Twist and Shout!
Background: You have probably heard it said that you should never judge a book by its cover. As a listener, it can be fun, prior to listening, to judge a song by its title and guess where the song will go, based what it’s called. It can be even more fun to be surprised by where it actually goes. There are many ways to put twists into your songs, some of which we will discuss in a future blog. These twists make the listener’s ears perk up upon realizing the song isn’t going where we thought it would. For purposes of this blog, we will take a look at songs that add a twist at the end, and how they transform the songs from okay to great.
1. “Everything You Want” by Vertical Horizon
Lyrically: The title track to Vertical Horizon’s 1999 album tells the story of a person down on her luck, from the perspective of a man who watches her kicking a good man to the curb. The verses lament her inability to see something good when it’s in front of her, with the first verse using lines like, “You never did get it, unless you were fed it. Now you are here and you don’t know why,” while the second verse contains one of my favorite lines, “There’s always another wound to discover. There’s always something more you wish he would say.” The chorus then says that despite what she’s doing, the man in is “everything you want.” The bridge (which is probably the second one, after the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way,” that made me pay attention to bridges), says, “You’ll just sit tight and watch it unwind, it’s only what you waited for.” The last verse then closely mirrors the first, before diving into the chorus again. Then, the twist comes in during the last chorus. The “he” talked about throughout the whole song turns into a “I,” when the narrator says, “I am everything you want, I am everything you need.” I’ve written plenty of songs that say, “I’ve done this for you, how could you not appreciate that?” But the fact that this is written from a point of caring for almost the entire song, with the twist at the end (revealing that the narrator is the one she’s taking for granted), builds up the tension and makes the song that much more dynamic.
Melodically: The song is written in A Dorian and uses the chords Am, Em, G/B, and C in the intro, a i, v, VII, II pattern, which gets played twice. The verses do the same thing, except instead of a C, they use a Cadd9, adding some flair to the III chord. The chorus uses Am, G, Em, D, Am, G, a i, VII, v, IV, i, vii pattern, which gets repeated three times, followed by Em, D, Am, G, Em, D, Am, Em, D, (which is a v, IV, i, VII, v, IV pattern, repeated twice), before ending on the C chord (the III). In between the first and second verse, the intro gets played again. The bridge uses Em, C, Em, D, C, a v, III, v, IV, III pattern, which gets played twice. Instrumentally, the song uses guitar (both electric and acoustic, and bass). In addition to the rhythm and lead guitar, there’s a guitar used with a heavily distorted guitar with a tremolo effect, prevalent in the background during and in between the verses. In addition, there are drums (played by future Doobie Brothers touring member, Ed Toth) and a pad of some sort in the background during the verses.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus, chorus structure. The first two verses have two stanzas each, while the last one has a singular stanza. The last chorus provides the aforementioned twist, revealing, “I am everything you want,” not the “he” that was alluded to during the rest of the song. In a later blog, we’ll talk about types of narration, which sometimes allows the singer to dip between first and third person, but this song would not have nearly the effect it does if the “He” was revealed to be “I” before the last chorus.
On a personal note, I grew up with this song. It came out when I was just shy of 7 years old, and I started writing songs at 8. Though I was obsessed with rhyming every line in my early days of writing, this, along with “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys are the first songs that made my ears perk up upon hearing a bridge (even though I didn’t know the name for it, at the time). It turned out to be a song that had a huge impact on my storytelling and my study of song structure. Even though many people who read this blog might be a little more experienced at songwriting, I hope this tune has the same impact on you that it did on me!
“Everything You Want” is embedded below.
2. “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes
Background: In an earlier blog, I talked about outdated visuals, and mentioned “(Escape) The Piña Colada Song” as one that had a surprise twist at the end. Coincidentally, the aside was part of an analysis on “Big Blue Note,” which also has a twist ending. I’m a firm believer in the idea that every song has at least one thing that makes it work, so let’s dive in! Before we do, I want to give a shoutout to my former student, Case, who once was able to come up with Rupert Holmes’ name within about two seconds after someone wondered out loud who sings this song.
Lyrically: As mentioned above, the song uses an outdated visual of a personal ad, that a frustrated married man comes across in the paper (also somewhat of an outdated visual). The ad says to write back, “If you like piña coladas, hate getting caught in the rain, aren’t into yoga, and have half a brain.” as well as if you “Like making love at midnight.” Each chorus is slightly different, with the second one listing off more things the narrator answering the ad provides for in a potential partner (such as not only not being into yoga, but being “into champagne”), as well as suggesting where to meet (“At a bar called O’Malley’s”). In the third verse, he meets up with the person who wrote the personal ad, and as it turned out, his wife, who he was growing tired of, was the one who wrote the personal ad, before revealing in the final chorus she never knew he liked all the things she was looking for in the personal ad, thus reviving their marriage.
In a previous blog, we talked about using the subjunctive in your writing, to express some doubt about a future event. The idea of a personal ad also uses the subjunctive through an appositive (I’m looking for a person that likes piña coladas), and the doubt that said person exists carries the song for the whole time. In writing for this blog, I tried to be very careful about surprise twists versus a natural progression of the story. However, this story could’ve easily ended with some random person he wound up with, who made him happier than his wife. Instead, the fact that the love he was looking for was right next to him all along, makes the song stand out. With that being said, don’t try this at home!
