Creating Your Own Royalty
Background: After Princess Diana died, Elton John re-wrote “Candle in the Wind” as a tribute to her in 1997. Herman’s Hermits made “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” famous in 1965. But what about the songs that make up royal characters? That is what we will explore today. It should be noted that unlike the aforementioned Herman’s Hermits song, none of the made up royalty in these songs will have names. But rather, they will assign fallible characteristics against the backdrop of royalty. A fabulous contrast for writing!
“Queen of Tomorrow” by The Twilight Hours
Background: Ok, I’ll be honest. Sometimes I come up with the blog idea first, and other times I come up with a song I want to talk about and assign a category around it. For this blog, I did the latter, because this is one of my favorite songs (that just happens to be by a local Minnesota band).
Lyrically: “Queen of Tomorrow” is sung from the perspective of a down-on-his-luck guy, and as the song unfolds, he weaves a tale of how he got kicked out his apartment, due to ticking off his roommate, who was “The second secretary to a postal clerk,” and she was also the singer in a local band. Of course the guy narrating was unemployed, so while she was out of the house (quite frequently, given her day job and night job as a singer), he’d “Remain on the sofa watching Captain Kirk.” In verse one, he describes it as a “sweet situation.” She only had one rule: Don’t play her guitar through her stereo. But, according to the narrator, it was a “Blue Rickenbacker layin’ on its back with a colossal home stereo speaker stack,” and was “hard not to borrow.” So of course, the more the she was away, the more her roommate was tempted. Finally, he couldn’t resist. He played the guitar, blew out her speaker, and when she came home, she kicked him out. Now he has “a job as a dime store clerk and hears her song every day at work,” which reminds him of how badly he blew the whole thing. Her band’s name: Queen of Tomorrow.
Melodically: The song is written in C major and utilizes the chords C, G, Bb, F, C, G, and Bb, a I, V, VIIb, IV, I, V, VIIb pattern. Each verse is written in two stanzas and in the first stanza of the first verse, the last line is sung without a guitar chord, but in the last stanza, the Bb chord fades into the pre-chorus. In the subsequent verses, the Bb chord is played at the end of each stanza. The pre-chorus stays on the G (V) chord for the whole time. Then, the chorus goes to C, F, Bb, F, C, F, Bb, and F, a I, IV, VIIb, IV, I, IV, VIIb, IV pattern. The instrumental arrangement includes acoustic guitar, bass, and drums.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, interlude, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, chorus pattern. The pre-chorus remains the same after all verses, except for the last pre-chorus, which is a double. This reveals his new job as a dime store clerk and also reveals that he hears her song on the radio every day, and it pains him to do so. Her reaction was already revealed in the last verse, and there is no new information for him to present. But given the fast-paced nature of the song, it was necessary to ramp back up to the pre-chorus after the slowed down final verse, and it adds a final gut punch to the already hilarious song.
“Queen of Tomorrow” is embedded below.
2. “King of Oklahoma” by Jason Isbell
Lyrically: Jason Isbell has been very candid about his past substance abuse issues, though at the time of writing this blog, he has been sober for 10 years. Yet this song from his 400 Unit-backed 2023 album, Weathervanes, follows the fallout of a drug addict as his behaviors have not changed, but his support network, that being his ex-lover, has disappeared. The last part of the sixth verse and chorus are the emotional kickers: “Molly’s gonna leave me, says she don’t believe me, I got nothing to lie about. She’s goin’ back to Bixby, tired of tryin’ to fix me, says I got some sh*t to figure out.” The chorus then states, “She used to make me feel like the king of Oklahoma, but nothing makes me feel like much of nothing anymore.” I once told my mom that it was impressive Southeastern was able to be such a positive record, despite being written while Isbell was in rehab. My mom pointed out that he had his fiance, Amanda Shires, on the other side of the stint (we should all hope to be so lucky). But “King of Oklahoma” strikes me as kind of an alternate reality to a song like “Cover Me Up” or “Super 8.” What if he hadn’t made it to the other side? That’s what “King of Oklahoma” sounds like.
