one week one band

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       Ricochet

When Sondre Lerche’s self-titled album came out, I was living in New York on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I downloaded the album after I got home from work, put it on my iPod, and went for a walk. I needed to just walk around by myself and listen all the way through (I also did this when Red leaked last year and I walked around my college campus at 1am and cried). I remember stepping out of my building onto 106th street when the opening of “Ricochet” played. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were close”. It was very exciting to have new Sondre music, and opening up with an allusion to a Beach Boys song was almost more than I could take.

Sondre Lerche is possibly my least favorite SL record (we’ll talk more about that later this week), but “Ricochet” is one of his most beautiful songs. Today, I’m going to briefly discuss how I see his use of harmony in the song, and how his pastiche of musical clichés keeps this song concise and interesting as well as reflecting the character of the song.

“Ricochet” does not have a standard Verse/Chorus form. Instead, it strings together different chord progressions without one feeling more important than any other. Each of these sections is in D major, and uses different stock progressions and cadences to keep the feeling of D major very strong.

  

The opening is built from a standard IV-V-I chord progression. When it’s repeated, the I is replaced by a vi, making it a simple deceptive cadence. From there, though, this section gets more interesting. We move to a Gadd6 chord, which can be read as an E minor (ii) in first inversion. This moves to the iii chord. When this progression repeats, the F# minor is replaced by a G# half-diminished, which would imply a move to A, the V chord, but we descend back to Gadd6 instead, then to Em, then to tonic.

 

The next section begins on B minor, the relative minor of our key, D major. From B minor the bass moves chromatically down to A# for a D augmented chord, a typical chromatic descent from the vi chord. Normally, however, this would continue to the V chord. But here, Lerche inserts the leading tone chord of A first, the G# half-diminished, and then goes to A, the V chord. It is implied that this should lead back to tonic, but it first repeats the whole phrase, and then cadences properly to tonic for the next section.

 

In this third section, we begin again on tonic. This then moves to a major II chord, still keeping the tonic in the bass. Normally, a move like this would be followed by the V chord in first inversion, resolving the seventh of the II7 chord down to the third of the V chord, but here the V is played in root position. It is then altered to become a V augmented chord, leading back to tonic.

 

The fourth section feels the most different from the rest. This is mainly because the rhythm changes and the melody takes on more of a folky character, utilizing cliché pentatonic phrases, but also because of the introduction of a new note, C natural. The section begins on tonic and then goes to a D7 chord, turning tonic into the V7 of IV. This is followed by IV then resolves back to I. On the repeat, however, I7 is replaced by the minor v. Because of the inclusion of C natural, these chords function similarly. After the A minor, we move to IV, then ii, then I, which recalls the cadences in the second half of Section 1.

 

In the final section, during a wordless chorus, we get a circular four-chord progression. The bass moves in a simple ||:1-4-3-2:|| motion, emphasizing the D major scale. The chords above this move from I to iv to I in first inversion and then to ii. This then repeats as the song looses steam and fades out.

What’s particularly interesting about these simple chord progressions is how narrow it makes the harmonic scope of the song. Each section continues to emphasize D major, but by switching up the harmonic rhythm and by using different cadences, we don’t grow bored by this. Each use of an “out” chord is replicated somewhere else. The A# in Section 2 becomes the Bb of the G minor chord in Section 5. The G# in Sections 1 and 2 reappears as the major 3rd of the II7 chord is Section 3. And the C of the D7 chord in Section 5 is repurposed in the A minor chord of the same section. This gives the song a very concise feeling harmonically.


Most importantly, this emphasizes the lyrical themes. The song is about someone who is haunted by a past lover. Someone who wants to move on, but can’t. The narrator sings that, “Now and then you reappear/Out of nowhere/Like some ricochet” (HEY THAT’S THE NAME OF THE SONG!) This strong tie to D major reflects this feeling. For all the harmonic tricks he tries to pull, each progression inevitably ends up back at tonic. He tries different melodic contours or different rhythms, different cadences, but it always comes back to tonic. He “cannot turn this ship around”.

