The Power of the Subjunctive Within Songs
The subjunctive tense is one of my favorite things to teach in the Spanish language. It expresses something that’s unsure to happen, and therefore causes some sort of tension within the unknown. In addition to talking about something with an unknown outcome, there is also a subject change – with what the second person does being a potential outcome. In song form, this is a great way to hook the listener. Some songs have a resolution by the last verse. But not knowing whether they will or not is great for the listener. We will look at four examples of songs that use the subjunctive tense and why they work.
1. “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick
Lyrically: This song uses the subjunctive tense because the listener’s desire (wanting you to want him) may not happen. But the joy of this song is seeing how excited the other person makes him and what he’ll do for them. This includes, shining his shoes, putting on a nice shirt, and getting home early from work to prove his love to this particular person. There is nothing in the lyrics indicating that his love interest will go for it, and that never gets resolved by the end of the song, which makes it more powerful.
Melodically: The song is written in A major; The intro uses A, G, D, and A which is borrowed from A mixolydian (the fifth relative mode of D major). The verses use an A, F#m, D, to A (or I vi IV I) progression all while an underlying bass line does a descending scale-wise walk down from A to A as the chords repeat. The main progression over the verses, the classic doo-wop progression. The chorus repeats A, E, F#m, D, to A (I V vi IV I) progression. The solo is played over the chorus.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, solo, outro format, with the outro being the first verse, sung to a broken down tempo. Each verse is lyrically the same, which works in the context of the subjunctive. This is what he wants, this is what he’ll do, but there’s absolutely no indication that his love interest will want the same. It’s not really a story song, it’s not really an example song, and it’s not really a hybrid of the two. It’s more of a call to action song.
“I Want You to Want Me” is embedded down below. I want you to like it.
2. “I Hope You Dance” by LeeAnn Womack
Lyrically: This song is all about wishing the best for the person you’re singing to (presumably a child of yours). The beauty of the use of subjunctive in this particular song is that although we haven’t seen the great things the kid will do (the metaphorical dance), there’s a strong desire that they’ll always choose to take chances and appreciate the little things in life. The beauty in this song is that despite that doubt, there’s no doubt that the narrator will love the person regardless, they just want nothing but the best for them.
On a personal note, this song always makes me think of my Spanish 3 students, because I used this as an example when we learned subjunctive. They’ve seen me dance and hope I don’t, but they still wish me the best.
Melodically: The song is written in B flat. On the guitar, it can be played with the capo on the third fret, and then play the chord shapes on the guitar as written below. The intro, played twice, uses Em, C, G, D, Em, C, and D, using a vi, IV, I, V, vi, IV, V pattern. The verses use G, Em, and D, which is a I, vi, V progression, and the chorus uses Em, C, G, and D. (vi, IV, I, V). The last verse uses Am, G/B, and C in the third line, going in a ii, I, IV progression.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus format. The last verse, in addition to the chord changes listed up above, is considerably shorter than the other verses, but it follows a similar format, in terms of how it’s sung, so I hesitate to call it a bridge. Similar to a song such as “Forever Young” by Bob Dylan, the structure of the song allows for the expression of success, while still staying youthful and intentional. Whether or not the people she’s singing about (presumably her children), actually “dance,” is left open, but the sweetness comes in the expression of that desire for them.
“I Hope You Dance” is embedded below. I hope you sit still and listen.
3. “When It Pleases You” by Dan Wilson
Lyrically: This song is about someone who treats the narrator as an option and not a priority. He can’t get her out of his head, but he asserts that she only calls when it pleases her. The use of the subjunctive tense in this song is especially haunting. He’s sitting around waiting on her to call, and he knows she’ll call when it pleases her, but he doesn’t ever know exactly when that will be. We hear this in the line, “I think of you at the strangest times, you keep me in the back of your mind.” The chorus admits some fault, saying, “I’ve been keeping it convenient for you to hold on loosely.” Though not subjunctive, one of my favorite lines in the song comes in the second verse: “I call you when I want to hear, my voice whisper in your voicemail’s ear.”
