacArthur Park" from November of 1978 and "NO more Tears (Enough is Enough)" with Barbara Streisand in November of 79, would mark FOUR no.1 hit singles in just over a year! [1]

"Bad Girls" provides a defining template for several songs previously analyzed and for many, I presume, we will see in the future.

July 14th - August 11th, 1979: "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer goes on a 5 week run in the no.1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart!

Take a moment to examine the "simplified form."  Essentially, we hear ABC three times, get a new section in D (bridge), and bring it home with one more A.  This strikes me as very "classical" with multiple returns to the A section with plenty of variation in tow.

Now look at "form," a detailed categorization of the sections in terms of modern song structure.  There are a lot of sections, with multiple delineations and variations.  "Bad Girls" takes the "7 Layer Dip" approach I have observed in the past few analyses.  Basically, an instrumental loop is garnished with additional loops that are combined for different textures and timbres.  Throughout the song, the base material remains and different instruments make occasional appearances.

The intro sets this in motion.  Bars 1-4 feature guitars and percussion.  Bars 5-8 add in the bass and piano.  Bars 9-12 feature the first of two prominent horn parts and the police whistle.  Bars 13-16 introduce a vocal ostinato that we will hear throughout the song.

I labeled bars 17-20 "PreChorus" which at this point, is really still part of the intro.  These 4 measures are the first introduction of a second prominent horn melody, a part which will reoccur before every chorus.  Look for more on this part in the "Melody" section below.

After the intro, the horn prechorus is generally preceded by what feels like a more traditional "prechorus."  This part, labeled PC', features some rhythm section "hits," and an altered chord change, which hosts a guitar solo in place of vocals in the back half.  This one was fairly challenging to map out considering it features long sections with lots of substance in each.  The "simplified form" tells the story much more succinctly, yet does not show all the variation this song has to offer.

Chord Progressions 

Like so many songs we have seen, this song thrives on, essentially, a static chord progression.  We hear this through the intro, verse and chorus sections.  The intro sets it up with this contrapuntal guitar web.

Intro Guitars

The signature disco guitar sound on the top sets up the chord progression, I v / iv v in Dmin.  The lower line, a funky muted guitar riff, reinforces the D minor sound with only 3 notes: root, minor 3rd and minor 7 of D minor.

Then, we get a brilliant bass line!  This line uses a main theme that gets a healthy dose of improvisation throughout.  This feature, to me, sets the repetitive nature of this song apart from others.  Even though it's the same chord progression for most of the song, the bass does not play the exact same thing, a clear sign that there are actual humans playing the instrument.

Here is a 4 bar segment of the bass line that occurs from m9 - 12.  Notice the improvised flourish in the last line.  We will hear variations of this throughout the song.  To get a sense of the big picture regarding the bass line,  check out this transcription from Scott Edwards. [2]

bass - m9-12

 The horns serve an important role in "Bad Girls," providing support for the chord progression as well as melody.  In the intro, we hear the first prominent horn background.  Rhythmically and harmonically, they support the guitar vamp.

Horn background 1

All of this is propelled by the drums, a hallmark of the disco sound.  They provide strong downbeats and added support for all those 16th note lines.

drum feel

Aside from the main chord progression, there is the PC' part, featuring full band syncopation that leaves space for some vocal flair and a rippin' guitar solo, later on.  Here's how the horns are added to the mix.

PC'

This part ventures to Bbmaj7 (VI) and Gmin7 (iv) before bringing us back home with the A7sus and A7 (V) chords, leading back to the D minor tonality.  In a way, this part could be called the bridge, as it harmonically bridges sections sections of the song together.  It happens so frequently though, and usually right before a chorus, that I felt it should get a "prechorus" label.  (In the "simple form" this is C)

Melody

The first vocalizations heard in the song come in the form of a spoken vocal ostinato.  This part part has been widely sampled and borrow from in more modern music, including R. Kelly's "Ignition Remix."

