Are there even any songs out there besides opera and story type songs that don’t follow this theme?
In: 2
First off, the verse – chorus – verse – chorus – breakdown (middle 8) – chorus format is mostly only prevalent in music from the last hundred years or so, and primarily in western pop music styles.
As others have already stated there are lots of songs that don’t follow this although that’s not entirely true. Other styles like classical still do this in another way by having a theme or musical motif that is repeated and or returned to from time to time throughout the composition.
But anyways, we’re talking about pop music.
Ya know when you listen to a song with a strong groove and you bop your head up and down? That’s rhythm. Life and nature are full of all kinds of rythyms. Day – night, the four seasons, tides, etc. A song would be super boring if you just did one thing throughout the entire song (though there are exceptions to everything) so modulating between verse and chorus is a way of imparting an internal rythym to a song.
This works well for many reasons, such as:
– the different sections can have different levels of emotional intensity, typically with the chorus being more intense. This can really crank up the excitement especially when there is a good build up to the chorus. Lots of rock songs do this well.
– lyrically this works well because the chorus can anchor the main idea of the song’s lyrics in a simple, strong, catchy, highly repeated set of phrases. The verses can contrast this by being less structured but more exploratory and or abstract with respect to the song’s topic. The breakdown (or middle 8) is often used to provide an alternative perspective on the song’s topic that could completely change the meaning of a song (like the twist in a movie) or just do something else completely different to add interest.
BAH… Have to take the dogs out… Might write more later if I can.
Latest Answers