You Know the Way with Best-Laid Plans
Background: I read an interview with singer-songwriter extraordinaire, Dan Wilson awhile ago, where he said the key to good songwriting is finding people to write with who are your kind of crazy and share your crazy creative processes for writing. Of course, there are many ways to be a great writer. Some slave away in their bedrooms perfecting what they’re going to say, and others get inspired when they’re in the studio. In this blog, we’re going to focus on the latter. Specifically, we’ll look at songs written in their place of recording (mostly studios) that reflect the environment where they were recorded, meaning things going on in or around their place of recording that affected the final lyrics.
“Cold As Ice” by Foreigner
Lyrically: I’ll be honest with you. During the Great Memphis Snow Storm of 2026, I got “Cold As Ice” stuck in my head, and thought it was one of those funny out of context things in which my mind specializes, but that had nothing to do with the actual song’s origins. It turns out, I was wrong. One of the band members was messing around with the eventual piano riff while in the studio, and Lou Gramm, the lead singer, started singing “You’re as cold as ice” because outside the studio, there was a snow and ice storm. The easiest way to go about the song, rather than talking about the weather, was to draw on past relationships and someone who was as cold as ice. There’s not much to these lyrics (and by that I mean it’s a simple concept that doesn’t go too deep, but that’s not a bad thing), but the line that sticks out to me is in the second verse when he says, “You’re looking for paradise.” I think that’s a really interesting concept in the context of this song, because ice doesn’t seem to have feelings–it’s just there, it’s in people’s way, and doesn’t make anything better. So the fact that it would be looking for paradise, something positive, is a weird contrast, casually thrown in there (and potentially a whole different song!) but it makes the narrator all the more disgusted, and the listeners all the more empathetic to the narrator.
Melodically: The song is written in Ebm and uses Ebsus4, and Ebm, played twice, in the intro (variations on the i chord, both as majors [Ebsus4 with not third] and minors). The verses use the same pattern, followed by Cb6, Cb (the VIb chords, played twice), followed by the intro chords, played twice, and the VI chord progression, except it ends on the Abm, rather than the Ebsus4 (the iv chord, as opposed to the i chord). The chorus then uses Gb, Faug, Abm, and Cb, a IIIb, II, iv, and VIb chords, a pattern that gets played twice. The instrumental interlude uses the intro chords, and the solo uses Cb, Ebm/Bb, Cb, Cb/Bb, Abm, Gb, and Bb, which is a VIb, i, VIb, iv, IIIb, V pattern. The bridge uses Ebm, Bb7, Bb7/Ab, a i, V, iv pattern, which gets played three times, and the riff after the bridge uses Bb, Cb, Ab, Bb, Gb, Cb, Cb, Bb, Ab, and Gb, which is a V, VIb, IVb, V, IIIb, VIb, V, IV, IIIb pattern. The outro then uses Ebsus4, Ebm (played twice), followed by Cb6, Cb, Cb6, and Cb, a i, VIb, pattern. None of these parts end on the I chord, providing a sense of vengeance on the part of the narrator. Melodically, the song is driven by the extremely recognizable piano part, but also contains electric and bass guitar, as well as drums and synthesizer.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, bridge, outro format. There’s very little lyrical variation to the verses, but that’s okay, because it doesn’t necessarily aim to serve as an example song, rather serving as an attack on this particular person. It’s kind of a “You know what you are” type scenario, where they don’t have to dive into a great amount of detail as to how they’re cold as ice, it’s just that they are and that gets the point across enough.
You can listen to “Cold As Ice” below.
2. “Sunglasses at Night” by Cory Hart
Lyrically: I mentioned in the opening of this blog that the key to great songwriting is finding people who are your kind of crazy. In this case, the key is to find people who enable your kind of crazy. Hart and his producer were recording in a studio where the air conditioning and heating vents were located right above the mixing console. This led to everyone wearing sunglasses, to protect their eyes and Hart started ad-libbing, “I wear my sunglasses at night” and the song was born. The song ended up transforming into the idea that while it’s dark, people think they can do whatever they want, but your significant other is privy to your lies. By the time the chorus rolls around, he’s saying “Don’t switch the blade on a guy in shades. Don’t masquerade with a guy in shades. ‘Cause you’ve got it made with a guy in shades.” And all because of a poorly-placed air vent!