Toot Toot Ostinato

 We hear this throughout the entire tune, including acappella in the outro (coda).  This part is fun, sang by the background singers, and gives space for all the other stuff happening, yet fits in with the harmonic rhythm.

The next melody we get is from the horns.  This part, labeled "PC", is also featured throughout the tune and happens during the last vocal chorus at the end.

"prechorus" horn melody

This part is unique in its rhythm as well as note choice.  It works around the minor 3rd of Dmin, pausing on the G and E.  All in all, it gives the D minor feeling with the added flavor of the E, the 2nd of Dminor and the 5th of Amin, the passing chord in the 2nd measure - chord tone/passing tone.

After 2 introductory melodies, we finally get the hook, about 40 seconds into the song.  Like the bass line, the chorus evolves throughout, adding call and response as well as additional flourishes from Summer.  Here is the second chorus.

2nd Chorus

This melody plays in the D minor space, hitting it hard on the root - minor 3rd motion.  The echoes also exploit the minor 7 - root motion, much like the muted guitar in the intro.  There is lots of space in this chorus, which makes sense, considering all the movement in the supporting parts.  ("Genie In A Bottle" has a similar quality but features much less space in the vocal rhythm.)

The third chorus introduces a variation and features the background singers in unison.  They utilize the minor 3rd - root and minor 7- root motion while incorporating the added 4th we will see in the verse and even part of the "toot toot" ostinato.  This part has a "na na naboo boo" quality that makes it fun.

Chorus 3

Verses 1 and 2 are busier than the chorus, which only helps to contrast the 2 sections with similar chord progressions.  The verses feature phrases starting on the 5th (A) and venturing to the upper minor 7th (C) before making its way down to the D.  Some of the syncopation is reminiscent of the horn parts.  We even hear call and response, which increases in the 2nd chorus and 2nd verse.

Verse 1

As in case of third chorus, the third verse also gets a variation.  This section blends elements of the chorus and first verses with a greater focus on root-minor 3rd motion than in the first verse and an increased presence of background vocals.

verse 3 - first 2 bars

PC' features even more new melodic content.  This entire section is sort of a call and response between the horns and Donna Summer.  We get a pleasant ascending and descending contour with some wild melisma to end each phrase. 

PC' melody

We also hear Donna hit the highest note in the song as it moves from PC' to the horn PC.  She throws down some serious D minor pentatonic riffage here, which adds to the stanky funk of the rhythm section.  Over the horn line, she sings a B natural, the only non-diatonic note of the whole vocal melody.  It works though, as she descends slowly down the scale, all the way to the lower root.
She also takes a cue from the horns and accentuates the E during this part, adding to the 9th flavor!

She's not done yet!  More new melodic content happens in the bridge.  Here, she incorporates elements of other vocal melodies heard up to this point.

bridge lead vocal

We get some speaking parts ("toot toot"), phrases focusing around A and the high C (verse 1) and a focus on the high D (prechorus).  This section also features more space than other melodies, helping it to truly feel like a bridge, headed to the last chorus and coda.

Musical Sticking Points

This songs hits the mark, for me on having a great balance of repetition and variation.  The highly varied bass line provides a character that extends well beyond the modern loop equivalent.  There are also a ton of elements that are added and subtracted throughout: two guitar parts, a piano part (that has variation similar to bass), two contrasting horn backgrounds and plenty of auxiliary percussion (shakers and castanets).

Melodically, there are 8 sections that all borrow elements from one another.  Many songs include a verse, chorus and bridge.  Even if you add in an outro, that's only 4 sections of potential melodic content.  "Bad Girls" doubles that with tons of variation.  It comes from the same source material, D minor pentatonic, so it feels familiar and never out of place.

