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!
"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!
When I discovered I would be analyzing 1961's "Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis, I drew a blank. I searched up the YouTube video and listened to an unfamiliar rhythm and blues intro set the stage for what sounded like a classic 60's doowop concoction. Then an infamous line busts down the door of familiarity: "I couldn't sleep at all last night."
I had indeed heard this song before, and I'm willing to bet whomever reading this has as well. The catchy number appears in "Animal House (1978)" and "American Graffiti (1973)" and is the fourth longest running no.1 song from the entire 1960's. Bobby Lewis, unfortunately, died this past spring (April 2020) at the age of 95. [1]
As I dug into this one, I noticed the fine craftsmanship and noted it likely influence on many songs that followed. There is nothing harmonically groundbreaking, but you certainly find traces of core elements in other no.1 hit songs: predictable musical elements with a few twists and turns sprinkled with a personal touch of style. Finding similar musical attributes in songs decades apart is thought provoking and the main impetus for this project!
I love older songs because many have a form not too far removed from blues and jazz. We definitely find that here, but again, with a little twist. The intro is a free, rubato section that lasts 4 measures. Then, two additional measures act as pickups to the verse. Each verse is really just a 12 bar modified blues progression.
The first bridge is essentially an 8 bar section with, once again, an extra 2 bars that act as a pickup back into the verse. The second bridge is also an 8 bar section, but with different changes as the other vocal bridge. The outro section is a tag of the refrain, or repeated vocal line from each verse ("tossin and turnin', turnin' and tossin', a tossin' and turnin' all night").
The whole tune plays out in a predictable way, two similar sections (A), a different part (B), then a return to the first part (A). A bridge (C), in this case a horn soli, breaks up the return to the different part (B), followed by a repeat of the main part (A). The extra two measures that create space are those added wrinkles that elevate this one to a special place.
Chord Progressions
In sticking with a theme, "Tossin' and Turnin'" uses basic changes that contain a few wrinkles to make it stand out. The intro puts us in the key of C with a rubato like section. The last two measures of G set up the verse:
C / Amin / F / G / G / G I / vi / IV / V / V / V
The 12 bar verse is a blues variation:
C F7 / C / C F7 / C / G7 / G7 / C / F7 / C / F7 / C F7 / C I IV / I / I IV / I / V / V / I / IV / I / IV / I IV / I
While these chord qualities represent the basic gist, the guitar part adds some interesting color into the mix during the verse. Take a look at the verse changes between the guitar and bass:
Verse - guitar and bass
The guitar is adding a D# or Eb note, the #9 or minor 3rd, a common tension added to C7 in a blues setting. We get the same tension, briefly, on a G7 to create a G7b13 sound. Again, the chords are basically dominant 7 chords, and in many live versions, that's all you get. These little additions on the studio recording do stand out and give it a unique vibe.
The vocal bridge (B1) includes some unison hits from the band, creating a call and response between the vocals. The chords in this bridge play out to be:
F7 / F7 / C / C / F7 / F7 / D7 / G7 / G7 / G7
IV / IV / I / I / IV / IV / II / V / V / V
As in the intro, the last two bars of G bring us back to the verse. I do especially like the dominant II chord, or V/V to get to the G7 chord. The band plays a slick chromatic run to get there that adds just enough spice to keep this section from becoming too repetitious.
The second bridge contains a horn soli and another variation on the changes:
C / C / C / C / G7 / G7 / C F7 / C
I / I / I / I / V / V / I IV / C
The outro tags the second half of the verse changes to finish out the song with a fade. While these changes are simply and primarily built on 4 chords, they are mixed up in 4 different variations! We have seen many songs that use the same progression with no variation. This is a cool twist on basic changes.
