Fallin - Alicia Keys + early mission statement

Rusty's waltz wednesday presents: Fallin', by Alicia Keys

I took a pedagogical week off waltz wednesday, and feel more refreshed than ever.

Now, I think most readers would agree that this isn't just a space for me to nerd out on old-time waltzes. Yes, I have posted a few, but I've purposely tried to profile songs that are within our collective pop culture consciousness.

I didn't really have a mission statement when I started posting songs for waltz wednesday, but as I keep wracking my brain and music library for waltz-form songs, I think I've developed my idea. Maybe one week I'll write a formal mission statement, but until then, know that I'm interested in showing the versatility of the waltz as a song form, with a special emphasis on popular music.

Also know that all the songs here are chosen organically - I've made it a habit of whenever I listen to music on a portable device, home computer, TV, or radio, or even when I listen to music without providing consent - restaurants, cafés, bars, or kids who inexplicably use their phones as boomboxes instead of using earphones - to immediately identify whether it's in waltz form, and note it down if it's interesting to me. I do not go through online lists of waltzes, and I would ask anyone recommending a waltz to use the same process!

Alright without further ado, waltz wednesday's song:

Alicia Keys:

This song was Alicia Keys' break-out hit: I remember pretending to not like it in high school, but really, who was I kidding. She wrote and produced it, putting her skills on display as a fine musical artist. I never knew it, but it makes sense that she graduated valedictorian at New York city's Professional Performing Arts School; it even looks like she skipped a grade or two since she graduated at age 16.

The song:

IDK if you guys remember, but this song was the shit. It was released in April of 2001, and stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 34 weeks, peaking at #1. Somehow it placed second behind Lifehouse's "Hanging by a Moment" for the year-end top-100 chart. I mean I'm trying to make this blog a safe space for all music tastes, but is "Hanging by a Moment" ever bad. In any case, it's trivial, since everbody remembers Fallin', and nobody remembers that other song.

The song alternates between two chords - if it's good enough for Miles Davis, it's good enough for Alicia Keys. There are some nice vocals to listen to, like her voice modulation at about a minute in, or the way she plays with rhythm at the end of the second verse. As the song progresses, more and more layers of sound are added on - harmonies, Alicia's vocal improvisations on the melody, strings, more cymbals on the drums, etc.

This is the first song in the hip-hop sphere of things. Don't think I haven't been trying to find more, but I just can't. Frankly, the entire genre's unwavering loyalty to the 4/4-multiple time is disappointing, and smacks of a lack of creativity or willingness to take risks.

On that note, I'm going to embed the original song first, followed by a remix that they completely changed to 4/4. It's a good study in what a waltz is/isn't, if it - understandably - isn't entirely clear.
The genuine article:

And now in 4/4 because, for some reason, Busta Rhymes couldn't figure out how to rap in a 3-multiple time signature..? Weak.

...and for good measure, Sarah's favorite Alicia Keys' video, featuring the rapper Mos Def:

...and my all-time favorite Alicia Keys song, featuring Lucas from one-tree-hill, and an actress from the Wire? Seriously this is one of my favorite songs of all time:

REM - Everybody Hurts

Rusty's waltz wednesday presents: Everybody Hurts, by REM

Wellsir, it's the week after valentine's day. I was having a movie night with myself last friday when I decided to watch The Dictator. It was pretty hilarious, especially the bit in the helicopter when they're yelling at each other in arabic (that's actually hebrew), I literally died from laughter, and am writing from beyond the grave.

The point is that "Everybody Hurts" - in Arabic - was on the soundtrack, and as soon as it started I jotted this song down on my notepad.

REM:

REM is one of those bands that I know I'll like when I get around to listening to them, but just haven't yet. They're credited with pioneering alt-rock, and its members were singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry. They've sold upwards of 85 million records worldwide, which is just staggering.

I hope to find another waltz by them when I start listening to their albums.