This round of analyses has featured songs with extended runs at no.1.  As we look back through the decades, the amount of time at the top is generally small.  A potential explanation would be the constant output of quality material from artists at the time.  Considering that, Donna Summer's presence on the charts during the year 1979 can be attributed to her musical sensibility.  You can dance to her songs, a plus for the disco enthusiasts.  Even as disco was becoming monotonous, Donna Summer figured out a way to extend her shelf life with danceable rhythms and enough musical substance to sate the tastes of people looking beyond the genre.

Lyrics

This song is also about prostitution.  That's right, the "bad girls" are ladies of the night.  Summer reportedly wrote it after her secretary was mistaken for one of these women, walking down the streets at night, in a bad part of town. [3]  When you take that into account, a lot of the nonsense lyrics make more sense:  "toot toot, beep beep" - cars getting the attention of the women; "hey mista, got a dime?"; and of course, the police whistle.

Summer does raise the societal dilemma of these "sad girls," offering the notion: "now you and me, we're both the same, but you call yourself by different names."  Obviously upset about the unfair stereotyping of her secretary that fateful night, these lyrics are slightly angry yet sorrowful towards the whole scenario.

The rhyme scheme for most sections is AAAB, with some being AAB.  Melodically this flow works great with the first phrases being similar and the last phrases being longer and drawn out, supporting the non-rhyme with flowing melody.


Common Threads  

I'd like to approach this section a little differently today.  This song has so much in common with the other songs "on the 9's,"  they deserve a look individually.

"Old Town Road" (2019) - both tunes share a repeated chord progression.  ("Bad Girls" does have one additional section.)  Both feature a layering approach with instruments that appearing sporadically throughout.  Both feature numerous melodies that borrow elements from each other, including a varied 3rd verse.  Both also have melodies that move step-wise through the mode, though "Bad Girls" relies more on the minor 3rd leaps.

"I Gotta Feeling" (2009) - both tunes thrive on repetition.  They also feature gang background vocals, offering call and response.  Both songs also utilize the layering approach to keep the repetition interesting.  They also feature spoken passages.

"Genie In A Bottle" (1999) - both tunes feature a web of syncopated rhythms right on top of one another.  Both songs have a repeated chord progression, enhanced by layered instrumental parts.  They also feature talented female singers who love to use melisma in their phrasing.  I would imagine Christina studied Donna to some extent.  Like "I Gotta Feeling," both songs feature spoken passages.  They also utilize stepwise scalar motion in a minor key.
   
"Right Here Waiting" (1989) - Both songs feature several statements of the primary melody (though Richard Marx holds the record with 6x).  Both songs also include slight variation in the delivery of musical ideas.  Both songs also feature instruments bearing a significant amount of the melodic responsibility, including guitar solos.

In addition to that, we still see the hook containing the title of the song, repeated melodic content and texture changes throughout.  In terms of common threads, this tune is significant to this project and utilizes many techniques seen through the decades.

Final Takeaways   
I really enjoyed this one!  This tune is super funky, with great instrumental material to latch onto.  I had completely forgotten I arranged this for a horn band I played in.  When I found it, I was definitely excited to see what I had done about 10 years ago.  Unfortunately, I don't think we ever played it at the one wedding we played.....but if we did, it would have killed!

To me, this song is significant to this analysis project.  As discussed in common threads, there are many similarities between this song and others that follow.  I was most taken aback by the technique used in layering instruments.  "I Gotta Feeling" was very "color by numbers," adding the parts in, cut and dry.  "Genie In A Bottle" did that nice trick with fading into the piano arpeggios so the opening felt brand new the second time around.  But this song just has more stuff to process.  The two guitar parts are so funky, and join and rejoin throughout.  The horn lines, three variations in all, provide a nice texture and timbre shift.  And that bass line!

What do you think of "Bad Girls?"  Do you see the common threads between this and no.1 hit songs to follow?

Moving back to the 1960's is an exciting venture as we close out the journey "on the 9's."  This round has been fruitful for discovering some potent music techniques used in crafting no.1 hit songs.

