Dating Your Songs
Background: The publishing date for this blog is right around New Year’s Day. In honor of that, I thought I’d do a blog with songs that focus on the calendar. Obviously we want our songs to stand the test of time, so if we do use these dates in our lyrics, we must do them strategically. All of the songs we’ll look at do just that, and I hope they inspire you to do the same!
“December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Lyrically: This song was always going to be about a date, but was originally going to focus on the end of prohibition, which happened on December 5th, 1933. Instead, the song’s author, Bob Guadio, changed the song to be about his courtship of his future wife (and co-writer on this song), Judy Parker. The song begins with the exclamation of “Oh, what a night! Late December 1963,” before revealing the first meeting between strangers (“You know I didn’t even know her name, but I was never gonna be the same”). I mentioned at the top about the importance of not getting bogged down into details, while trying to write a relatable song. Although this was a relatively specific date (the month and the year being provided), the details in the verses are vague. Instead of saying, “We met at a Christmas party in December,” it focuses more on how the narrator felt after he met this woman. By focusing on the emotion behind the meeting, rather than the details surrounding the meeting, it makes the song more relatable.
Melodically: The song is written in Db, and is built around a piano riff, so the chords provided are based on that part. The intro and main riff (played throughout the verses) use Db, Gb, Ab, Db, Gb, Ab, Db, Gb (a I, IV, V, I, IV, V, I, V pattern), while the chorus uses Ebm7, Gb, Bbm, Ab, Ebm7, Gb, and Ab (a ii, IV, vi, V, ii, IV, V pattern). The instrumental interlude then uses Bbm, Eb, Bbm, and Eb (vi, II, vi, II) before the bridge comes in and uses Emb7, Fm, Gb, and Ab (ii, iii, IV, V). In the structure, I’ll talk a little more about this, but the transition from one part to another is so well done, and the melody helps with that quite a bit. In the verses, they start with the I and end with the V. In the chorus, they start with the ii and end with the V. The instrumental interlude starts on the vi and ends on the Ii, while bridge begins on the ii (note the minor chord instead of the major chord). However, the bridge ends on the V before going back to the I, which makes for a very smooth transition.
Structurally: The song follows a verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, verse, bridge format. Like “Stayin’ Alive,” the bridge is repeated at the end as the song fades out. For my money, this is one of the best crafted pop songs ever written, due to a combination of the structure, melody, and lyrics. The bridge and chorus provide a nice little break within the song, but the transition back into the main riff is absolutely flawless. Sometimes you transition from part to part by what you sing in the lyrics (like the pre-chorus ending on a cliffhanger that gets resolved in the chorus). We talked in an earlier blog about hybrid songs that use examples, while also telling a story, and that’s what this song does. Everything that happened can be summed up with “Oh what a night!” You can always count on the song returning to the piano riff, but it doesn’t feel like that riff gets tiresome at any point throughout the song. As a result, you can listen to this song in December, when it takes place, but it’s really a good song for all four seasons!
2. “Sometimes it Snows in April” by Prince
Lyrically: I can’t believe that it took me this long to fit a Prince song into one of my blogs, but this is one of my absolute favorites. The song was recorded for Prince’s Parade album, which was the soundtrack to his 1986 movie Under the Cherry Moon. The song deals with the heartache of losing Christopher Tracy, a friend of the narrator’s, discussing how unique Tracy was (including lines such as “Those kinds of cars don’t pass you every day.”) It then contrasts the beauty of springtime (“A time for lovers holding hands in the rain”) with the grief he is feeling over his loss, but then ultimately concludes with a message of hope (“Maybe he’s found an answer to the April snow. Maybe someday I’ll see my Tracy again.”) On a personal note, I often get texts from my mom in April when it snows, with the caption “Sometimes it snows in April.” Nobody enjoys getting snow in April, but the use of this phrase in the grieving process is melancholy, while still coming to a state of acceptance. It’s just a gorgeous song. Eerily, it was recorded on April 21st, 1985, the same day that Prince died 31 years later. No matter what the conspiracy theorists out there say, there is no way that was intentional. But if you’re missing Prince like I do every day, it’s a good one to remember him with, both as an artist and as a person.