Melody
Bobby Lewis is a great singer. This song presents a defined style that he showcases in the verses and bridges with nuanced variation, an observed quality in many songs that reach no.1. The intro starts freely, presenting us with some melodic patterns we will see later on - leaps of 3rds, repeated notes, phrases beginning on beat 2 and "simple" quarter-eighth note syncopation:
Intro
The verse plows in with a horn lick, followed by that familiar line. In a vacuum, the opening line here is somewhat deceptive, indicating C major over a G7 chord. When you're not expecting it, it somes off temporarily "wrong," until the rhythm section drops the C chord.
verse 1 - pickups and meas. 1-6
Bobby has a style where he slurs down or up to a chord tone in his delivery. It creates this smooth and slippery sound. The background singers add a whole other elements as they follow the chord tones and answer Mr. Lewis in contrasting timbre. Heading into the next 6 measures, we get the refrain, which repeats in each verse, as well as in the tagged outro.
Verse 1 - meas. 7-12
The interplay between Bobby Lewis and the background singers is rhythmically contrasting. The ladies keep their phrases straight, using mostly quarter and half notes. Bobby throws in some slight syncopation over the top to create a cool overlapping texture. Once again we hear slides up and down to chord tones.
Moving to verse 2, there are few variations to the melody. The background singers repeat verbatim, but Bobby changes a few things up to keep it interesting:
Verse 2
Once again, we hear a pickup that repeats a C note, this time sounding much more natural, now that we know where it's headed. In the fourth measure, above, he repeats a high C, a different choice from that same spot in the first verse (low C arpeggio). In the refrain, he switches around his melody, going higher to E on "turnin' and tossin'" as opposed to "tossin' and turnin'" in the first verse..... He will continue to add in little nuances in the third verses as well.
So far, the verse melody has been constructed with mostly repeated chord tones. The ends of phrases usually resolve stepwise to chord tones, but there are many leaps of thirds throughout this melody, a departure from all the 2nds we have seen so far in this round.
Instead of call and response with the background singers, the first bridge features a call and response between the band and Bobby Lewis. The rhythm section kicks things off with a new syncopation and a series of diatonic ascending lines through the changes.
Bridge 1 - pickup and meas. 1-6
Melodically, we get more repeated chord tones with lots of leaps from C-A and even the odd leap from A - D in measures 1 and 5 over the F chord (3rd - 6th). This continues in the last 4 measures of the 10 measure bridge. Again, we get more repeated chord tones on the shared D. The rhythm section takes the spotlight in the 9th measure, leading to the familiar pickup into verse 3, just like the intro:
Bridge 1 - meas.7-10 leading to verse 3
The second bridge features a horn soli, in octaves between saxophone and trumpet. They play with 16th note triplet ornaments approaching Bb, a definitive shift to a C7 sound during this section:
Bridge 2 - Horn Soli
This part combines a few elements we have see already in the tune. There are chord arpeggios, as heard in the verse pickup measures. We hear repetition of 3 notes, a developed variation on the repeated notes from the verse. We also hear ascending lines to the chords, influenced from the first bridge. This part does its job and breaks up the vocal sections of the tune, giving the listener a breather as we go into the final stretch.
Lyrics
The lyrical sensibility of the 60's is very different from today. Though the lyrics are simple and straightforward, they have a certain charm. Perhaps it's because they come from a genuine place and haven't been rehashed 100 times to make them feel cheesy or redundant.
He sets up the tune perfectly with the premise: "I couldn't sleep at all last night, just a-thinking of you." Moving on, he gets the most mileage out of the title, twisting it all around, lyrically tossing and turning with the words.
In verse 2, he paints the picture a little clearer, struggling with his pillow and blankets. In the bridge, he finally breaks and gets out of bed, a scenario we can all relate with. Here, he cycles through getting out of bed, turning on the light and going to the kitchen for a bite. He then goes back to bed and turns off the light, reminding us "it was the middle of the night." There is also a whole sequence with pulling down the shade...I'm not sure why you would pull down the shade in the middle of the night and then pull it up when you returned to bed in the middle of the night....
The third verse is a window into the past. Still unable to sleep, he hears the clock strike four (am) as well as the milkman at the door. How many people have a grandmother who still gets milk delivered? What a cool detail that hearkens back to olden times.
Common Threads
What musical elements do no.1 songs across decades have in common? So far in this round, "on the 1's," I have analyzed the no.1 song during the first week of August from 2011, 2001, 1991, 1981 and 1971. 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 the Bee Gee's 1971 contribution "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart," let's see how "Tossin' and Turnin'" stacks up.