Melodically: The melodic hook for this song uses F, Am, G, and F. With the song written in C, this is a IV, vi, V, IV pattern. In the intro and verses, this progression is followed by Dm and C (the vii and the I), then G, Dm7, C, and Gm (V, ii, I, v). The second time the hook gets played, after the I chord, it goes to Em7, F, and C (a iii, IV, I pattern). The solo uses the same progression, played twice. Instrumentally, the song contains electric guitar (both rhythm and lead), as well as drums and bass.
Structurally: The song is a straightforward verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus format, with instrumental breaks in between all the choruses and verses. With the chorus changing slightly each time, it adds a little bit of variety, while still telling a story that has a coherent beginning, middle, and end.
“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” is linked below. Cut through all this red tape and have a listen for yourself!
3. “People Are Crazy” by Billy Currington
Lyrically: “People Are Crazy” tells the story of a man who is sitting at a bar talking to an older man and gaining the elder’s wisdom. Verse 1 utilizes small talk: “Politics, blonde and red-haired chicks, and habits we ain’t kicked.” The second verse continues on with the small talk, but mixes in some heavier topics as well, “I fought two wars, been married and divorced,” followed by one of my favorite lines, “What brings ya to Ohio? He said, ‘damned if I know.” The two people talking have very different life experiences, as revealed throughout the song, but at the end of each verse, the old man concludes, “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.” The writers of this song, Bobby Braddock and Troy Jones, came up with this line while trying to think of three things people could generally agree on. Jones came up with the initial idea for the hook, and Braddock came up with the twist at the end. The bridge has the narrator moving on with his life, and saying he never talked to the old man again. The third verse is where the twist comes in. While reading the paper one day, he sees the old man’s obituary, and in it, finds out the old man was a millionaire. If you don’t listen closely, you’ll miss the twist in the next part of the verse: “He left his fortune to some guy he barely knew. His kids were mad as hell, but me, I’m doin’ well.” Though it’s not directly stated, the implication is that he left his money to the narrator, the random guy he met in a bar, just to tick off his children. The narrator then stops by the old man’s grave (where he leaves a six pack), to thank the man, and ultimately concludes that “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.”
Melodically: The song is played on guitar with a capo on the fifth fret. It starts out with an intro of F, F, C, C, F, C, C, C (a I, V, I, V pattern) while the verses use F, C, Dm, Bb, C, G, Am, F, C, G, Am, and F (a I, V, vi, IV, V, II, iii, I, V, II, iii, I pattern). The hook uses a F, C, F, C (I, V) pattern. The bridge uses Bb, Am, Gbm, and C (a IV, vi, ii, V pattern)
Overall, the song is written in the key of F. Musically, the song contains steel guitar, acoustic and electric guitar, as well as bass and drums. In the third verse, a piano can be heard throughout.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, verse, bridge, verse format. At the end of the verse comes the aforementioned hook, “God is great, beer is good, people are crazy,” which gets sung three times at the end of the last verse. In a previous blog, I talked about “story songs” and “example songs,” as well as hybrid songs. This would fall into a hybrid songs category, given its simplicity, and the fact that it tells about the night the two of them had. The simplicity, though, makes us think this is going to be just an example song, as to all the ways “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy,” so the twist that comes in at the end really does get you as a listener. In fact, the first few times I listened, I just thought he laughed it off when the old man gave an almost complete stranger all his money. It took a couple more to realize the narrator was the guy he barely knew.
God is great, beer is good, and “People Are Crazy” is embedded below.
4. “The Waitress” by Atmosphere
Lyrically: “The Waitress” weaves a tale of a customer inside a restaurant, who gets treated horribly by the waitress who serves him every day. He tries to be empathetic with her, saying, “You’re angry with your life, you’re no stranger to the fight, I bet you hate every man that you date.” He later goes on to say that he “ain’t got the energy it takes for this relationship,” but also saying that if they can’t coexist, “Let’s just fake it.” The waitress, however, isn’t having it, and threatens to call the authorities if he does not leave the restaurant immediately. He, however, says she’s the only one who ever acknowledges his existence, and although she vilifies him when he’s there, she notices it more when he’s gone. The song clocks in at 3:00, and it’s not until around the 2:30 mark (and the last line of the song), that he says, “And I realize, damn, I should’ve been a better father to my daughter,” his daughter being the waitress that hates his guts for abandoning her.
Melodically/Structurally: “The Waitress” is built around a turntable beat, a flute, bass, and electric guitar. A piano can also be heard during the intro and outro. It is written in C#/Db and uses a progression of C#m, G#m, E, A7, A, and C#m (a i, v, III, VII, i pattern) throughout the song. Structurally, it functions as a stream of consciousness, sort of one big long verse. This is common within the rap genre, but would fit these lyrics well, regardless of genre, as the narrator is a complete mess, desperately vying for the love of his daughter that he never gave.
“The Waitress” is embedded below.
