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Thread: Why do most modern songs follow this pattern?

  1. #1
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Default Why do most modern songs follow this pattern?

    Now, I never took a music class, nor do I know much about the history of music. With that in mind, can anyone answer this question.

    Most modern songs seem composed using this pattern:

    1. beginning of song (before chorus)
    2. chorus
    3. repeat #1 with different lyrics
    4. chorus
    5. something different
    6. final chorus

    Why don't more songs try something new? Is there a scientific or natural reason that this way is just better?
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    No takers? Everyone busy with finals, deadlines, and vacations eh.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    I think that pattern is what makes a song catchy and memorable. If a song doesn't have chorus and verses drilled into it, but instead was just like an opera or something, songs wouldn't be so hard to forget.
    Most songs seem to be just a mix of some catchy beats anyway.

    You'd instantly recognise any part of Taylor Swift's Love Story because it follows a predictable repetitive pattern. Easy to learn, easy to like.

    I'm speaking out of my *** here.

  4. #4
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Maybe it inherently has a good effect, but now it's overdone, as overwhelming majority of modern songs heard on the radio adheres to it. I wish more artists would experiment with other ways. I know business-wise, they are perfectly happy when popular artists turn out by-the-book music that is nothing more than cash generator, but artists should feel more satisfied when they turn out something more creative.
    Last edited by PJ; 12-15-10 at 01:53 PM.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Senior Member xJadedx's Avatar
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    Singers/musicians do not equal to artist.
    Because I'm somewhere in between,
    My love and my agony.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ View Post
    Maybe it inherently has a good effect, but now it's overdone, as overwhelming majority of modern songs heard on the radio adheres to it. I wish more artists would experiment with other ways. I know business-wise, they are perfectly happy when popular artists turn out by-the-book music that is nothing more than cash generator, but artists should feel more satisfied when they turn out something more creative.
    What do you think of this?

    Momoe Yamaguchi - Mahogany Morning

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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xJadedx View Post
    Singers/musicians do not equal to artist.
    Nowadays "artist" is used pretty loosely. But I agree in the original sense of the word, some singers don't qualify as artists.

    In this case though, most artists still go by the book.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pannonian View Post
    What do you think of this?

    Momoe Yamaguchi - Mahogany Morning
    Initial impression is very nice. Takes a while to warm up though, but once it gets going it's great.

    Do you have more stuff like this?

    It reminded me of a song by Tears for Fears - which is another atypical song.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

  9. #9
    Senior Member xJadedx's Avatar
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    I guess I'm an elitist when it comes to music. I actually only call someone or a band artists if I truly believe they are. Of course, rarely any of them are overly contemporary.
    Because I'm somewhere in between,
    My love and my agony.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ View Post
    Initial impression is very nice. Takes a while to warm up though, but once it gets going it's great.

    Do you have more stuff like this?

    It reminded me of a song by Tears for Fears - which is another atypical song.
    She was an idol, so it limits how out there she and her songwriters (mainly Yoko Agi and Ryudo Uzaki by then) could be. However, as long as they produced the required success in singles (and by that time, virtually anything she did was guaranteed to be popular), they could get away with more on their albums.

    Momoe Yamaguchi - Into Night

    Here's another one. I first heard it on a compilation CD, full of average guitar trash tracks, then this came at the end and struck me as unusual. I defy you to find anything resembling a chorus.

    Mazzy Star - Into Dust

  11. #11
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    pannonian: Mahogany Morning is becoming my favorite song of the moment. Thanks.

    2 questions:

    1. By "idol", did you mean it in the general sense of the word, or something like the Japanese version of American Idol?

    2. The youtube link says "1979". Is that when this song was made??? It sounds so modern, like it could have been made in 2010.
    Last edited by PJ; 12-16-10 at 10:13 PM.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ View Post
    pannonian: Mahogany Morning is becoming my favorite song of the moment. Thanks.

    2 questions:

    1. By "idol", did you mean it in the general sense of the word, or something like the Japanese version of American Idol?

    2. The youtube link says "1979". Is that when this song was made??? It sounds so modern, like it could have been made in 2010.
    I'm not too familiar with Japanese culture, but idol seems to cover everything in the entertainment industry that's driven by agencies and so on. In Momoe Yamaguchi's case, a TV broadcaster was looking for girl singers, and she won the audition as can be seen here. She later branched out into TV and movies, where she met her future husband, but her main interest seems to have been music. The more influential music idols have a career trajectory where they gradually take control of their artistic direction, but Yamaguchi was apparently the pioneer, mainly because she disliked the exploitative lyrics of her early songwriters. By her late career, the Yoko Agi-Ryudo Uzaki team were her main songwriters, with songs like Imitation Gold and Playback Part 2, with a smattering from Shinji Tanimura, such as Ii Hi Tabidachi. Towards the end, she co-wrote a few songs with Tanimura, notably her last single, but she retired before this went anywhere far. Her last song in her farewell concert (Agi-Uzaki).

