? and The Musicians
Background: While hosting The Pass the Mike Radio Hour in college, one of my themes was “Questions and Answers,” where I would play one song that posed a question and the next song would answer the question. My personal favorite was “What Do You Want” by Jerrod Niemann (which we’ll discuss in this blog), followed by the answer, “I’ll tell ya what I want, what I really really want,” pulled from the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.” I also found two groups that posed a question with one song and answered their question in another song (“How Deep is Your Love” by the Bee Gees and the Gibb brothers-penned “(Love is) Thicker Than Water,” as well as “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?” and “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago, the latter of which we discussed in an earlier blog.) For now, though, we will focus on songs that pose questions in the title, and one based entirely around rhetorical questions. Of note: The first two songs start with question words (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How), while the next two ask questions without the question words. Are you ready?
“What Do You Want?” by Jerrod Niemann
Lyrically: Fresh off his major label debut single, a cover of Sonia Dada’s “You Don’t Treat Me No Good No More” (recorded as “Lover, Lover,”) Jerrod Niemann’s second single was the slow ballad, “What Do You Want?”. The song deals with the spiraling of the narrator after an ex-lover calls him. It is also made clear that she’s done this before. In the first verse, he talks about seeing her number pop up on his phone, telling her, “You know what it does to me to see your number on the phone.” In the second verse, he expresses his frustration, and then hits us with one of my favorite lines, “I don’t have the time, neither do my friends.” My best friend has had to hear about every relationship, potential or real, since we were 5, so this line always gets to me. The chorus changes each time slightly. The first time out, he asks, “Are you tryin’ to bring back the tears, or just the memories?” The consistent in each chorus is, “Ya keep takin’ me back, takin’ me back, to where I’ve already been,” and the first chorus says, “When we hang up and say goodnight, it’s like I’m losing you again,” while the second changes to, “Have you moved on, why does it feel like I’m losing you again?” The second chorus also contains one of my favorite lines, “Have you called to say you’ve found someone and I’m a used to be?” The third chorus is maybe the most powerful: “To come here and make love tonight, ‘cause you’re feelin’ lonely.” The bridge asks what she wants him to say: “That I’m content, that I’m on the fence, that I wish you would’ve stayed?” Every line just tugs at your heartstrings.
On a personal note, this song came out the fall after I had gotten rejected for prom my junior year of high school. Although she never called me after that, the lyrics hit hard and still do. This, along with “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by the Bee Gees (discussed in a previous blog) are probably my go-to cry your eyes out songs.
Melodically: Overall, the song is written in E major. With the capo on the 4th fret, he plays the chords C, G, F, C, Am, G during the intro, then switches to Am, G, F, C, Am, Em, F, C, F, C for the verses. The chorus uses C, G, F, C, Am, G, which gets played twice, before ending on F, G, and C. The bridge uses G, C, Am, G, and F. Instrumentally, the song features acoustic guitar, drums, and organ, and vocally features background from Rachel Bradshaw (NFL legend Terry Bradshaw’s daughter), who co-wrote the song with Niemann and Richie Brown.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus format. This is a hybrid song, as it tells a story, but each thing he’s thinking she could want sends him spiraling further. Each chorus changes slightly, which unravels a new level of anxiety for the singer (and for us as empathetic listeners), and by the time he gets to the bridge, he just gives up, as the things he mentions are all completely different in nature.
“What Do You Want?” is embedded below.
2. “Who Are You?” by The Who
Lyrically: “Who Are You” tells the tale of a man who has just been woken up from a drunken stupor by the SoHo police. The song was based on a real incident, where a police officer told Pete Townsend that he’d let him go if the latter could get up and safely walk away, which of course he couldn’t. The cop recognized Townsend and was therefore nice to him, but of course Pete did not recognize the police officer, hence the line, “Who are you?” My dad has always told me that he considers The Who to be the first punk rock band, and if punk rock, and frankly rock n roll in general, are a way to just flat out distrust authority, “Who Are You” is a fabulous example of this.
Melodically: The intro uses E, D, A, E, A, E, while the verses use E, D, A, C, G. Both of these parts get played four times each with every verse and chorus. Instrumentally, the song contains electric guitar, synthesizer, drums, piano, and bass.
Structurally: The song uses a chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus, scatting/interlude, chorus, verse, chorus. The first verse describes the interaction with the police officer, while the second verse chronicles his journey back home on the tube, with the question of “Who are you?” (or “Who the f*ck are you?”) being directed back at himself. The third “Who are you?” expresses gratitude for the love of another, despite his tendencies to act a fool.