Melodically: The main instrument in the song is piano, so I’m thinking on that instrument, though they are the same on guitar. The intro uses Eadd9, F#7add11, Asus2#11, Eadd9, F#7add11, and Amaj9. The first two lines of the verse are Eadd9, F#7add11, and Amaj9 and the last two lines are Eadd9, F#7add11, Asus2#11 (so it’s the reverse of the intro). Verse 2, however, adds in the Asus2#11 before the Amaj9, and ends on the Asus2#11 instead of the Amaj9. Verse 3 sees all lines end on the Asus2#11 as well. The chorus uses Aadd9, E/G#, Aadd9, E/G#, Aadd9, G#7 F#7sus4, F#7, Aadd9, Bbsus2, Bsus2, F#7add11 Aadd9 E E6 E9. The bridge uses Eadd9, F#7add11, Asus2#11, Amaj9, E, F#7add11, Amaj9, Asus2#11, Eadd9, F#7add11, Asus2#11, Aadd9, and Eadd9, F#7add11, Aadd9. The coda uses F#7add11, Aadd9, and E, played twice. Prince sings on the track, while Wendy Melvoin plays acoustic guitar and provides background vocals. Lisa Coleman plays piano and provides background vocals as well.
Structurally: The song follows an intro, verse, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, verse, coda format. The coda repeats the last line of the chorus (except it uses “and” instead of “but”), and ends with the line, “And love isn’t love until it’s passed.” Many times, a movie will use accidental music, which is music in the background that does not relate to the story and is not heard by the character. In this case, since Prince had creative control over the movie (rather than just being commissioned to do a soundtrack), the structure of the song lends itself well to the overall story of Under the Cherry Moon, and therefore is more in depth than your typical background movie music. The structure of the song allows for a story to be told, rather than just being in the background.
“Sometimes it Snows in April” is embedded below.
3. “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure
Lyrically: There are many songs (usually within the country music genre) about working hard all week and putting up with all the things that come with it, all so that you can have a good time on Friday. The beauty of those songs is that they’re easy for us as listeners to relate to. The downside to those songs is usually the people singing those songs can’t relate to them at all. As I talked about with my analysis of “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”, the vagueness is what makes this song work. Nobody likes a Monday–that’s well established in many songs, like “Manic Monday,” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.” The rest of the week tends to drag, so that by the time Thursday comes around, all you’re thinking about is Friday, and you don’t care about anything or anyone else. By the time Friday rolls around, the rest of the week is irrelevant because you’re in love and presumably get to see the person you’re in love with. Similar to “Manic Monday,” which I referenced earlier, the only time life gets better for the person singing is when romance gets put on the table. In the former, this doesn’t come in until the bridge. In The Cure song, it’s the whole premise!
Melodically: The verses use D, G, D, A, Bm, G, D, and A, while the chorus uses G, A, Bm, G, D, and A. The interlude uses D, G, D, A, Bm, G, D, and A. The bridge utilizes Bm, C, D,A, Bm, C D, A, Bm, C, D, Am, B, C, D, and A. The song’s main instrument is electric guitar, but also utilizes acoustic guitar, bass, a six string bass, drums, and keyboards. The song is written in D.
Structurally: Although the song has a chorus and bridge, it is mainly built around the verses, talking about all the things he has to go through before getting to Friday. All the verses follow the same structure, but the things that happen to him are slightly different every time he sings it. With the right instrumentation and phrasing, you can make any part of the song the most memorable, even if it’s not the chorus or hook. Welcome to songwriting: where the rules don’t matter and the points are made up!
“Friday I’m in Love” is embedded below, as is a Robert Smith calendar, for your reference.
4. “Sunny Sunday” by Joni Mitchell
Lyrically: A lot of the songs I was looking at for this blog had something positive about them, like “Saturday in the Park” by Chicago. This song contrasts what you’d think would happen in a song with this title, and is about a woman who is depressed, feeling like she can’t do anything right, and feels trapped. To the first thing I mentioned, she views the sunny Sunday as one just like any other, so she pulls the shades. She’s hoping for just one thing to go right in her life, so she points a gun at the streetlight, lit up at night. She figures if she can shoot out the light in the street, that’s one thing she will have done right today, and can continue living. She misses, but her fate is left unknown in the song, which is an added bit of powerfulness. In listening to this song, I am reminded of the Martin Luther King quote, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” But as we saw when we looked at Mitchell’s “River,” depression does not make it quite so simple. You may long for something better, but sometimes if you can’t achieve it, you want to take out everyone else’s happiness (the streetlight, in this particular case).
Melodically: She uses C#, A, and B (a I, VI, VII pattern). The song is written in C#. The guitar is backed with a keyboard, both of which were played by Joni. Wayne Shorter (who sadly passed away in March of 2023), plays saxophone on the track, with drums played by Jim Keltner (a fabulous session musician who played on songs such as “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan and “Josie” by Steely Dan).
Structurally: The song only contains one verse, with everything happening quickly within the short song. As I stated earlier, the simplicity and vagueness of the story makes the song work, and therefore a long drawn out song with tons of verses (such as “Tangled Up in Blue,”) would have made it a completely different song.
“Sunny Sunday” is embedded below.
