The Heart of Life
by John Mayer
album: Continuum (2006)
I hate to see you cry
Lying there in that position
There's things you need to hear
So turn off your tears
And listen
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No it won't all go the way
It should
But I know the heart of life is good
You know it's nothin new
Bad news never had good timing
Then the circle of your friends
Will defend the silver lining
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No it won't all go the way
It should
But the heart of life is good
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who is
Misunderstood
But the heart of life is good
I know its good
- electric rock instrumentation
- folk influences
- mild rhythmic syncopation
- major key tonality
- a breathy male lead vocalist
- electric rhythm guitars
- prominent percussion
- romantic lyrics
The Sound Of Settling
by Death Cab For Cutie
album: Transatlanticism (2003)
I've got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots;
that my tongue is tied off
My brain's repeating if you've got an impulse,
LET IT OUT!
but they never make it past my mouth
(Bop Ba...) This is the sound of settling
(Bop Ba, bop ba...)
(Bop Ba...) This is the sound of settling
(Bop Ba, bop ba...)
Our youth is fleeting, old age is just around the bend
and I can't wait to go gray
And I'll sit an wonder of every love that could have been
If I'd only thought of something charming to say
(Bop Ba...) This is the sound of settling
(Bop Ba, bop ba...)
(Bop Ba...) This is the sound of settling
(Bop Ba, bop ba...)
I've got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots
- electric rock instrumentation
- a vocal-centric aesthetic
- major key tonality
So Real
by Jeff Buckley
album: Grace (1994), Grace (Legacy Edition) (2004)
Love, let me sleep tonight on your couch
And remember the smell of the fabric
Of your simple city dress
Oh
That was so real
We walked around til the moon got full like a plate
The wind blew an invocation
And I fell asleep at the gate
And I never stepped on the cracks
'Cause I thought I'd hurt my mother
And I couldn't awake from the nightmare
That sucked me in and pulled me under
Pulled me under
Oh
That was so real
I love you
But I'm afraid to love you
I love you
But I'm afraid to love you
I'm afraid
Oh
That was so real
- electric rock instrumentation
- a subtle use of vocal harmony
- varying tempo and time signatures
- chromatic harmonic structure
- thru composed melodic style
- a vocal-centric aesthetic
- minor key tonality
- electric guitar riffs
- a breathy male lead vocalist
- abstract lyrics
Pretty Babies
by Dishwalla
album: Pet Your Friends (1995)
Everything about the world is sex
And it's a message, of popular culture
Telling all our children how to do it right
And all through their innocence you may ask yourself
why?
why the need?
why the need to eroticize our children?
Oh our pretty babies
How they're ready
Oh our pretty babies
Oh how they're not ready
Just down the street in beautiful
There is tension, for a popular child
And it doesn't get much worse than that
In little beds in little rooms
Are the lost things, are the silver spoons
Why the need?
Can't you see all the damage that it's doing?
Oh our pretty babies
Oh how they're ready
Oh our pretty babies
Oh how they're not ready
And does it bother you to see her
Wrapped up?
Why the need?
And why the need to eroticize our children?
Oh our pretty babies
Oh how they're ready
Oh our pretty babies
Oh how they're not ready
- hard rock roots
- great lyrics
- a subtle use of vocal harmony
- extensive vamping
- thru composed melodic style
- a clear focus on recording studio production
- mixed minor & major key tonality
- an electric guitar solo
- an emotional male lead vocal performance
- subtle use of acoustic piano
- heavy instrumental improvisation
Collide
by Howie Day
album: Stop All the World Now (2003)
The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you
Yeah
But I'm open, you're closed
Where I follow, you'll go
I worry I won't see your face
Light up again
Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find, you and I collide
I'm quiet, you know
You make a first impression
I've found I'm scared to know
I'm always on your mind
Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
You somehow find, you and I collide
Don't stop here
I've lost my place
I'm close behind
Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills your mind
You finally find, you and I collide
You finally find
You and I collide
You finally find
You and I collide
- basic rock song structures
- a subtle use of vocal harmony
- a vocal-centric aesthetic
- major key tonality
- acoustic rhythm guitars
- subtle use of strings
I just love finding out about stuff. Honestly, pandora.com is really neat. I mean I didn't realize that the songs that I love, all share some common elements. When they put it in writing somehow it all makes sense. Don't you just love technology?
[Will add more to this later]