Closing Notes: Eerily, Who Are You (the album), was Keith Moon’s last for the group, and on the album cover, he is sitting on a chair that says, “Not to Be Taken Away.” On a personal note, my grandma used to have an intercom system to let people into her condo. When we would visit, my brother and I used to screen the people buzzing by singing the chorus to this song. Hearing it always makes me think of her.
“Who Are You?” is embedded below.
3. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” by Carole King (Melody, Vocals) and Gerry Goffin (Lyrics)
Lyrically: If our first song, “What Do You Want” expressed anxiety over a failed relationship rekindling, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” focuses on the anxiety behind keeping a love that is already strong. It’s such a simple, universal feeling, that comes out in a beautiful way. The first verse says, “Tonight you’re mine completely. You give me love so sweetly. Tonight, the love of light is in your eyes. But will you still love me tomorrow?” Each verse expresses a new level of anxiety with the future of the relationship, and all of them culminate in the titular doubt.
Melodically: Though the song was famously cut by the Shirelles in 1960 (and went to number 1 in 1961), my focus will be on Carole King’s version, released off her Tapestry album in 1971, and therefore the chords reflected, unless otherwise noted, are the ones she plays on piano. Written in the key of C major, the intro uses C, F, and G7, while the verses start off with those three chords, and are followed by C, G, Esus4, E7, Am, and G, before closing out with F, G7, C, and G. The second verse, however, takes out the G and ends on C, as does the third verse. The middle 8 uses F, Em, F, G7, C, F, Em, Am, D7, F, and G7. This middle 8 is followed by a bass run of G, A, C, C, and D.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, verse, middle 8, verse pattern. All verses express a similar apprehension about the future of the relationship, and its simplicity makes those anxieties even more intense. With one verse, the other person can just say, “Of course I will,” but with all of these hesitancies, it’s almost like she’s anticipating every counter argument he makes, and saying, “But what about this, even though you’re treating me well now?”
I promise you’ll still love this song tomorrow, but just in case, you should listen to it today.
4. “Bad Idea, Right?” by Olivia Rodrigo
Lyrically: In the intro to this blog, I mentioned that the last two songs were going to be ones that did not start with interrogative words (who, what, when, where, why, and how), and admittedly, this one cheats a little bit by throwing in the question “right?” (one of my grammatical pet peeves). So to quote the song, “I should probably probably, not,” but it was too good to pass up. The song begins with Olivia texting her ex. She knows she shouldn’t, but as she puts it, she’s “all “f*cked up and you’re all alone.” In my first blog, I talked about how much it blew my mind that a song (in that case, “Until You’re Over Me” by Maroon 5), had its title come in during the bridge. During this song, the title comes in during the pre-chorus, which repeats the phrase “Seeing you tonight, it’s a bad idea, right?” before finally concluding “F*ck it, it’s fine.” while the chorus says, “Yes I know that he’s my ex, but can’t two people reconnect. I only see him as a friend (biggest lie I’ve ever said). Yes I know that he’s my ex, but can’t two people reconnect, I only see him as a friend, I tripped and fell into his bed.” I absolutely love this song. While some opt to discuss the starry-eyed idealism of a teenager, this song gives the other side: ending your teenage years doing things you know are destructive, but looking back at those things with hilarious self-deprecation. Another favorite line of mine is in the second verse when she says, “And I’m sure I’ve seen much hotter men, but I really can’t remember when.”
Melodically: The song begins with a knock on the door and her ex answering. Melodically, the song is written in E major, with the verses using E major and A major. The part that says “My brain goes off…” goes from E to D to C#m to C, while the pre-chorus goes back to the E and A pattern from the verses. The outro uses the E A pattern as well. Melodically, the song uses guitar, bass, and drums, the last of which gets mentioned during the intro, where producer Dan Nigro says, “Wait, is this the one with the drums?” Back to the “My brain goes off…” section, it works so well for the song, since it’s basically an inner monologue, and the layering of background vocals lets us into her head – there’s so much going on and it’s almost overwhelming – just like it is for her.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, refrain, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, refrain, pre-chorus, chorus format. The refrain is the “My brain goes off…” part, while the pre-chorus uses the “Seeing you tonight” lyrical set. The refrain let’s us see that this is not a one time thought, paired with the verses when she says she’s “all f*cked up” but this is finally making her take the offer seriously. The power of the chorus comes because she knows it’s a bad idea but she’s lying to both herself and her friends asking innocently and defensively, “Can’t two people reconnect?” and each part builds on her naivety that nothing bad will happen. It’s a story, with the first verse setting up her ex texting her and the second verse seeing her getting into her car and heading to his house. It’s a fun song, and also a relatable one – because, to quote Jerry Seinfeld, “Breaking up is like knocking over a coke machine. You can’t do it in one push.”