The song:

I'm going to talk about REM's own version of this song, even though I really like the arabic version.

Like last week's selection, this is another song that I had - perhaps again like you, dear reader? - only ever heard on TV, movies(, starbucks?). The song was first released in 1993, and made it pretty high on the charts, though not to number one.

I'm pretty sure the timing is in 6/8 here: each beat is tapped on the snare drum, and the fourth (of six!) beat always has a louder high-pitched "tock" sound.

The melody is really nice, Stipe's voice is set in a pretty high register, and he sings gently as the verse alternates between two chords (D and G). My favorite part of this song is when the piano steps down to the E-minor of the chorus and Stipes sings "don't let yourself go" for the first time. He kicks up the power behind his voice, and adds a waver to it that's more subtle than an overwrought vibrato.

As the song progresses, I confirmed that it was the first time I'd listened to this song, because I had no idea there was a bridge (2:23). Here, I find that his singing borrows from soul music, as he modulates his voice - like when he sings "don't throw your haa-ayyaa-aaaa-aand" (where he modulates on "hand").

The song ends with increased layering, and a pretty nice string arrangement - which Wikipedia tells me was written by Led Zepplin's John Paul Jones. All in all, it's a nice way to finish a pretty darn good song.

Don't forget to check out the Arabic version, and share this blog with your friends. If you're going to email it to anyone, I'd ask of you to please only type in allcaps with no punctuation, e.g. "CHECK OUT THIS BLOG ITS ABOUT WALTZES AN OFT NEGLECTED MUSICAL FORM TODAY LOVE GRANDAD"

I Aladeen this song...

Fifth post: Beach House's On the Sea

Rusty's waltz wednesday presents: On the Sea, by Beach House

Beach House, the band:

Beach house is a pop duo hailing from Baltimore, I really like them. I think people call their style "dream pop", which is pretty apt. Their songs tend to have strong vocal-driven melodies. Singer Victoria Legrand's voice soars above their tracks, and (to my ear) is augmented by effects that give it a fuzzy echo feel; it's all very dreamy. Guitarist Alex Scally picks out repetitive patterns on his electric guitar, and I think he uses some tremolo-like effect. It's all in very good taste.

The song:

True to our (post-modern) times, there's no obvious story to this song. It's the type of song where I've rarely paid attention to the lyrics. To my ear they help punctuate the melody, yet there's nothing in them that stand out, or bother me. Kind of like a good defensive defenceman in hockey: you don't notice him/her, but that's usually a good thing. Her vocals feature a (tasteful) sparing use of vibrato, and weaves in with Scally's guitar work.

Scally picks out lightly chorded triplets on his guitar which weave their way through the chord changes. Legrand uses a honky-tonk sound on her keyboard which drives the song along nicely. I really like the guitar solo at a minute-thirty-five which appears later in the song: Scally simply fast-picks out the melody to great effect.



Merry Christmas to all! May this song remind everyone of nice weather and long days to come (eventually...I hope).

Retroactive second post: 19/11/2014 - Friends

rsty's waltz wednesday presents: Beach Boys' Friends.

What to say... Genius Brian Wilson probably wrote every note on this, harmonies and weird musical breaks and bridges included. It bears the signature sound of his "pet sounds" era, among which my favorite is the barritone sax.

The break that starts at about 0:50 until the beginning of the second verse some twenty seconds later is my fave part. (‪#‎waltzwednesday‬)


This was my second - or third? - waltz wednesday post from facebook. I'll wait until zuckerberg et al. get a search function for my wall, and then we will know the answer.

Retroactive first post: 29/10/2014 - Pitseleh

rusty's waltz wednesdays presents:

Elliott Smith's Pitseleh. One of THREE(!!) waltzes off the album XO (one of which was nominated for an academy award for good will hunting). What other pop artist makes so many waltzes? idk man.

This song has it all: guitar work, honky tonk piano, creepy harmonies.

This was my first - or second? - rusty's waltz wednesday posting, from facebook.