    Mahogany Morning was a track in the album A Face in a Vision, released in 1979. Lyrics by Yoko Agi, music by Yoshino Fujimaru.

    Momoe Yamaguchi - Mahogany Morning (live 1979)
    Momoe Yamaguchi - Vita Sexualis (Agi-Uzaki)
    Last edited by pannonian; 01-03-12 at 03:54 PM.

  13. #13
    Senior Member KeongJai's Avatar
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    Sounds like Sonata form from classical music
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_form

    Intro (verse 1)
    Exposition (Chorus)
    Development (Bridge)
    Recapitulation (Chorus again but fancier)
    Coda (another variation of the Chorus)

    Nothing new. Just the way flowing art is structured. Very much like a story.

  14. #14
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KeongJai View Post
    Sounds like Sonata form from classical music
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_form

    Intro (verse 1)
    Exposition (Chorus)
    Development (Bridge)
    Recapitulation (Chorus again but fancier)
    Coda (another variation of the Chorus)

    Nothing new. Just the way flowing art is structured. Very much like a story.
    But why do musicians still follow it? Don't they feel the need to innovate, try something new, try something interesting, experiment? Isn't that what an "artist" is supposed to do?
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Senior Member chibidaisuke's Avatar
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    Well, money is also a factor. Artists might not dare to try new things due to higher risks and if the new idea is unsuccessful it could result in big losses.

  16. #16
    Senior Member KeongJai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ View Post
    But why do musicians still follow it? Don't they feel the need to innovate, try something new, try something interesting, experiment? Isn't that what an "artist" is supposed to do?
    Simple songs are easy to remember? that's why most popular mainstream music is like that. And it's also the structure of a story, Intro, development, conclusion, sometimes a twist is thrown in. - which a lot of songs are.
    There's heaps of artists who experiment. Just that they don't get played on radios.

    Like chibidaisuke said, a lot of them are out there to make a buck, some are restricted by their record companies who are in the business to make a buck.
    Just because it's not played on radios doesn't mean there aren't musicians experimenting and being creative. It just means that the general public doesn't appreciate it.

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    Here's another one for PJ.

    'I Am The Resurrection'
    Song facts
    Composer Brown/Squire
    Genre Rock
    Album The Stone Roses
    Released 1989
    UK Chart Position 33

    Clocking in it a hefty eight minutes plus, the ambitious, sprawling “I Am The Resurrection” represents for many people the high point of the ‘Madchester’ scene.

    The Stone Roses fused the Sixties rock of Hendrix, The Byrds and The Beatles with their Manchester heroes The Smiths and the emerging dance sounds of late Eighties acid house. And on “I Am The Resurrection” in particular, the resultant mix is intoxicating.

    Kicking off with a pounding four to the floor Motown-esque rhythm from drummer Alan ‘Reni’ Wren and bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, the song negotiates three verses before singer Ian Brown makes the grandiose claim that “I am the resurrection and I am the light,” the tension finally released. He also sounds utterly at ease in doing so.

    But that’s only phase one. At about 3 minutes 40 the song appears to be drawing to a conclusion. And then guitarist John Squire takes over. For the next four-and-a-half minutes the listener learns several lessons: that the words ‘indie’ and ‘dance’ can indeed go together perfectly well, that Squire is really a very good guitarist and above all, that The Stone Roses, at their best, were near untouchable.

    The Stone Roses - I am the Resurrection

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    Member Bei Rongkun's Avatar
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    well, if you convert yourself to classical music, and listen to especially contemporer composers like Ligeti or Xenakis you will know there are wider world outside pop music.

  19. #19
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bei Rongkun View Post
    well, if you convert yourself to classical music
    Una idea brillante!

    I have been listening to some classical piano music and I must say, I love it.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

  20. #20
    Senior Member delia_k_00's Avatar
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    There's a whole world of music out there. Seek out music doesn't follow the formula if that is something that you want to do.
    There is always room to smile everyday. Alternatively, you can laugh yourself silly once a week.

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