Melodically: This song’s main instrument is on piano, so the chords discussed are the piano chords, unless otherwise noted. It is written in A lydian. In the song, he uses the chords Am, Bb, and C for the intro (with the C played twice at the end of each line), a i, II, III pattern, while the verses use Am, Bb, and C for the first two lines (the same i, II, III pattern as the intro). The third line uses the same progression as the first two, but throws in a Dm (iv), before returning to the Am, Bb, C pattern from the beginning. In between the first and second verse, there is a musical interlude that uses Dm (iv), Dsus2 (iv), Dm (iv), Bb (II), and C (III), which gets played twice. The chorus uses G (VII), Bb (II), and F (VI), which gets played twice, before the third line, which switches to G (VII), Bb (II), and Am (I), then the chords for the last two lines of the chorus are Dm, Dsus2, Dm, Bb, F, Bb, and C, the same as the interlude, with the F thrown in there. The instrumental interlude between the third verse and last chorus uses the chords Bb, and C (the II and III chords), which gets played twice on guitar. In addition to the piano, there are drums, bass, and guitar, as well as a saxophone.
Structurally: This song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, solo, chorus format. Unlike the prior two songs we looked at, this song’s use of the subjunctive comes in because we as the listeners and Dan as the singer, do not know when it will please the other person to call him. As the song progresses, both lyrically and melodically, two things are becoming increasingly obvious: the desperation of the narrator and the lack of interest shown by his prospect. The tension of the solo, rather than adding new information with a bridge, adds to the suspense, as does ending with the chorus. You don’t know if he’ll stop putting up with her and you don’t know if she’ll finally call him and become his for good.
“When it Pleases You” is embedded below. Of note, Sara Watkins covered this song, after Dan Wilson wrote and recorded it for his 2014 album Love Without Fear. Both versions are included.
4. “If I Had a Million Dollars” by the Barenaked Ladies
Lyrically: In possibly one of the best uses of subjunctive in a song, this tune talks about what the band members would do, if they hypothetically had a million dollars. The appeal of this song is that not a whole lot would change about them, they’d just live in excess, like buying those pre-wrapped sausages, and lamenting the fact that they don’t have pre-wrapped bacon. These luxuries would include “(building) a tree fort in our yard,” “(buying) an exotic pet, like a llama or an emu,” and my personal favorite, “(buying) some art–a Picasso or a Garfunkel,” as well as taking a limousine to the store. Of course since this is all hypothetical, it triggers the subjunctive and allows the band to be more creative with their desires. In fact, if you ever get the chance to see the band live, they tend to improvise new lyrics. Of course the true motive behind having a million dollars is to buy someone’s love. Take that, The Beatles!
Melodically: The song is written in A maj. The intro uses a A, E, D, A pattern, which repeats through the verses. However, during the response portion of the song, it uses C maj and G maj. The chorus uses the same pattern, except the fourth and sixth lines of the chorus go to F and D. During the riffing after each chorus, they go back to the strumming pattern, with the last chorus ending on G maj. That one follows a pattern of C maj, D maj, G maj, Em, C maj. Before the last line, there’s a quick strumming pattern of G maj, D maj, Em, D maj, and C maj.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, verse, chorus, riffing, verse, verse, chorus, riffing, verse, verse, chorus format. The last chorus just repeats the phrase, “If I Had a Million Dollars” before concluding, “I’d be rich” (Keep in mind, this was true back when this song was released in 1992.) This is a list song, and for the sake of the listener, the things they’d buy with a million dollars changes with every verse and chorus. However, part of the joy of the song lies in the simplicity of things they want to buy and do with the money. Those things seem lavish to someone who does not have that kind of money, and that gives the song an added charm. So despite the changing lyrics of what they’d do with the money, we’re led to believe that they would have still been content with the stuff they bought and did in the first verse and chorus.
“If I Had a Million Dollars” is embedded below.