One final lyrical note: It’s interesting to me that this song is about a drug addiction and the woman in his life is named “Molly.” The contrast between the two things he wants, his woman and the high of the drugs, contrasted against realizing everything he lost, is an added level of powerful. Of course it’s also entirely possible and probable that this isn’t a woman at all, but rather ecstasy, also known in slang as molly, and the drugs are what are making him do these things, then completely ignore him when he’s down on his luck.
Melodically: The song’s intro uses Am, Em, D, and C, played twice, followed by C, Em, D, and C (also played twice). It is written in the key of E minor, so the intro uses a iv, i, VIIb, VIb, VIb, i, VIIb pattern. The verses then use Am, Em, D, and Cmaj7 (a iv, i, VIIb, VIb pattern). Instrumentally, the song contains electric guitar, drums, violin, and keyboards.
Structurally: The song utilizes a very unique song structure for a rock song: verse, verse, verse, verse, chorus, verse, verse, chorus, chorus. But the more details that are provided on the front end, the more we’re able to fully appreciate everything Molly tried to do for the narrator before finally realizing he was beyond the point of no return and had to leave him. The song “Don’t Stop Believin’,” is more or less a story song (with a cliffhanger ending of simply believing, rather than revealing what happened), and having that many verses in a row risks losing the listener. But there is so much to be told about the main character in “King of Oklahoma” that by the time we get to the chorus, we’re already invested in the trainwreck that he has painted himself to be when the story picks up. It’s a bold choice, but it fits the song perfectly.
I’ll trade you some copper wire for the link to this song. It’s embedded below.
3. “Two Princes” by Spin Doctors
Lyrically: We’ve all heard the romantic tale of an underdog who has no chance with a princess, but through some persuading and some charm, she somehow gives him one. You hear the tale of one prince who offers the typical things (such as diamonds, but unlike Prince Rogers Nelson, no pearls are mentioned), and the other who “Wants to buy you rockets” and throughout the song, continues to discuss the contrasts between the two. The pre-chorus says that he “ain’t got no future or family tree, but (knows) what a prince and lover ought to be.” What makes this song so charming is the absence of any obligation for the princess. Of course prince number two has nothing to lose, so his whole pitch (besides what he offers), always begins with “if” (such as “if you want to buy me flowers, just go ahead now”). Much like the aforementioned “Don’t Stop Believin’,” it’s a story song that allows us to imagine what might have happened to the princess and the prince we’re all rooting for.
Melodically: The intro uses D5, B5, A5, and G5, which gets played four times. With the song in D major, this is a I, vi, V, IV pattern that followed for the whole song, minus the pre-chorus, which goes G, D, G, A, A (a IV, I, IV, V pattern). The song is instrumentally defined by electric guitar, bass, and drums.
“Two Princes” is embedded below.
4. “Princess of the Posse” by Queen Latifah
Lyrically: “Princess of the Posse” follows a familiar rap format, asserting dominance over the masses with her ability to spit bars to all classes. There are references to her home borough, the Bronx, as well as Brooklyn, but recognizing that her domination in the rap scene is worldwide, when it really comes down to it. She also sends out a warning that they shouldn’t even try to outdo her when it comes to rapping, because she’ll just humiliate them.
Structurally/Melodically: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, outro format. As is typical with many rap songs, it does not follow the 8 bar structure you’d songs from other genres,, allowing for a more free-flowing storytelling technique. It is for this reason that I don’t have chords for you, as the rhythm of the song is the melodic focus. Remaining the same or similar throughout the song allows for more freedom within the vocals to say what needs to be said, without the constraint of a melodic shift. The chorus is simple, but is the part that reiterates her ruling the world, beyond her neighborhood, and the verses are very detailed about who she has dominated in rap to get to where she is. However, the choice to end on something different than the chorus works very well, as it’s kind of the final nail in the coffin, which would not have worked if she had chosen to end on the chorus.
“Princess of the Posse” is embedded below.