Up Next: July 12 - August 16th, 1969.  "In The Year 2525" by Zager & Evans goes on a 6 week run at no.1, only to be dethroned by "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones.  This one I am clueless on.  I am excited to take a trip back to the psychedelic 60's!

[1]https://www.allmusic.com/artist/donna-summer-mn0000661524/biography
[2]https://basslessons.be/transcriptions.php?i=138
[3]https://www.songfacts.com/facts/donna-summer/bad-girls

"Genie In A Bottle" - Christina Aguilera, 1999

I would imagine it's a vindicating feeling to have your lead single from your debut record rise to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in a little more than a month.  Christina Aguilera, the former Mickey Mouseketeer, was feeling that vindication in 1999 when "Genie In A Bottle" climbs the charts to no.1.  To date, this probably goes down as Christina Aguilera's most recognizable tune.  Musically, does the genie in the bottle have the power to hold up to other no.1 hits?

July 31st - August 28th, 1999 - "Genie In A Bottle" by Christina Aguilera stays at no.1 for 5 weeks straight!

This song was written by David Frank, Steve Kipner and Pamela Sheyne, whom collaborated together before even meeting Christina.  I read an fascinating article that described, in great detail, Frank's process and gear used during the initial demo recording. [1]  There's a lot of great stuff about sounds, recording techniques and mixing strategies that are well beyond the scope of this analysis.

The form in this one could go several ways.  I landed on a contentious label, if you have been keeping track of the past two analyses "on the 9's."  The chorus is definitely "If you want to be with me..."  If that is true, the "oh's" and spoken dialogue preceding that would naturally be the prechorus.  What then to make of "I'm a genie in the bottle baby" part?  It could be a post-chorus or part of the standard chorus, but it does not always follow the chorus and repeats towards the end of the song, in-lieu of a bridge.  So what's left?  It does repeat the title line of the song and ties one section of the song in with the next...how bout a refrain?

I had an in-depth conversation about this with the illustrious Chris Knott, the man behind Phish Riffs (@phishriffs on Instagram) and co-host of the podcasts "We'z Talin' Weez 2 Thee" and "Blue Album Battle" (@weztalkinweez on Twitter).  We concluded that the terms "chorus" and "refrain" are more or less interchangeable.  Refrain could additionally be reserved for a repeated line in a song, such as in Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changing."  It could also be used for a larger section that repeats several times.  Positioning could make a difference, but other than that, any argument is really fair game.

The only eye-catcher here is the intro, clocking in at 5 bars.  The odd bar is the first, a piano solo, which is a brilliant foreshadow to the rest of the song, offering clues to both melodic and harmonic content to come....

Chord Progressions 

Speaking of the intro, this fragment truncates chords and melody for the whole song in only one bar!

Opening Piano Measure

Harmonically, we get a taste of the full progression: Fmin - Eb - Db - C7, or i - bVII - bVI - V7 in the key of F minor.  Melodically, we get a preview of the rhythmic pacing we will see in many sections....more on that later.

After this opening measure, we get the full groove and harmonic sequence that repeats for the entire tune.

Base Chord Progression 

   The chords move a little slower than the opening bar and we get some FUNKY syncopation.  The bass line is doubled by the (electronic) bass drum.  The 32nd note patterns, in isolation, seem like they would bog down the tune with a blast of noise every two bars.  They are mixed in expertly though and the give the tune a great sense of forward momentum.  Once the vocals enter, I generally forget it's even there.

The line on top is sort of a synthy guitar inspired layer.  David Frank expounds upon this in the previously cited article.  This line arpeggiates the chord progression with some syncopation, another clue to the vocal melodies to come.

Harmonically, the tune does not wander too much from this template, simply adding and subtracting instrumental layers.  Check out these layers from the prechorus.  We see an extended version of the piano arpeggio moving through the chords.  Cmin7 is implied in this part, but the with bass playing E natural, it still functions as the V7 chord, moving back to Fmin. 