The Covers #1- Night and Day

I’ll be doing a series throughout the week looking at most of the covers SL has recorded in his career. We’ll be comparing Lerche’s version to the original or discussing why he may have chosen to record that particular song.

Written for the 1932 musical, The Gay Divorce, “Night And Day” has become one of Cole Porter’s most performed songs and one of the most celebrated songs in the American Songbook. It was first premiered on stage by Fred Astaire, whose recording of the song rose to number one on the charts and held the position for ten weeks. Popular recordings of the song have also been made by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Charlie Parker.

            My favorite version, though, is the 1934 Fred Astaire from The Gay Divorcee film (the Hays Code requested the name be changed for the film adaptation saying that, while a Divorcee could be gay, a divorce should not be). Part of the appeal in this version (shown above) is the dramatic power added by the narrative. This song, and specifically the captivating dance between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, represents a major turning point for the characters. As in most of Fred Astaire’s films (with Rogers or not), his character generally earns the trust of the girl through dance. This particular dance is especially powerful, and you can see Rogers slowly letting her guard down throughout the dance until the two truly become one during the final shout-chorus. I particularly enjoy how, stepping off at the end of the song, Astaire wipes his hands and offers Rogers a cigarette, just incase you didn’t pick up on the “dance as sex” metaphor. Another wonderful thing about this version is the way Astaire handles the intro. More so than any version I’ve heard, he makes a distinct difference in the way he sings when the chord changes. When he starts singing, “Like the drip, drip, drip of the rain drops…”, the harmonic center shifts up one half-step. The arrangement here changes, the tempo steadies, and his phrasing adds a hint of a swing to the eighth notes. I’ve always found that his phrasing here gives a more musical reasoning of the sudden change of harmony.

            Sondre Lerche recorded his version for the Duper Sessions, his third studio album, which focuses his sound through a jazz quartet. The album contains mostly original songs played in a mostly jazz style, and includes three covers. Two of these are covers of pop songs adapted into jazz idioms (Elvis Costello’s “Human Hands” and Prefab Sprout’s “Nightingales”, both of which will be discussed later this week), while the third is, of course, Cole Porter’s “Night And Day”. The choice to include these covers plays on two common jazz tropes. Instrumental jazz groups often reinterpret popular songs of the time (think John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things”), and jazz singers often sing songs from the American Songbook.

            What’s most interesting about his version of “Night And Day” is its arrangement. Instead of utilizing the jazz quartet arrangement featured on the rest of the album, this song, the only true jazz song on the album, is accompanied just by the guitar. Further, his guitar accompaniment is distinctly not-very-jazz. His chord voicings are most often standard-position barre chords and although, in the more intricate harmonic sections, he uses more detailed chords, for the most part he eschews the use of harmonic extensions like 7ths, 9ths, and others. 

I Cannot Let You Go

            I was first introduced to Sondre Lerche through a Prefab Sprout Facebook page. The page posted a YouTube link to this song saying, “Sondre Lerche’s ‘I Cannot Let You Go’: very Prefabesque”. When I heard the song, the similarity was unmistakable. In fact, this song was more than just “prefabesque”; it was a direct tribute to the band, featuring lyrical and musical allusions to Prefab Sprout songs.

            Most obvious is the song’s opening lyric, “With sleight of hand and force of will”. The Prefab Sprout song “Moving The River” contains the lyric, “So watch me hawkeyed, understand the force of will, the sleight of hand”. Though this is not a direct quote, the resemblance is apparent.

            Musically, the most direct allusion is the use of the female backing vocals, echoing Sondre on the hook, “I cannot let you go (let you go)”. After he sings “I cannot let you go”, a female vocal responds “let you go”, seemingly played by a sampling keyboard. On Prefab Sprout’s “Appetite”, a similar technique is used. When Paddy sings, “He talks so well”, a female voice echoes him, played through a sampling keyboard. In both songs, the melodic contour of the female voice is very similar, and each word is panned differently. The first note (“let” and “talks”, respectively) is panned left, the second (“you” and ”so”) is panned right, and the third is panned center. Although these responses happen at different parts of the measure, they both occur on strong beats and use the same rhythm. Below, I’ve provided a notation for both songs (“Appetite” has been transposed to match the key of “I Cannot Let You Go”)

 Example 1

 Less direct is the use of rhythm, particularly with the bass. Prefab Sprout’s Martin McAloon played very idiosyncratic, melodic bass lines. He would often play syncopated lines that avoided the downbeat. The bass work on “I Cannot Let You Go” is very similar. Below shows an example of the bass line in “I Cannot Let You Go” compared to the bass line of “Appetite”, which is again been transposed to match.