Melodically: The song is built around a distinct synth riff in the verses that uses Am, F, and G. The song is written in Am, so this is a i, VI, VII pattern. The pre-chorus uses F, G, Am, and G (a VI, VII, i pattern, played twice), and the chorus uses Am, G, C, Em, and F, which is a i, VII, III, v, VI pattern that gets played twice. The outro uses Am, F, and G, the same chords as the verses. In addition to the synthesizer, the song also uses bass and drums.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, outro format. In a previous blog, I mentioned the concept of unorthodox choruses, ones that don’t restate the title of the song, of which this is an example. The pre-chorus and chorus of this song almost function in the same way as “Smooth” by Santana and Rob Thomas, in that they could almost both be choruses. With each verse essentially saying the same thing, the pre-chorus is necessary to add to the intensity of why he’s feeling that way and then the chorus kind of justifies his lashing out at this particular person. It’s a very simply structured song, but it’s very powerful in its message.
You can listen to “Sunglasses at Night” below.
3. “New York Mining Disaster 1941” by The Bee Gees
Lyrically: The Gibb Brothers were notorious for a couple of different things as songwriters: first, they were scary good about emulating just about any style they felt like writing in. Second, they could come up with a song in any environment (including all eight of the songs they wrote for Saturday Night Fever, which were written in some remote location over one weekend). “New York Mining Disaster 1941” saw the brothers utilizing the second skillset, as they were in the hallway of a then-powerless studio space, which they re-imagined as a mine in which they were trapped. So in this song, they are kind of reciting their last will and testament to their loved ones: “In the event of something happening to me, there is something I would like you all to see. It’s just a photograph of someone that I knew.” Then it dives into a plea for help, a plea to know what the narrator’s loved one is up to: “Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones? Do you know what it’s like on the outside?” The second verse then sees the narrator hoping someone is digging to find them, but also recognizes they may have stopped looking, assuming the person is dead. The Gibb Brothers would later have success writing for films such as Grease and Saturday Night Fever, but this one narrowly missed out on being perfect for a Disney movie, given its cheery topic.
Melodically: The song is written in Am with and its verses use Am, D, G, and Am/D, a i, IV, VII, i pattern. The second verse uses the same pattern, but ends on D, G, and F, with the VI chord. The third verse starts off with the same pattern, but ends on G, Am, and D, a VII, i, IV pattern The chorus uses G, C, G, and G, C, F, which is a VII, III, VII, III, VI pattern, which gets followed by Esus4, E, and Am, a V, i pattern. The outro uses variations of the Am chord. Instrumentally, the song uses guitar, bass, and drums.
You can listen to “New York Mining Disaster 1941” below.
4. “Nothing But Time” by Jackson Browne
Background: In an earlier blog, I talked about the art of the medley, and included Jackson Browne’s “The Load Out/Stay” from Running on Empty, which was played as a medley but technically released as two separate tracks. I was kicking myself as I conceived this blog, because I read that “The Load Out” was tweaked when the band was on its third encore and he needed a way to thank the fans and the roadies for sticking around as long as they did. What you hear wasn’t fully improvised, but it was only the second time the song was played live. Luckily, that song closes out an album all about life on the road (and we’ve already discussed “Rosie” in our Flashback to ‘77 blog), so we’ll be discussing another song from this album, “Nothing But Time.”
Lyrically: One of my very early blogs talked about object writing, and this song is a little bit of an exercise in just that, as it references a “silver eagle” in the lyrics, which is a reference to the Silver Eagle Continental bus they were traveling on during the tour in support of The Pretender. The whole song was written and eventually recorded on the bus, and was written while traveling between Portland, Maine and somewhere in New Jersey, expressing the feeling that he had “Nothing but time” in between those two stops. He references all the things he’s going to do to pass the time: drinking white wine, watching a movie (or spending time with the band), trying to get some sleep, the possibilities are endless, because again, he has nothing but time.
Melodically/Structurally: The song is written in D major and the verses use D7, A7, D7, F7, G7, and A7, which is a I, V, I, IIIb, IV, V pattern. The chorus uses D7, and D, variations on the I chord. Instrumentally, the song uses acoustic and bass guitar, drums, as well as a Fender Rhodes piano. This song is decidedly blusier than a lot of songs on this album, save for his version of “Cocaine.” Again, as a general concept, apart from the aforementioned “Cocaine,” being guitar-based is also a bit of a departure, but it fits well with the song’s “Let’s try anything to pass the time” theme, as does the structure of the song, which is a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus pattern. Of course, with not much to do, you could think of the structure being a little more complex (since you have all that time on your hands), but it’s more about the repetitive things he’s doing to pass the time, rather than “Hey, let’s try something thematically new,” so it all blends together very nicely.
You can listen to “Nothing But Time” below.