PreChorus Variations

We also see another synth "stab" that pushes the Fmin agenda and lays heavy on the G, implying an Fmin9 flavor that we will see periodically throughout as well.

In the chorus, we get the "stabby" synth from the pre-chorus, only expanded.  This part forces F minor for the first half and then sticks to the 3rd-4th and 5th of the Eb chord. 

Chorus Variations

We also hear some new synth sounds, including a warm pad and high strings.  They mostly stick to chord tones.  There is also a sustained F and Ab, giving a Eb9/Eb11 feel, tonalities which are also implied, at times, in the vocal melody.

Melody

Christina Aguilera is a great singer.  She comes into the recording session and wows the composers, landing her the song, which was considered for other artists.  The first time we hear her is in the intro, where she teases melodic content to come.

Opening vocal melody

She enters on the + of beat 4, a rhythmic preview of the verse, and effortlessly melismas her way down the scale to Ab, the 5th of Db and the minor 3rd of the home key, another hallmark of the melody by in large.  Then we're off to the races in the verse.

Verse 1

The verse, structured into 2 bar phrases, includes lots of syncopation.  We hear a sixteenth-eighth-sixteenth figure which nestles in with all of the other 16th note figures in the bass and synth parts.
The first phrase starts on the minor 3rd (Ab) and goes all the way down to Bb, functioning as the minor 7th of C7.  The second phrase picks up from that note and works up to the C and then down to low F or Ab, all chord tones of Fmin.

This melody works really well in keeping the tonal center relevant among the moving chords and active syncopation.  Even looking at this part, it seems like it might not sound so smooth, but it floats over the groove and has an approachable contour.

Up next is the pre-chorus, which features the least rhythmic singing and the widest intervals in the vocal melody.

Pre-Chorus

 The "ohs" outline the Fmin, Eb and Db chords at a similar pace to the intro.  They are a nice contrast to the spoken parts to following, which are paced closer to the verse.  The "ohs" are harmonized with several voices, including a 3rd higher and a lower sustained Bb on the end of the line.

This prechorus part is a perfect illustration of tying the verse to the chorus with combined musical elements of both.  Notice the switch to eighth notes, instead of sixteenths, as we move to the chorus.

Chorus

This part stands out with phrases entering on beat 2, instead of just before beat 4, as we saw in the verse.  She plays with the first three notes of the Fminor scale and then descends, passing through F, Db and C before returning to F.  We also hear the natural 7th of the C7 chord at the end of the phrase, voice leading "naturally" to the F minor.  The end of the chorus features overlapping vocal work from Christina, another preview of flash to come.

Directly following the chorus is the refrain.  Here, she goes way low in her register and gets down to the root note, F, to finish off the phrases.  There is a nice balance of 16 notes, from the verse and prechorus, as well as slower eighth notes taken from the chorus.  Again, her note choice hammers home F minor, this time with C, Bb and Ab as the primary targets.

Refrain

Like the prechorus, this refrain part successfully ties the sections of the song together, helping them to feel different over the static chord progression.

Female fronted 90's pop/R&B would not be complete without strings of countermelodies.  We get a healthy dose in the second half of the double chorus.  Check this out:

last Chorus countermelody

She hangs out on the G, echoing "I'm a genie in a bottle," giving the line a totally different feel.  She then goes into full falsetto, echoing "if you want to be with me."  This continues through the end of the song in typical diva fashion, introducing Christina as a serious player.

Musical Sticking Points

"Genie In A Bottle" has a lot in common with "Old Town Road" and "I Gotta Feeling."  There is a static chord progression that runs throughout the entire tune, slightly altered with the addition or subtraction of musical elements.  For me, the complexity of those elements makes "Genie" much more interesting than the other songs.