 Example 2 

Prefab Sprout is one of Sondre Lerche’s most discussed influences, and throughout this week, we’ll be looking more at their relationship, but “I Cannot Let You Go” remains his most “prefabesque” moment.

Sondre Lerche Slacker Radio Showcase

As I discussed in my first post, we’re going to be emphasizing Sondre Lerche’s influences this week, and what better way to start than with a playlist of songs designed by Sondre Lerche himself. A few years ago, he put out this Slacker Radio program, complete with songs by all different kinds of bands that have influenced him and his music. We get songs from Prefab Sprout, Elvis Costello, Kelis, Elliot Smith, Scott Walker, and a whole bunch of others. A lot of the songs have some nice commentary from SL, so this is a great glimpse into the music that he loves.

Sondre Lerche: The Norwegian Boy Wonder

Hey everyone!

This week, we’re going to talk about Sondre Lerche, which I’m extremely excited about. SL has been one of my favorite songwriters for a long time, right up there with Brian Wilson, Taylor Swift, and Paddy McAloon (remember that last name, ‘cause we’re gonna talk about him more). Although he has a sizable fanbase, I still meet tons of people who have never heard of him or his music, so I’m very grateful for the opportunity to share this with so many people.

One Week//One Band is a really great project, and I’ve loved watching how writers approach their weeks so differently. It not only reflects the diversity among music writers today, but it also emphasizes the diversity among the artists that we talk about. Certain bands or artists lend themselves better to different approaches. Ari Lipsitz brilliantly focused on audience reaction (undying love or horrified disdain) towards Muse, which was a perfect way to talk about that band that might not work for other bands. And Vikram Murthi approached Modest Mouse from a deeply personal place, which, again, worked well for that band in ways it might not for others. So when I started thinking about what I was going to do with this week, I thought mainly about what kind of approach him and his music lends itself to most.

What has always interested me about SL as a songwriter is the way he wears his influences on his sleeve. It is easy to hear Burt Bacharach, Cole Porter, Elvis Costello, Prefab Sprout, XTC, Antonio Jobim, or The High Llamas coursing through his melodies and chord structures and he often talks about these influences as well as recording covers and tributes to the artists he loves. But it always ends up sounding distinctly like Sondre Lerche.

In that way, I decided that my One Week//One Band can’t simply be constrained to ‘One Band’. In order to effectively talk about Sondre Lerche, we’re going to need to talk about these other songwriters. So, this week, I will:

  • Share my thoughts on how these artists have influenced SL’s music
  • Discuss his use of style, differentiating between semiotic allusion and true musical influence
  • Offering up a few harmonic and/or melodic analyses of some of his more interesting songs
  • Sharing an interview I did with him recently just for One Week//One Band!
  • Posting other miscellaneous pictures, videos, and tweets just for fun

So I’m sorry in advanced if I’m breaking the rules by sharing music by people other than Sondre Lerche, but I think if you stick with me on this, you’ll get some interesting things out of it! Or maybe you won’t, and you’ll hate everything I have to say, either way, I’m gonna have fun.

If you have any questions or thoughts or suggestions, send them my way!

