Are there rules to what constitutes a good song, or a bad one for that matter? Can we pinpoint some things about rhyming, rhythm, or instrumentation, that we can come up with a theory? A set of rules that, if you abide them, you will come up with a good one? In a way, the course I have been doing these last couple of weeks was about that. The teacher, Mr. Pat Pattinson, took us step by step through elements of songwriting. He showed us the way to start from zero, all the way up to building the bridge of the song. The way I understood it, is that you take an idea you'd like to tell your audience about. You put down your main ideas and words about that subject, and make lists of rhyme words to them. You choose a simple melody, and define the key you will use. You balance the lines and melodies using the scale of the key, all the way up to the bridge, where a nice, odd tone, let's say a seventh, or nineth, will help you building tension towards the end.
Now, last Friday, we were just strumming away on this great song by Wilco, called Jesus Etc. I thought about it a little, and came up with the conclusion that this is an exemplary song if you lay it down next to Pat's lessons. Maybe we should pick a few of these ideas and see how they work, and if this is what make Jesus Etc. such a brilliant piece of work.
 |
| Jeff Tweedy |
Now, back to the song. As we have established that it wasn't meant to be an answer to 9/11 topics, and with Pattinson's theory in mind, we're looking for the central thing that got Tweedy started. When I take my own reference as to how to start a song, it might come as a chord and melody thing. You might find it in a jam session, riding your bike, or half asleep at night, but you found this melody and you try not to forget. And this is what I hear in this song. Tweedy had this simple idea with chords and looked around him for words to sing. Now an idea comes to mind. In april 2002 Dutch TV station VPRO made a portrait of Jeff Tweedy, filmed in his home town Chigaco, his house, his studio. I remember vividly how he was going to play a song from his newly released album, but was distracted by his children calling out for him from the house. This scene makes it easier to envisage where his frst line 'Jesus, don't cry' comes from. He took it from his personal circumstances, and you can just see him saying these words to his children. Or, his wife? The next line is 'you can rely on me, honey.' I think we can establish the thought that the central idea, the first words, come from his day to day life.
So, now that we have a loose idea on what the song revolves around, let's think of rhyming. When you use 'cry', there are quite a few words that go along with that, and Tweedy uses them scrupulously. He uses 'rely', 'combine', 'right', and that is just the first verse. Let's note that not just the end rhyme is important, it is the \ai\ sound. Other rhyme words from the first verse are 'around', and 'about', and, what I really like, the alliteration 'setting sun', combined with 'each one'.
In the chorus, we can also see that Tweedy uses some nice rhyming. Again, alliterations like: 'shake' and 'singing sad, sad songs'. He makes 'cheeks', rhyme with 'melodies', and to bind the lines together, the first line ends with 'chords', and in the second uses the word 'orbit', which I think is not very in your face, but tights the chorus together with the \ɔː\ sound.
Finally, I'd like to take a look at the bridge. If we play close attention to what Pat Pattinson has to say about it, the bridge is something like an alternative tune, within the tone of the song itself. Now Caspar, as an autodidact, is not an expert on the tonality of songs. But if you play the song in Dm, I do believe that all chords used are in the Dm scale. So, almost as if Tweedy listened to Pattinson, or the other way around, if we realize that the bridge starts with the 6th note of the Dm scale, that is, a A#. And Pattinson is right: it gives the bridge a beautyful openness, as if the sun breaks through dark clouds for a moment.
Again, if the text comes from Tweedy's personal circumstances at the moment, I think that all falls into place. From the one hand Tweedy is a bit annoyed about his kids, and family. I mean, the word Jesus from the title says something. But also a phrase like 'voices escape singing sad, sad songs' doesn't portray a happy fellow. At the same time, from what I believe, he understands the beauty of your own kids when it seems like he says to his wife: 'you're right about the stars, each one is a setting sun.' So, after all, Wilco's song Jesus Etc. is indeed exemplary of Pat Pattinson's theory, and it does work: it is one the strongest songs of this century's first decade!!
PS. In this blog Caspar took the liberty to explain someone else's lyrics. He could be wrong about that. I mean, especially about this song, it is not the first attempt, or quarrel, and also, by definition, some of these explanations are wrong. I hope you don't mind, though, personally I would like it a lot if someone took one of my own songs and shed his, or her, light on it. For me, that would enrich the song, even though it might be about other stuff then I envisaged. Anyone?
psps. oh yeah, here is the song itself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVC1k9x2Ryw
No comments:
Post a Comment