All Posts Tagged Folk

[Land of Plenty (:10) VS Land of Quattro (:06)]

The bridge melody for American Authors' song Best Day of My Life (released March 19, 2013) bears resemblance to verse melody for The Beach Boys' classic In My Room (released October 28, 1963). While recorded in different keys (BDoML: D major; IMR: B major), vocal melodies for both songs share a similar rhythm (BDoML: one-two-and-three-four; IMR: one-two-three-four), and pitch contour (expressed in relative scale degrees, BDoML's diatonic melody: 1-1-1-2-1-3-3-3-4-3-5-5-5-6-5-3-2-1; IMR's diatonic melody: 1-1-2-1-3-3-4-3-5-5-6-4-5), as well as vocal harmonies. BDoML's production is also reminiscent of Imagine Dragons' It's Time (tempo, vocal effect, banjo and handclaps), and The Lumineers' Hey Ho. Best Day of My Life (2:06) VS In My Room (:35).

Written for the film The Bucket List, John Mayer's song Say (released November 20, 2007) bears mild resemblance to Steve Winwood's number one Adult Contemporary hit Back in the High Life Again (released June 1986). Similarities include: Say's ukulele part played at the opening and throughout, which sets the tone for the song in much the same way as BitHLA's mandolin part, tempo (168 bpm vs 169 bpm) drums (both songs feature a staggered beat with a military/march snare pattern). Likewise, the chords for Say (key: Bb) follow a I-IV-vi-V (or 1 - 4 - minor 6 - 5) progression, while BitHLA's (key: D) chords follow a I-IV-I-V (or 1 - 4 - 1 - 5) progression. Have a listen: Say (1:08) vs BitHLA (1:26).

In 1977, the Starland Vocal Band won a Grammy Award for "Best Arrangement for Voices" for its sexually-suggestive number-one single Afternoon Delight (released April 1976). SVB hailed from Washington, D.C. That same year, singer-songwriter Jason Mraz was born in nearby Virginia. Coincidence? The bridge to Mraz's love song I Won't Give Up (released January 3, 2012) features the same chord progression (2-5 or F#min7->Bmaj for IWGU, and Gmin7->Cmaj for AD), vocal melody, and harmony as the pre-chorus to Afternoon Delight. Compare IWGU (around 2:16) starting with the lines "I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily, I'm here to stay and make the difference I can make", to AD (around :27) with the line "When everything's a little clearer in the light of day." Hard not to picture Ron Burgundy's news team singing it!