(And again as a shameless plug, I have my own blog, I write for Dear Song In My Head, PopMatters, and Short and Sweet NYC. I also tweet) 

From a blog I used to keep where I posted lyrics to a song and wrote stuff in between them, related or not. This is from about a year ago. I wrote most of these posts intending for no one to ever read them. 

spiralringnotebook:

Joanna Newsom - Sadie

Sadie, white coat, you carry me home

And bury this bone and take this pine cone

I posted a quote recently where Joanna Newsom was expressing her frustration that she is so frequently described as an “elf” or “fairy.” Weak, nonhuman creatures. That’s not how I think of her at all. To me, she’s a harp-playing Goddess, ruling over beauty and knowledge. I am in awe of her power. 

Bury this bone to gnaw on it later
Gnawing on the telephone
Until then, we pray and suspend
The notion that these lives do never end


And all day long we talk about mercy
Lead me to water, Lord, I sure am thirsty
Down in the ditch where I nearly served you
Up in the clouds where he almost heard you

Insomnia is my greatest enemy. It really decreases how much I can enjoy my life. It also really sucks now that I can’t drink caffeine anymore, there’s no magic cure to make sleep deprivation feel a little less shitty. And I miss coffee, a lot. 

And all that we built and all that we breathed
And all that we spilt, or pulled up like weeds
Is piled up in back and it burns irrevocably
And we spoke up in turns ‘til the silence crept over me

Joanna Newsom is one of those artists that I can’t explain adequately to people. It’s funny and sad that so many people dismiss her without ever listening, because of what they’ve heard about her voice. There’s just so many layers to her music and they all work together perfectly. Her lyrics are truly as rich as any piece of literature, and she manages to make them part of insanely complex, gorgeous songs that I can not even begin to fathom writing.  

And bless you, and I deeply do
No longer resolute, oh and I call to you
But the water go so cold
And you do lose what you don’t hold

I swear to fucking god, I will NEVER be in a relationship on Facebook. 


This is an old song, these are old blues
And this is not my tune, but it’s mine to use
And the seabirds where the fear once grew
Will flock with a fury and they will bury what’d come for you

Just another day of alcohol-induced insomnia-induced zombiedom.


And down where I darn with the milk-eyed mender
You and I, and a love so tender
Stretched on a hoop where I stitched this adage:
“Bless our house and its heart so savage”

And all that I want, and all that I need
And all that I’ve got is scattered like seed
And all that I knew is moving away from me
And all that I know is blowing like tumbleweed

And the mealy worms in the brine will burn
In a salty pyre among the fauns and ferns
And the love we hold, and the love we spurn
Will never grow cold, only taciturn
And I’ll tell you tomorrow
Sadie, go on home now
And bless those who’ve sickened below
And bless us who have chosen so

I went to the Internet Week Opening Party last night. It felt like another world, one that doesn’t exist. And I don’t think it really does. How long can we really subsist off advertising and consuming?

And all that I’ve got and all that I need
I tie in a knot and I lay at your feet
And I have not forgot, but a silence crept over me
So dig up your bone, exhume your pine cone, my Sadie 

A Selection of SongMeanings Comments On The Song “Baby Birch” 


“I don’t think we are meant to take Joanna Newsom literally.

It’s not about about abortion, or babies, or at least I don’t think so.

It’s about God. It’s like we’ve forgotten and we’re on earth in this dream but Joanna remembers.

And her remembering is represented by the bunny, which she follows. Which is like a rediscovering of the magic underneath everything.

And God hasn’t actually left, we’ve just forgotten our true nature. And we need to remember, and carry the torch to our fellow humans who are trapped in the dream, and help them remember their true divinity. Below I have pasted a little bit about birch symbolism in celtic mythology:

This is a powerful metaphor for our lives. The birch asks us to philosophically go where no other will go (voluntarily or otherwise). The birch asks us to take root in new soils and light our lives with the majesty of our very presence. The birch sings to us: “Shine, take hold, express your creative expanse, light the way so that others may follow.”

Paradoxically, while the birch is a brilliant symbol of renewal, it is also symbolic of stability and structure. The druids also held the birch as the keepers of long-honored traditions.

Associated with the sun, the birch is a solar emblem, and facilitates passion, energy, as well as growth. This solar association is paralleled when we learn the druids carried birch bark with them as kindling. Birch serves as a perfect igniter as it will start to burn even when damp. This makes it a prized fire starter over most other wood types.

