So awhile ago, in a moment of sickness, I Got All Creative and had a fun time at home one work day whilst feeling very sick. The best thing about the Fundamentals of Music website was the it taught the basics of music, keys, tones, scales etc.
Well, now I’m in Noumea with some time on my hands, so I’ve been working through the Fundamentals website more intensively. I’m now up to learning about the Structure of a Song.
I’ve forever been a long time Split Enz, Crowded House, everything Neil Finn fan, so I thought I would see if I can deconstruct one of, what I think, is Neil’s most moving songs to see if I can understand why I find it so moving, and what (for me) makes this song and its structure work so well.
I’ve sent Neil’s website a link to this posting. Hopefully, he’ll let me keep it up. But also hopefully that he’ll might respond and venture some context around the song: why he wrote it, what was he hoping for it to say, and how much of what I’ve taken from it below is true / false or complete bollocks.
Or he might be busy. 🙂
Anyway, here’s my take.
Message to my Girl breakdown
Artist: Split Enz
Writer: Neil Finn
URL: https://www.neilfinn.com/videos/split-enz
Lyrics: https://www.neilfinn.com/message-to-my-girl
Overview:
This song works because Neil is musically linking instruments and their parts to other instruments at the different parts of the song. For example, the drums at the start both establish the pace of the song, but also connect the start to the intro. The intro staccato piano connects with Neil’s lyrics in the first verse and the short words and tempo he sings with.
Lyrically, the song has a protagonist with his own point of view. You’re left in no doubt who is the “person” within the song. Neil is singing from the partner to the “girl’s” perspective, as this person moves from being “outside”, to “into”, and from there into “within” a relationship with the object of their attraction, each time moving from less scared to more certain in confidence. Its got a timeline: the lyrics moves from the outside of the relationship to inside, and then to feeling of being “together”. Its sequential lyrically.
All the elements of a story here within this song: it has a protagonist (the individual), an antagonistic (their fears), complication (expressing outwardly their inner feelings and fears), a solution (they get together), and an ending (an anthem celebration).
Minor key?
I’m less sure about this, but is this song played in minor keys – the song is “sad”.
Why is the song sad? Neil’s earlier hit, “I Got You” pivoted around the word “frightened”. Is there a “cognitive dissonance” thing here. This is a love song, but sung in a sad key? “I’ve got you” is a song that is about being in a relationship, with the singer is full of vulnerability?
Does a great song need to twist between happy/sad, or empowering and yet vulnerable? Mull this over.
Song breakdown
1. Solo drums
Duration: 2 bar
Notable Effects:
Sets the casual laid back pace of the song, and empty sound.
The drums carry on into verse 1 as a “link”, and in the intro they drop in volume (~80% of this bit?)
Starts: 0 secs
ends: 4 secs
2. Intro
Duration: 8 bar
Notable Effects:
a. Lush Heavy piano comes in sets the main melody which becomes the backbone of the song. Its the “hook”.
b. Bass is active, lots of quick notes.
c. There are two sets of chords:
1. A flute like sound which plays long notes. This has the stronger sound in this stage
2. The piano, playing quicker notes in the background, around the long notes. They’ve got their own quick beat. Is it like the bass? No not at all.
The piano “staccato chords” carry on into verse 1. Is that a “link”?
Starts: 4 secs
ends: 23 secs
3. Verse 1
Duration: 20 bars in total
Notable Effects:
a. Is that a scale change every 4 beats? Moving between major and minor? No, not major and minor. Minor and something else equally “sad”. Is it a key change moving between minor keys?
Bars 1 – 4: High keys established in the intro. Now, Neil’s sing is doing that stacato thing which the piano is doing. The piano is “linked” to the voice. They reinforce each other.
Bars 4 – 8: Low key with a completely new set of chord notes. Is it like the flute sounds in 2.c.1? It might be an extension of the tones. ITS 1-5-6-4!
Bars 9 – 12:- High key established in the intro. Rinse and repeat. Now the bass player has a couple of notes of play.
Bars 13 – 16: – Low key. Rinse and repeat.
Starts: 23 secs
ends: 59 secs
4: Transition into Chorus
Duration: 2 bar
Notable Effects:
Starts: 59 secs
ends: 1:03 secs
5. Chorus
Duration: 8 bar
Notable Effects:
a. We’re back into the high keys.
b. The instrument complexity has increased. The flute sound from the intro is back doing the chords. We’ve now got some “slappy bass” together with the existing bass line.
c. This is the promise the protagonist has made to the girl: no more empty self-possession, that’s more than a new years resolution. Its more than that. This is the promise he’s made to the girl.
c. Still no guitar.
Starts: 1:04 secs
ends: 1:23 secs
6. Verse 2
Bars 1 – 4: High key
Bars 4 – 8: Low key
Rinse and repeat of Verse 1 musically. This is a cut-down versus – no where near as long and complex as verse 1. There’s a different story happening in the lyrics. Verse 1 is about meeting a girl. Neil doesn’t want to say he loves her. That would give away too much. Now, in verse 2, he’s warm in and lovers embrace and no one else can touch us while they’re in this place.
We’ve moved from outside to inside the relationship, into in, and he’s secure. The word can got to shit for the protagonist. Something’s happened in between, but for the song, it didn’t matter. The main emotional bit of outside the relationship and inside the relationship have been established.
Almost “job done” and the same with this verse, hence, its short. Neil’s lyrics have “tied a bow” on it. Relationship established and sealed.
Starts: 1:23 secs
ends: 1:41 secs
7. Transition to Chorus
Duration: 2 bars
Starts: 1:41 secs
ends: 1:44 secs
8. Chorus
Duration: 8 bars
Starts: 1:44 secs
ends: 2:04 secs
9. Instrument break:
Duration: 8 bars
Slamming home the hook. What’s the importance in the vocals? Is this the protagonist happily “singing” because his life is so good? no guitar.
Starts: 2:04 secs
ends: 2:21 secs
Slamming home the hook. What’s the importance in the vocals? Is this the protagonist happily “singing” because his life is so good? Still no guitar.
10. Singing transition to Chorus
4 bars
Notable Effects:
Neil’s “announcing” his commitment. He’s slapping his lyrical message home.
Starts: 2:21 secs
ends: 2:30 secs
11. Chorus
16 bars
Notable Effects:
a. Guitar for the first time! Its used for chords, not melody. It creates an hard guitar sound creates and edgy anthem-feel to the song that lifts it from a story to a celebration of trumph about “in the relationship”.
b. The “slappy bass” is back on from “5.chorus”. We’re crescendo-ing.
Starts: 2:30 secs
ends: 3:08 secs
12. outro 1
8 bars
Notable Effects:
a. Cut back down to minimal. Guitar is out. Bass, piano and drums only. The song is picking up the emotional pieces.
Starts: 3:08 secs
ends: 3:26 secs
13. Outro 2
12 bars
Notable Effects:
a. Echo of the piano. Lots of “big empty room” reverb sound. The song’s over, and you’re listening to the band play “from the other room”, metaphorically.
Starts: 3:26 secs
ends: 3:55 secs