"Genie" is filled with syncopation, featuring numerous variations on sixteenth-eight note combinations.  Surprisingly, the layers of busy syncopation stay out of each others way.  The rhythm section has the bass drum part, pounding out 32nd notes the whole time with choppy 16th notes on top, coupled with choppy 16th note vocals in the middle.  Somehow, it all fits together nicely.  There are a few pauses in the rhythm section, which offer a moment to breathe, as well as the significantly slower vocal rhythm in the chorus, causing the hook to sink in.

Christina's range is very impressive.  While most of the time is spent in her strong middle range, she gets down into the seductive lower talking voice.  The high croons in the double chorus also showcase her ability, which by all accounts, impressed everyone in the studio enough to award her the song.

In terms of arrangement, the songwriters sneakily make it seem like there is more happening than there actually is.  Elements are subtracted and added with a little more grace than in "I Gotta Feeling."  For example, the piano part in the pre-chorus doesn't become audible until 2 beats in.  When you hear the missing two beats on the repeat, it sounds less predictable than if you had heard it in full.  There are also numerous noises that add a layer of ambiance layered in with all of the other notes.  It also stands apart from "I Gotta Feeling" and "Old Town Road" in the complexity and development of the added parts.

Lyrics
This song caused a little bit of controversy when it first hit the airwaves.  The lyrics are very suggestive and it doesn't sit too well knowing Aguilera was only 18 years old, at the time.  Despite the adult nature of the tune, Aguilera would later reveal the true message of self respect, an opposite notion to many naysayers. [2]

I will say this is one of those random songs that gets stuck in my head for no reason at all.  I find myself blurting out the hook way more than I care to admit.  Maybe it has something to do with the act of rubbing, a verb that can be interpreted in a few ways;)  That is a little less obvious than a suspect line in the 2nd verse:

Hormones racing at the speed of light

But that don't mean it's gotta be tonight

Baby, baby, baby (baby, baby, baby)

 How many no.1 pop tunes use the word "hormones?"

Common Threads 
Here, I will try to find common ground between the songs analyzed "on the 9's" so far: "Old Town Road" (2019) and "I Gotta Feeling" (2009).  Here's the list after analyzing "Genie In A Bottle."

• Hook that  uses the title of the song
• Repeated melodic themes
• Singular repeated chord progression
• Texture changes through instrumental addition and subtraction
• Chorus and Refrain sections

Several elements, ripped directly from my last analysis, are shining stars of "Genie In A Bottle."  The only point I had to remove was "male lead vocal."  I also added "chorus and refrain" sections.  All three of the songs this round have had more than 1 catchy section that repeats, warranting not only a chorus, but also a hook.  I am looking forward to seeing if this trend continues as we move to 1989.

A common element between this and "Old Town Road" is a vocal melody that suggests a singular key, despite chord changes.  "Genie's" vocal melody infers F minor and "Old Town Road" infers G#min, despite the chord progressions inferring slightly different tonality. 

Final Takeaways
While this song was a slight break from the unrelenting monotony of "I Gotta Feeling," I feel stuck in the pop music rut.  I'm not sure what I was expecting from this project, but the variation covered "on the 8's" did not prepare me for the "7 layer dip" approach to writing pop songs "on the 9's."

That being said, I do like this song and have gained a deeper appreciation for it, an ulterior goal for this project.  Musically, this is song is far more complex that I would have ever imagined.  At times, I felt like I was transcribing Latin Jazz, then it kept repeating without variation. 

What do you think of "Genie In A Bottle?"  Does it hold up by today's pop music standards?  Leave me a comment!

Up next time:  August 12 - 26, 1989.  "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx lasts 3 weeks at no.1!  Full disclosure, I don't know this song in the least.  I am looking forward to digging in to something, I can only hope is in a different time zone than the 3 songs already seen "on the 9's."  Knowing what I know about the name Richard Marx, I think I will get my wish!  (I went this entire article with no wish puns.....had to get at least 1 in....do I still get 2 more?)


[1] https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/recording-christina-aguileras-genie-bottle
[2] https://storyofsong.com/story/genie-in-a-bottle/