Here again, this makes for a perfect analogy. The birch asks us to serve our fellow man with a fire in our hearts. In this respect, the birch reminds us that even if our spirits are dampened by the set backs in life, we can always catch fire from the spark of passions that drive us to divinity.”

 

“She’s singing about pet animals and skinning rabbits. She’s closing the door on her pets after a walk. They rub up on her legs while they walk at night in the country, hence the engine brakes (not breaks), a sound anyone from a rural location can recognize. Pets die, so do rabbits.”

 

“Maybe her kid’s just getting a haircut.”

 

“Wow. I loved this song but hadn’t really read the lyrics before today. One of the reasons she is such a great poet is her ability to create these detailed masterpieces that have dozens of reasonable interpretations - I can’t imagine anyone not being justified to think this song is about abortion, about adoption, about a relationship, about just life choices in general, about motherhood. (When I want to turn over a new leaf in my life and divorce myself from the past, I chop my hair off.) 

It could be her personal experience: with the grief and imagery and yes, very brutal thoughts, it’s hard to imagine it was just a social observation, but it’s so well-crafted that her listeners can’t help feel like it is an emotion they’ve felt from any kind of loss, or a relationship ending, or even just the very intense way we can grieve the ending of a possibility.

It’s really silly to say that it is clearly about or not about one thing or the other. She’s brilliantly left the light on for all of us.”

 

“I think Joanna had an abortion as this whole song seems about abortion and there are many references in other songs as well. I would say that she is taking on the character of a woman who has had an abortion but i think she must feel very connected with it due to it being a constant theme in many songs. Unless it is a close friend of family member but otherwise, i would really like Joanna to speak out about this, does anyone know of any interviews she has said anything about it?”

 

“I don’t know what this song is about but I have both miscarried and lost a much wanted baby over a year ago, she had severe Hydrocephalus incompatible with life and instead of seeing her suffer, we chose to terminate the pregnancy which meant me having to give still-birth to her at 22 weeks. This song for me sums up the experience perfectly, like the feeling your soul is being ripped out along wth the physical pain, confusion, guilt and emotional aftermath. It’s a personal perspective of course but every verse reflects an aspect of how I feel still to this day. I love the line about ‘staring up at the stars so far away in their bullet-proof cars’. It’s like how when you were young, everything seemed so far off and the thought of loss wasn’t as real, like it would never happen to you, then suddenly the dark water rushes in, you can do nothing to stop it and the horror of reality hits you. I think the end is really hopeful though, it kinda ends on a positive note for me, like that’s life, you won’t forget but just get on with it. 

Can’t thank her enough for this song in particular along with others, she’s an absolute rarity and to be cherished.”

 

“does anyone else here see an allusion to Synthia Plath’s “Totem?”

“There is no mercy in the glitter of cleavers,
The butcher’s guillotine that whispers: ‘How’s this, how’s this?’

In the bowl the hare is aborted,
Its baby head out of the way, embalmed in spice,

Flayed of fur and humanity.
Let us eat it like Plato’s afterbirth,””

 

“I think this song is about andy Samberg”

 

“Now my two cents: I personally - in my own personal politics and beliefs - certainly do think of abortions more as roads not taken, so to me that interpretation would ring true. But there are so many babies that people could have had if things had been a little different! There are the babies that could have been born if you’d been a little drunker or less shy or more forgetful or better or worse at math! There are the babies that could have been born if you just hadn’t started an argument over whose turn it was to do the dishes, and the babies that could have been born if you’d skipped class that morning, and the babies that could have been born if the pregnancy hadn’t miscarried, and the babies that could have been born if you hadn’t broken up, and the babies that could have been born if you hadn’t gotten an abortion. Every time we make a choice we shut out a whole bunch of other choices, all the time. How many missed chances are we supposed to live our lives for, anyway? But I think there are certain choices that come to represent how we expected our lives to turn out one way, and they didn’t, and there’s a whole lot of Joanna Newsom songs that seem to be about that kind of choice. She is a brilliant and articulate woman, and I wish her every luck.”