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Music that doesn't follow the verse-chorus form
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velixa
11-06-2013
I was wondering if we can list modern music (ie. 1950s onwards) that doesn't follow the standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle8-chorus or similar structure.

Hopefully looking to discover some interesting songs.

I'll start with the most famous: Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen.
glyn9799
11-06-2013
Two i can think of are
Girls Aloud - Biology. Its like 5 songs in one.
Kylie - Cant get you out of my head.
kryskrys
11-06-2013
Xenomania are well known for writing songs with unusual structures. I particularly like the ones where they only introduce the chorus in the second half of the song e.g. Biology and It's Magic (Girls Aloud) and Ace Reject (Sugababes).
Scraggy Taters
11-06-2013
Paranoid Android - Radiohead
Jesus Of Suburbia - GreenDay

Two more lengthy examples of songs that feature bits of different styles of song seamed together into one.
Zeb Atlas
11-06-2013
I would guess the two types of music to check out if you really want to get away from verse/chorus verse/chorus would be progressive rock or ambient music.

Try Pink Floyd's 70s output like Atom Heart Mother, Animals for a start.
cnbcwatcher
11-06-2013
Biology - Girls Aloud
All Fired Up - The Saturdays
tim18
11-06-2013
Black eyed peas- Boom boom pow
Soupietwist
11-06-2013
I could name hundreds however here is just one for now.

Mew - Cartoons and Macramé Wounds.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Dpty4_GIM
Canks
11-06-2013
Squeeze - Up The Junction. No chorus but still a great song.
spaceygal
11-06-2013
The Day Before You Came - Abba
Just about every Girls Aloud song (as others have said)
Citizen Erased - Muse (a lot of Muse's songs, actually)
Station To Station - David Bowie
Rat Trap - Boomtown Rats
Justify My Love - Madonna
I - Nicola Roberts
Drive - REM
spaceygal
11-06-2013
Originally Posted by Canks:
“Squeeze - Up The Junction. No chorus but still a great song.”

Nice to see Squeeze getting a mention on here. One of the best (and most underrated) bands ever, imo! I adore them.
cnbcwatcher
11-06-2013
Eternal Flame - The Bangles/Atomic Kitten. Always thought the structure of that song was a bit unusual.
barbeler
12-06-2013
Born Slippy - Underworld
Just Like Heaven - The Cure (cheats a bit by using the catchy guitar and keyboard motif line as the chorus)
Electra
12-06-2013
Virginia Plain - Roxy Music, is probably one of the earliest to chart. (1972)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEalg62F8Zg
spaceygal
12-06-2013
This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us - Sparks
Electra
12-06-2013
Originally Posted by spaceygal:
“This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us - Sparks”

It has a chorus


This town ain't big enough for the both of us
And it ain't me who's gonna leave
spaniel-lover
12-06-2013
One of my favourites: Who were you with in the moonlight by Dollar.
spaceygal
12-06-2013
Originally Posted by spaniel-lover:
“One of my favourites: Who were you with in the moonlight by Dollar.”

Oh yes, love that one. I loved Dollar in their earler days. Shooting Star was good too.
velixa
12-06-2013
Originally Posted by Zeb Atlas:
“I would guess the two types of music to check out if you really want to get away from verse/chorus verse/chorus would be progressive rock or ambient music.

Try Pink Floyd's 70s output like Atom Heart Mother, Animals for a start.”

Just listened to the album. All I can say is thank you.
HandsClean
12-06-2013
Dido - Thank You
Alanais Morissette - Univited
CLL Dodge
12-06-2013
Singles apart, Joy Division songs tend to be verse and more verse. The lyrics read like poetry, e.g.:

Procession moves on, the shouting is over,
Praise to the glory of loved ones now gone.
Talking aloud as they sit round their tables,
Scattering flowers washed down by the rain.
Stood by the gate at the foot of the garden,
Watching them pass like clouds in the sky,
Try to cry out in the heat of the moment,
Possessed by a fury that burns from inside.

Cry like a child, though these years make me older,
With children my time is so wastefully spent,
A burden to keep, though their inner communion,
Accept like a curse an unlucky deal.
Played by the gate at the foot of the garden,
My view stretches out from the fence to the wall,
No words could explain, no actions determine,
Just watching the trees and the leaves as they fall.
mgvsmith
12-06-2013
Originally Posted by velixa:
“I was wondering if we can list modern music (ie. 1950s onwards) that doesn't follow the standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle8-chorus or similar structure.

Hopefully looking to discover some interesting songs.

I'll start with the most famous: Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen.”

The first most famous song to depart from the form you suggest is 'A Day in the Life' by The Beatles.

Then there is a whole body of work by Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground that completely departs from these forms with songs like 'White Light, White Heat', 'What Goes On', 'Heroin' etc, etc

Or The Doors 'The End'...most early Roxy Music work is structured quite differently...'Mother of Pearl', 'In Every Dreamhome, a Heartache', 'Street Life'...

Listening back I find this older stuff much more edgy and boundary pressing than even Radiohead or Mew...
spaceygal
12-06-2013
Originally Posted by mgvsmith:
“The first most famous song to depart from the form you suggest is 'A Day in the Life' by The Beatles.

Then there is a whole body of work by Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground that completely departs from these forms with songs like 'White Light, White Heat', 'What Goes On', 'Heroin' etc, etc

Or The Doors 'The End'...most early Roxy Music work is structured quite differently...'Mother of Pearl', 'In Every Dreamhome, a Heartache', 'Street Life'...

Listening back I find this older stuff much more edgy and boundary pressing than even Radiohead or Mew...”

The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Dies was completely different from eveything else when it come in 66. No typical song strcuture and a driving drum and rhthym backing that has influenced various acts in recent years. It's brilliant. Especially that Chemical Brothers song Let Forever with Noel Gallager on drums. Completely like Tomorrow Never Knows
Eric_Blob
12-06-2013
Imma Be by the Black Eyed Peas.
mgvsmith
12-06-2013
Originally Posted by spaceygal:
“The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Dies was completely different from eveything else when it come in 66. No typical song strcuture and a driving drum and rhthym backing that has influenced various acts in recent years. It's brilliant. Especially that Chemical Brothers song Let Forever with Noel Gallager on drums. Completely like Tomorrow Never Knows”

I think that's 'Tomorrow Never Knows' from Revolver. (Tomorrow Never Dies is a James Bond movie! )
But the point is fair as it is an older song than 'A Day in the Life'. 'Tomorrow Never Knows' is clearly influenced by Indian Music and drugs but it is still an unconventional form.

I have always thought that 'A Day...' Is more famous and more influential but perhaps through time that is changing.
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