Repetitive Melody - absolutely. Repeated chord tones, vocal slurs to chord tones, similar syncopation and call and response between two groups dominate every vocal section of the tune.
Texture Changes - There are a few. The element of the background singers in the verse creates a unique texture. The rhythm section part in the bridge also create another feel. The horn soli in the second bridge sounds completely different than anything else in the tune.
Hook that Uses Title of the Song - Check. It is possible to consider "I couldn't sleep at all last night" as a sort of hook, as it is famously associated with the song. It only happens once though.....The proper refrain happens four times.
Strong motion of V- I - Every G7 resolves to C
Use of Vocal Harmony - background singers enjoy belting this one out!
- Stepwise Motion Common in Melody - as mentioned, this song uses a lot of 3rds, 4ths and 5ths. There are certainly 2nds present, but not as prevalent as thirds. Off the top of my head, this has to be one of the only songs that does not rely on stepwise motion to fill out the melody.....
(- new material at the end)
Chord Count - 5 - C, F7, G7, D7, Amin - I will count all the C variations as one chord, considering they all serve the same function and have basically the same feel. At 5 chords, this is only two more than 2011's "Party Rock Anthem," really only one more, considering the Amin only happens in the intro. I think the inclination is to think songs get more simple as you get more modern, but that is not really the case. This 1961 classic is pretty simple.
Final Takeaways
This one pleasantly surprised me. It has lots of elements I like hearing in a song: a hook that repeats often and is easy to sing along with, a fun vocal delivery, background vocals you can shout along with, an instrumental solo and a slightly quirky form. Way to be Bobby Lewis.
It's not hard to see why this song was so popular in the 60's. It's catchy and fun. The lyrics are clever and relatable. The instrumentation and general presentation are in line with pop music of the day, ideal for dancing. The melody is nothing groundbreaking but effectively gets the point across in an approachable way. This one is a classic in every sense of the word.
When I first heard the famous opening line, I immediately knew I knew the tune. This is one of those songs that has permeated the collective conscious of people within a certain age range. I'm sure I only knew it from "Animal House," but I would be willing to bet it has appeared in other movies and TV shows. There are several cover versions, another hallmark of a fine song. Songwriters Richie Adams and Malou Rene sure struck gold with this hit.
What do you think of "Tossin' and Turnin'?" Do you recognize it past the famous opening line, "I couldn't sleep at all last night?" How do you think it stacks up to more modern no.1 hits? Leave me a comment!
Up next time: I am foregoing a round 4 recap due to the small number of data points, only 6 songs. Instead, I will roll right into round 5, "on the 2's." Starting with 1962 we will work our way up through the decades to 2012. That will leave us with another classic....a title recognize, belonging to a song I couldn't hum a bar to....
August 11-18, 1962, a two week run at no.1: "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" by Neil Sedaka....stay tuned!
Prior to the composition of "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" the brothers Gibb were going through a period of separation. Barry and Robin Gibb got together to write this song and months later, it would stake a claim as their first Billboard Hot 100 no.1 hit! [1]
This song is one of those epic 70's ballads that struck the right chord at the time. It has gone on to be covered by some music giants such as Al Green (on Let's Stay Together), Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow and Michael Bublé, to name a few. [2]
While this tune does not fit the stereotypical image of disco Bee Gees, it does pack an emotional punch. Not only that, the ballad tempo and passionate delivery stand out as honest and unique, especially after all the poppy analyses I have covered in this round, "on the 1's." Let's tear this thing apart and see why it reached no.1, from a musical standpoint.
I've noticed a trend in songs with a "classic" song structure that also have a few twists. By classic structure, I means verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, or ABABCB. There are many variations on this, of course, but that't the gist. "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" delivers exactly that, with a few added wrinkles.
For starters, the verse is 9 measures long, instead of a more traditional 8 measures. The first time we hear the chorus, it is 17 measures long, opposed to the 16 measure version we hear later on. Extra measures tacked on to a section provide space for melodies to settle in and reach maximum effectiveness. The Bee Gees accomplish that here.
The bridge section, which is a variation on the first half of the chorus, serves the purpose of a bridge: bridging the beginning of the song to the end. While melodically it is not new, it does break up the lengthy chorus section in a new way. An abbreviated chorus is a nice way to wind the song down, leaving us with the primary message and longing to hear it again.
