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Music that doesn't follow the verse-chorus form |
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#1 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 432
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Music that doesn't follow the verse-chorus form
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. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 7,303
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Two i can think of are
Girls Aloud - Biology. Its like 5 songs in one. Kylie - Cant get you out of my head. |
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#3 |
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 3,224
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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).
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 3,104
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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. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,173
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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. |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: At college, in L.A.'s office
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Biology - Girls Aloud
All Fired Up - The Saturdays |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 719
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Black eyed peas- Boom boom pow
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#8 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 781
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I could name hundreds however here is just one for now.
Mew - Cartoons and Macramé Wounds. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Dpty4_GIM |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: London
Posts: 426
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Squeeze - Up The Junction. No chorus but still a great song.
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#10 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,587
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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 |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Quote:
Squeeze - Up The Junction. No chorus but still a great song.
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#12 |
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: At college, in L.A.'s office
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Eternal Flame - The Bangles/Atomic Kitten. Always thought the structure of that song was a bit unusual.
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,708
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Born Slippy - Underworld
Just Like Heaven - The Cure (cheats a bit by using the catchy guitar and keyboard motif line as the chorus) |
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#14 |
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Guest
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 53,841
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Virginia Plain - Roxy Music, is probably one of the earliest to chart. (1972)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEalg62F8Zg |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us - Sparks
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#16 |
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Join Date: Nov 2004
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Quote:
This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us - Sparks
![]() This town ain't big enough for the both of us And it ain't me who's gonna leave |
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#17 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 4,117
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One of my favourites: Who were you with in the moonlight by Dollar.
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#18 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Quote:
One of my favourites: Who were you with in the moonlight by Dollar.
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#19 |
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Join Date: May 2012
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Quote:
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. |
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#20 |
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 695
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Dido - Thank You
Alanais Morissette - Univited |
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#21 |
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: The Green Hills of Earth
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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. |
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#22 |
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Belfast
Posts: 7,287
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Quote:
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. 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... |
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#23 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Quote:
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... |
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 7,124
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Imma Be by the Black Eyed Peas.
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Belfast
Posts: 7,287
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Quote:
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
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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