Finding the Rhythm

As I was preparing my morning coffee this morning, as usual, I was listening to iDanceRadio.fm. (I don’t have a choice; it broadcasts to every radio in the house that’s turned-on over an ultra low power FM transmitter. Don’t ask; yes, I’m a geek, we knew that already.) The song that was playing, Madison Park and Monodeluxe with Come Out And Play, is one I feel like I’ve heard about 10,000 times, and I wanted to throw the radio in the neighbor’s yard.

I have nothing against the song itself, or Madison Park, I want to be clear. I love DeAnna Cool’s smooth vocals, and I’ve been a fan for years. But there’s just something about her singing, “Why don’t you play with me, under my apple tree,” that after so many plays just grates on my last nerve. I want to go cut her apple tree down and burn it at this point, which in a way is pretty disappointing, because I still think it’s  a groovy song.

But it got me thinking… Why does it seem like some song get so old, so quickly? Prematurely, even? While others seems to last and last. Here’s my list, and I may add to this post later if other ideas occur to me. Feel free to comment and let me know what you think it is, and I’ll do a new post to revisit this subject later on.

1. Lyrical Variety or Complexity
   First, I listen to lyrics, as I like to sing along to songs a lot of times. I know that not everyone does (like my friend Bobby, who says he never pays attention to the lyrics at all). So for some, this might not matter, but for me, if a song has complex lyrics—I don’t know how better to explain it, but basically more than just a couple of verses or a chorus repeated over and over—it seems to hold better.

   Notable exceptions: Filo & Peri’s Anthem, which in some of the mixes is quite redundant, and Ferry Corsten’s epic Fire where Simon LeBon sings the same small block of lyric over and over. And over. An exception to every rule, I guess.

   But if DeAnna Cool didn’t sing about her apple tree about 15 times in a single track, it probably would have lasted longer for me.

2. Lack of Novelty
   Novelty songs, or songs with a novelty angle, get tired fast for me. Sally Jaxx’s take on 9 to 5 which I blogged about for other reasons a good 18 months ago, is an example of this for me, because it’s a remake that is incredibly close to the original to the point that it sounds like a remix of the original, and not a remake. And hearing something like 9 to 5 remixed is pretty novel to me.

   Some novelty songs don’t even get off the ground for me in the first place, like amberRose Marie’s Wanna Be a DJ which I mentioned earlier this week.

   The “novelty” moniker is subjective, I suppose, but if a song is intended to be “cutesie” or silly, or maybe is even if it’s not intended to be but comes across that way, it won’t last long.

3. Sonic Complexity
   This is probably the biggest single reason why some songs last and last… I’ve often called this “ear candy” because it describes anything that lets your ear go for a little ride.

   This complexity can be done any number of ways. If I was talking jazz piano, it’s often achieved with complex, rich chords and chord progressions. With electronic music, it’s usually sophisticated production with layer after layer of synth action, rich percussion, clever use of patches, clever use of filtering, and/or a very defined rises and falls in energy level that give a feeling of anticipation and fulfillment.

   It’s not an easy thing to do, and frankly, it’s also what separates an “OK” dance track from a “WOW!!” dance track, and the aforementioned Filo & Peri and Ferry Corsten tracks are good examples of this.

   But when a track manages to achieve that complexity, it takes time for it to become familiar, because you keep hearing something new every time you listen to it. I really like songs (or more accurately, I suppose, mixes) that manage to achieve that, and moreover, knowing how difficult it is to achieve it, I appreciate the sheer artistry and craftsmanship that went into it.

So, what did I miss? What do you think gives a track an extended life, vs. those that are tiresome in a week? It’s fascinating for music nuts to ponder in any case.