The outro is a short 4 measure section that winds the song down to zero. We get melodies reminiscent of the intro and verse. The piano tinkles into nothing as the song ends contemplatively. The form of this one helps keep the sentiment focused and no doubt contributes to its accessibility.
Chord Progressions
Much like the form, the chord progressions are straightforward with a few small wrinkles tossed in. The intro establishes the home key, E major. The guitar sets it up with a cowboy like strum on the E chord, establishing the swing eighth feel:
opening guitar rhythm
When the piano comes in, A's are added to create a suspended 4 sound (sus 4), a sound that will be developed during the verse:
Intro - Piano Melody
When the verse melody comes in, the first 4 bars stay in the E major space:
E / Emaj7 / F#min11/E / E
I / I / ii or Isus / I
The F#min11/E only sounds for 1 bar and is undoubtedly a "guitar thing;" open low E over 2nd frets down the line. To my ear, it has the same effect as the opening piano suspension. Perhaps then it should be E 6/9? The melodic emphasis on the A inclines me to keep it as the F#min foundation and function.
The next 5 measures of the verse follow a standard progression we have seen in several songs throughout this project ("Incomplete" (2000) off the top of my head):
G#7 / C#min / F#7 / B7 / B7 III / vi / II / V / V
The chorus uses a variation on the verse, developing it further, adding in IV and V:
Emaj7 / E Maj7 / F#min7 / F#min7 / A B7 / A B7 / F#min7 B7 / E I / I / ii / ii / IV V / IV V / ii V / I
These 8 bars are repeated to finish out the chorus.
The bass part adds a few nuances to the mix with some rhythmic accents on roots and 5ths, chromatic passing tones and an inversion on the F#min7 chord in the penultimate measure. Here is the bass line as heard in the second half of the second chorus (starting at 2:40):
Chorus 2 Bass - m9-16
Melody
When the Bee Gees wrote this tune, they were going through some familial turmoil. The music reflects that quite nicely through the words and the delivery of the melody. In verse 1, we hear Robin Gibb sounding vulnerable. After 4 measures, he is joined in unison, enhancing the lyrical impact:
Verse 1
Rhythmically, this verse was hard to pin down. Robin is often just behind the beat and delivers the melody in a conversational way. The first 4 bars stay diatonic and suggest an E6 chord in the first measure with the C#, resolving to the G# (3rd) in the 2nd measure. The F#min11/E measure touches on all the chord tones, except B, before going back to an E major lick, root-2nd-3rd.
G#7 is not a diatonic chord and the melody moves up root-2nd 3rd of G# major, raising up A and B. The C#min measures hinges on a C# before moving up to E, minor 7th of F#7. The B7 measure uses a familiar root-2nd-3rd pattern, in retrograde to start. The last measure creates a brief suspension to set up the chorus.
The second verse follows suit with the first, altering the initial four bars more so than the last four. While the verses are emotional and fitting, they do not contain the signature Bee Gees harmony. Heading into the chorus, we get a different tone of voice and that sweet, sweet harmony after four bars:
Chorus 1 - meas. 1-8
The first two bars create a tangible feeling. Moving between major 7th and root in a high register, Barry Gibb brings the goods. The next two measures move lower, with a return to the conversational feel of the verse and the C# tonal center, now over an actual F#min7 chord.
The harmony in the next four bars is close and creates a wall of blended sound. The punctuation of their delivery pushes the melody forward, propelled by the faster moving harmony. The descending scale to finish the phrases also flows nicely into a triplet string line, leading into the second half of the chorus.
Chorus 1 - meas. 9-17
The second half of the chorus is similar to the first half, coming in with the same pitches and feel. In the fourth measure there is a new string line that appears, leading in the harmony vocals in measures five. The harmony is similar and devolves to a single line on "and let me live again." In this first chorus, the extra measure calls back the piano intro, this time with an added vocal in contrasting rhythm.
