CRAZY- GNARLS BARKLY
Crazy was released in 2006 within the album St. Elsewhere. Crazy by Gnarls Barkly was originally a sample of a western track .sampling is very common in music. If you listen closely to the you can hear the sample inside of it. Crazy was the first song to get to the top of the UK’s download sales alone. The song’s chord progression was just made up of a chord rush which is repeating chord progression throughout the song, in this case the chord was C minor.
The song is about the singers take on mental instability, the song writer was creative using this theme. This is because he uses a chord rush in the song which is when the same chord repeats during a segment of the songs structure, this was used to link to the feeling of insanity where many people say it’s like a repeating thought in their head. The chorus in this song is a repeating question, “does that make me crazy”. This lyric repeats until the end of the chorus with the answer “possibly”, so the entire chorus lyrics are about an unanswered question which refers to insanity. The chord rush is a simple repeating C minor chord until we reach verse 2 where it become a C major chord, this means the song changes keys, which makes the listener confused creating a sense of craziness.
This song was originally a sample of a western piece of music, that Gnarls took and made his own. The plucked bass instrumental comes from the sample, which is a really dominant feature in the song. The melody of the song that is sang by the vocals also comes from the sample, sampling is very common in todays music, especially with famous artists such as Kanye West. The instruments used in this song are: plucked bass, vocals, backing vocals, drums and strings. The harmony of this song is very simple and pleasant sounding, the harmony is played by the backing vocals and the strings. The strings come in at the chorus of the song and harmonize with the lead vocals in the song, the string harmony is monophonic and plays notes that harmonise with the lead vocals. For the verses Gnarls used multiple backing vocals that make up a polyphonic harmony, their vocals play individual notes of chords that make up a full one to harmonise with the vocals.
The structure of this song is; verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus. This structure is very repetitive which links to the songs theme of looping insanity. The verse of the song are played at a calming mezzo piano dynamic level, and then it sores up to forte dynamic level at the chorus. Crazy is classed as a rock song, because of it’s adapted features such as instruments, style and tempo. The song is played in 4/4 common time with a BPM of 112, which are both common for rock songs. The melody in this song is usual in the verses and at a calming level, with small note intervals. After the verse the melody plays octaves higher, which is intense for a melody. The songs melody is very repetitive and simple, making it very memorable to the listener. This song is written in the key of Ab major which. The limited instruments in this piece of music make it thin in texture and easy to listen to.
Key & BPM for Crazy by Gnarls Barkley | Tunebat
LOVE STORY- TAYLOR SWIFT
LYRICS
We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes and the flashback starts
I’m standing there
On a balcony, in summer air
See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns
See you make your way through the crowd
And say “Hello”
Little did I know
That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
And my daddy said, “Stay away from Juliet”
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you, “Please don’t go”
And I said
“Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess
It’s a love story, baby, just say yes”
So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet ’cause we’re dead if they knew
So close your eyes
Escape this town for a little while
‘Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said, “Stay away from Juliet”
But you were everything to me
I was begging you, “Please don’t go”
And I said
“Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess
It’s a love story, baby, just say yes”
Romeo, save me, they’re trying to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult, but it’s real
Don’t be afraid, we’ll make it out of this mess
It’s a love story, baby, just say yes
Oh, oh
I got tired of waiting
Wondering if you were ever coming around
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town
And I said
Romeo, save me, I’ve been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you, but you never come
Is this in my head? I don’t know what to think
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring
And said
“Marry me, Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone
I love you, and that’s all I really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
It’s a love story, baby, just say yes”
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
‘Cause we were both young when I first saw you
This song was written by Taylor Swift and became one of the best selling singles world wide. Love story is about a relationship that their parents have forbidden, similar to the story of Romeo and Juliet which the lyrics refer to. The song is written in 4/4 common time and has a BPM of 119 which is common for a rock song. This song is of the country rock genre because of it’s used instruments such as a banjo and an acoustic guitar which are popular in country music. Other instruments this song includes are; vocals, drums, backing vocals, banjo, tambourine, electric guitar, bag pipes, acoustic guitar and also strings. Because of this songs wide range of instruments the song is thick in texture.
The harmony in this song is advanced as many instruments take part in it, the instruments that play the harmony are the electric guitar, acoustic guitar, the strings and the backing vocals. The song has the electric guitar playing chords to harmonise with the vocals which is common and simple. The acoustic guitar that is used in the intro is playing arpeggios that harmonise with each other. The backing vocals in the song harmonise with the lead vocals by playing chords with their voices. Their is a violin which is used as a form of monophonic harmony by harmonising with the vocals and sometimes playing it’s own instrumental outside of the harmony. The songs key is written in the key of C major, however the song changes key to Eb major at the last chorus, which completely changes the harmony of the song which is interesting. This is used in the song to tell us that their was a change in mood, through the lyrics we know this is when she got proposed to.
The lead melody of this song is sang by the lead vocals, the melody is simple and moves mainly in steps and hops. The melody is also repetitive and simple, making it memorable to listeners. The melody mainly in the outro of the song get’s mimicked by the bag piped inside of the music, the violin also uses this technique between song verse’s and choruses. All of the verses in this song are played at a piano dynamic level which is calming and soothing to the ear. The pre- chorus rise to a mezzo piano dynamic level which builds tension and prepares us for the chorus which is a forte dynamic level. The post- chorus in the song is piano, but at the end of the post- chorus we have crescendo that takes us into the forte chorus. The intro of this song is very thin in texture as only the acoustic guitar is playing, the verse is thin in texture because of it’s vocals and a few more instruments. The chorus is very thick in texture as all of the instruments are playing, this technique is used often to build the song to a climax in the chorus and relaxation in the verse to recover.
LOSE YOURSELF- EMINEM
This song was written by Eminem as an original song for a 2002 movie called 8 mile which he starred in. The movie was about a character which embodied traits of Eminem and parts of his life. The movie grossed 242 million in box office and was very popular with amazing reviews. The song is from the hip-hop genre clarified by it’s beat and regular lyrical rhyme scheme. Like most hip-hop music the melody isn’t really clear as it focuses more on rhythm instead of melody. The song has a 4/4 time signature and was written at a tempo 171 BPM which is very fast for any song. The song is written in the key of D minor to convey the correct emotion of the characters life in the movie, in this case it is sad.
The song is thin in texture because not much instruments are actually used in the song. The instruments used are; vocals, electric guitar, piano, strings, backing vocals and extra effects. The song uses a static TV effect in the intro which comes under the extra effects. The song does have forms of harmony, the most audible one is the electric guitar which plays chords. The chords played at a staccato style in the intro, for the rest of the song they are longer and nicer. In the chorus you can hear the backing- vocals which harmonise with the lead vocals, their is not much harmony but it still is harmony. In the intro you can hear the strings harmonising with the piano, the strings also harmonise with the guitar chords. The strings don’t play for that long in the song all together though.
The song is at a piano dynamic level in the intro, and a mezzo piano dynamic level throughout the verses. The loudest part of the song is the chorus which plays at a forte dynamic level. The songs intro is the thinnest in texture making it seem really fragile, the verse are moderately think as they have more instruments but not much still. The chorus has most of the instruments in it, but the song does not have that much instruments so it is still moderately thick. The most melodic part of this song is the piano that repeats the same notes throughout, as it is easier to follow from a melodic point of view than the vocals. The structure of this song is; intro, verse, chorus, verse2,chorus, verse 3, chorus, outro. The song it’s self is about and underground rapper from the movie who is trying to rise above the ashes of his life, because his life is down and he needs to escape his tragedy.