The song The Pretender by Foo Fighters was released in 2007 in the U.S. It's very motivating and loud. The chorus, " What if I say I'm not like the others? What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays? You're the pretender. What if I say that I'll never surrender?" always really stood out to me. I had a habit of memorizing songs I enjoyed because we were too poor to afford mobile music-playing devices. During Bootcamp, I used to play this song in my head when times got tough.
Basic facts about the song and band:
The Pretender was written by David Grohl, who also did the vocals and rhythm guitar. He did not give away the song's meaning, as he prefers the listener to come out with their own interpretation. Grohl also founded Foo Fighters after his drumming role with Nirvana ended. Grohl is an excellent musician, and I recommend listening to his drumming work and observing his unique style. Grohl's drummer Taylor Hawkins is also very notable for his musical contribution and also did backup vocals. Chris Shiflett was on the lead guitar, and Nate Mendel was on the bass.
Form:
Intro- Verse1- Chorus- Verse 2- Chorus- Bridge- Chorus- Outro
The song starts with the intro. The intro is followed by verse 1. After verse 1, we transition into the chorus. Verse 2, after the first chorus, is much shorter. After that, another chorus, followed by the bridge, and another chorus with an outro. Something to note about form is the outro is just the intro played with the chorus. It ends with the last part of the bridge being repeated. What I like so much about this form is the focus on the chorus. It is one of my favorite parts, and this song has more chorus than anything else.
Dynamics:
According to Joe Hughes, "Momentum and now the third attribute, dynamics join forces. But what are these two forces creating? Tension!" (Hughes, alternative.net) I thought this was a really great way of putting it. The soft beginning with few instruments gives way to louder singing accompanied by a guitar. Halfway through verse 1, all the instruments are playing. This process is steadily building tension until the tension is released with the chorus. The chorus opens up with a hybrid of singing and yelling. This is something I've always enjoyed but only noticed now. The chorus is deafening and energetic. Rick Beato really gets into this in his video on it as well. The energy of the drummer, bass, vocals, and lead guitar increases intensity. At the end, Beato describes Grohl's voice as spitting nails. I agree; the way he yells the outro sounds extremely good and energetic.
Chords:
This song plays on 3 chords according to guitartabs.com of C, D, and F. These are simplified chords; I've also seen the Chords Am, F#m7-5, Fmaj, D/F#, F, G, D, and A5 According to https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/. Thank you, Jared Batin, for the comment; I would not have known otherwise. The intro starts off in arpeggio. The intro also includes a cool bend on the F#( Rick Beato, Youtube.com). After that, it gets hard to distinguish the instruments; at least one guitar sounds like it is still playing in arpeggio, with the rest playing in Chordal Accompaniment. It's incredibly challenging to tell the instruments apart, but maybe during the chorus, all the instruments are playing Chordal Accompaniment.
Tempo and Meter:
The song's tempo is presto, meaning very fast, at 172 bpm. The time signature is 4/4 (https://getsongbpm.com/). This fast-paced song really helps out with the dynamics of it as well. It's loud and tense, with the tempo assisting in that tension building.
Harmonies:
Rick Beatos shows that the vocals are often multiple vocals overlaying each other. There is a harmony vocal and a lead vocal, which contribute to the unique sound of the chorus. This was very interesting because it's hard to notice.
Final Thoughts:
Learning about or attempting to learn about these things reminds me of how little I know about this subject. I can't picture what the chords sound like; everything is new and alien. I'm happy I picked a piece with more information because I could never have figured out most of this. I always knew Grohl was a great musician; I'm surprised by how good he really is.
Awesome song choice and analysis! I agree on what you say about the dynamics on the song and how it builds tension until the chorus. I also agree on how energenic the chorus sounds due to the layering of instruments and vocals. I wanted to add that I think some of those chords are wrong. In the intro, I believe it consists of Am and variations of an Fmaj7 chord. In the verse, it is Am, D/F#, and F. In the chorus, it consists of power chords similar to the bass notes in the intro. Another song I like by the Foo Fighters is "Everlong". Heres the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crOZk88eCcg
Hey Orren, I can see why the lyrics from the chorus stood out to you; they’re deep. I’m glad you found comfort in this song when things would get hard. Nice details on your elements! I’m not normally into rock but there are some that are super catchy that I find myself jamming to!
I wanted to share that I found a mashup/cover that included one of the Foo Fighters songs called ‘Everlong’. Looks like Jared already mentioned that song, but I thought it was amazing how she combined these two songs as she played all the instruments. https://youtu.be/Gl9GtO_vQxw
Baba Yetu was written in 2005 for the game Civilization 4. In 2005 it would have been challenging to figure out the meaning of the lyrics. The song is meant to take a listener on a journey, and to experience this, the piece should be listened to before reading any analysis. Please take three and a half minutes to just listen to the song before reading further. "You took me out of my seat and somewhere" was Mel B's response when she heard this song on America's Got Talent. Let the music take you somewhere, and come back and read. (Soweto Gospel Choir) Introduction Baba Yetu was written in 2005 by Christopher Tin. It was performed by the Soweto Gospel Choir and became the first video game theme to win a Grammy in 2011(Mathias). It uses African percussion and rhythm in the song(Mathias). Baba Yetu means our father in Swahili (Baba- father, Yetu-Our), and the lyrics comprise the lord's prayer. This song is more than just a prayer. ...
Hi, everyone. My name is Orren, which is pronounced Or-ren. I am working on my associate of arts, and I'm hoping to get my bachelor's in history as well. For hobbies, I like playing games online with friends/family, studying Japanese, studying history, and learning. I enjoy watching documentaries about random obscure facts. As far as music goes for this music class, I enjoy most kinds of music. I come from a very musical family where everyone knows or used to know how to play at least one instrument. I don't typically listen to music as much as I used to, but that may change with this class. One thing I'm really hoping for is that everyone will post super interesting music that I can add to my library and listen to as well. I look forward to reading your blogs. As far as pictures I thought I'd post this picture I took outside of my old house in the fall at sunset. Its got this rustic beauty to it, with the color of the sky being the same as the c...
Awesome song choice and analysis! I agree on what you say about the dynamics on the song and how it builds tension until the chorus. I also agree on how energenic the chorus sounds due to the layering of instruments and vocals.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to add that I think some of those chords are wrong. In the intro, I believe it consists of Am and variations of an Fmaj7 chord. In the verse, it is Am, D/F#, and F. In the chorus, it consists of power chords similar to the bass notes in the intro.
Another song I like by the Foo Fighters is "Everlong". Heres the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crOZk88eCcg
Thank you. I'm still working on it and I was very unsure about what the cords meant when I read them.
DeleteHey Orren, I can see why the lyrics from the chorus stood out to you; they’re deep. I’m glad you found comfort in this song when things would get hard. Nice details on your elements! I’m not normally into rock but there are some that are super catchy that I find myself jamming to!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to share that I found a mashup/cover that included one of the Foo Fighters songs called ‘Everlong’. Looks like Jared already mentioned that song, but I thought it was amazing how she combined these two songs as she played all the instruments. https://youtu.be/Gl9GtO_vQxw
I love Everlong. It is my favorite foo fighters song. I thought this one would be more fun to analyze but I had a hard time choosing.
Delete