The chorus has a little bit of everything a good melody wants to have. There is syncopation set against lots of space. There is a melody that explores high and low registers, in unison and in three part harmony. These same qualities can be seen in the bridge, a variation on the chorus's opening four measures, this time in harmony:
Bridge
The harmony here is in octaves, reaching all the way to high C#. Though this part is just a reharmonization of the chorus, the high notes and new harmony make it feel completely different. This is followed by the last 4 measures of the chorus.
Lyrics
The lyrical content of this tune offers something for everyone. There are abstract ideas as well as some predictable, and dare I say, cheesy analogies you would expect from a 70's soft rock ballad.
I can still feel the breeze that rustles through the trees
And misty memories of days gone by
The opening lines of verse 2 present a vivid picture, complete with alliteration and no rhymes. This is concluded with a rhyming callback to verse 1, complete with a less subtle indication to the emotional point of view:
We could never see tomorrow
No one said a word about the sorrow
I think my favorite line has to be:
How can you mend this broken man?
How can a loser ever win?
This is a little more clever than previous questions about how to stop "the rain from falling" or "the stars from shining." This line, delivered with raw emotion, epitomizes the feeling of personal loss and defeat, a feeling all of can relate to.
Common Threads
What musical elements are present in no.1 hit songs across the decades? That is exactly what I am trying to find out. Picking up where "Jesse's Girl (1981)" left off, what common threads do the Brothers Gibb add or subtract from the equation?
Repetitive Melody - the verse and chorus each share borrowed melodic and rhythmic influences. The conversational tone coupled with single note phrases that develop into stepwise passages happen throughout.
Stepwise Motion Common in Melody - The entire melody is built on 2nds. There is the occasional third, but this one moves in steps most of the time.
Texture Changes - The most impactful texture change comes in the vocal harmony. The arrangement helps as well with piano, strings, drums, bass and guitar making their way in and out. There is also a tasteful trumpet solo behind verse 2. This one never sticks with the same timbre for too long, a helpful quality for a ballad to have to keep it moving forward.
Hook that Uses Title of the Song - Check.
Strong motion of V- I - The ii-V's qualify this one.
+ Use of Vocal Harmony - Upon further review, every song in this round "on the 1's" has contained important vocal harmony. It just took the power of the Bee Gees for me to see it!
(- New Material at the End) - the outro section borrows ideas from the intro and verse, so this one is still out.
Chord Count: 8 - E, Emaj7, F#min11/E, F#min7, G#7, C#, F#7, B7 - I was tempted not to count the variations on E, but I feel they each have a different effect when they happen. In the future, I may go back and summarize the chord counts to other songs. "Jessie's Girl" still leads with 10 chords.
Final Takeaways
Going into this one, I had never heard the tune. When I did, I was struck by the overall sound. The opening voice sounded hollow and the harmonies came in much later than I expected them to. The arrangement was impressive the first time around, but I was still unsure about the tune. I remember thinking, "where's the hook?"
Like many songs, after repeated listens I came to enjoy it. After listening to the words, the vocal delivery made sense and the prolonged harmony paid off to my ears. I noticed lots of nuance in the arrangement and walked away from listening singing "how can you mend..."
I think I really like the Bee Gees. They get pigeon-holed as a disco group, but there is a lot more to them. This song sounds nothing like their more popular work and it's their first no.1 hit. A group that has the ability to morph their sound so dramatically must be doing something right. They also wrote the tune themselves, inspired by real life events.
In a modern world of songwriters pitching songs to artists and lyrics that glorify the party lifestyle, this one seems out in left field. I love the honesty of this song. Much like I talked about in my preference of "Jesse's Girl" lyrics compared to "Everything I Do..." lyrics, this one is obviously inspired by first hand experience and not a idealistic or forced narrative that makes for a good song premise.
What do you think of "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" I was not around in 1971, but it is fun to imagine hearing this song as it was being released. I would imagine it stole the heart of the USA in many of the ways I pontificated on today. Leave me a comment!
Up next time, the last stop in our journey "on the 1's:" July 10 - August 21 1961, "Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis lasts 7 weeks at no.1 Wow, I have no clue about this one. 7 weeks seems like a long time for a song to be at no.1 in any decade. What common musical traits will this long lost classic share with other no.1 hits through the decades!?!?!?
