Your Kiss Is On My List (And So Are These Other Things)
Background: In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned list songs at a few different points, and realized I might be onto a whole new idea for a blog. These are songs that aren’t quite a story, but ones that list off certain things throughout the lyrics, driving the point home that way. This will be our focus for this blog, because in a previous one, I narrowed the categories down to story songs, example songs, and hybrid songs, so here’s a 4th category for you!
“A Song Can Be About Anything” by Dan Wilson
Lyrically: “A Song Can Be About Anything” starts off by listing a handful of things a song can be about: “Like the second grade, or the TV news, or how the world spins around with or without you.” But then, it starts building: “Or how we first met on the warmest day, and how I followed you until you asked my name. Or how we must have been together in a life before. Or how ya used to love me, but you don’t even know me anymore.” This tune has always fascinated me, because it sounds like the narrator is simply teaching us how to write a song. But then all of a sudden, it’s like he comes up with a better idea that he’s more excited about — a song about lost love. In our Unorthodox Song Structures blog, we talked about “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)” by Brad Paisley and how it was impossible to have another verse, because the payoff had already been revealed. In this song, however, it’s almost like the narrator really wants to re-center his focus and write about something else, but he can’t. So he says you could also write about “Peace or war, or the sins of industry, or the discontents of fame, or of obscurity.” But then he keeps obsessing about this lost love, saying you could also write about, “How we first met on the warmest day, I had a plan to love someone else until you came. Or how we survived unhappiness and sleeping on the floor, or how you used to love me but you don’t even know me anymore.” He just can’t keep his thoughts away from that last part, but he also keeps thinking of other stuff they went through together, while wondering why it’s over. There can be hope, as he reveals in the last verse: “A song can be about a dream of what we’re waiting for, or how you used to love me but you don’t even know me anymore.” The last line of the song is the same as the first line — telling himself he can write about anything, but not coming to a resolution to actually write about those other things.
Melodically: The intro uses D and G, which gets played 4 times. With the song written in D, this is a I, IV progression. The verses use the same pattern, but when the pre-chorus (starting with the “or how we first met” portion) kicks in, it uses D, G, D, G, Bm, Em, a I, IV, I, IV, vi, ii pattern. The chorus (“Or how ya used to love me but you don’t even know me anymore”), uses A and G, a V, IV pattern played 3 times. The chorus ends with Bm, Em, A, and G (a vi, ii, V, IV pattern). The solo before the last verse uses the D and G pattern (a IV, I progression, played 5 times). The choice to end the verses on the ii chord creates this feeling that the list will never truly be complete. The choice to end the chorus on the IV chord does the exact opposite. In other words, we’re not meant to be comfortable anywhere within the song. Instrumentally, the song uses drums, guitar, and bass.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus format. The chorus is short, and that’s by design, but not necessarily in ways we’ve looked at before. In this case, the reason he doesn’t need a super long chorus is that all the other things he says a song can be about are established, but what he really wants to talk about is straight and to the point — how you used to love him but you don’t even know him anymore. It’s not a story, the list is complete after that chorus, so he doesn’t need it to be longer than it is.
“A Song Can Be About Anything” is embedded below.
2. “I’ve Been Everywhere” by Johnny Cash (Written by Geoff Mack)
Lyrically: Ok, so the first verse of this song might be stretching things slightly, as I mentioned these are list songs, rather than hybrid songs. The first verse of this tune sees someone “Totin’ (his) pack on a dusty Winnemucca road” and as he’s hitchhiking, a guy picks him up and asks him if he’s traveled much, to which he responds with the chorus, “I’ve been everywhere, man, I’ve been everywhere.” In the second verse, he starts listing off those places: Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota, Buffalo, Winslow, Toronto, Sarasota, Wichita, Tulsa, Ottawa, Oklahoma, Tampa, Panama, Mattowa, La Paloma, Bangor, Baltimore, Salvador, Amarillo, Tocapillo, Baranquilla, and Perdilla, followed by Boston, Charleston, Dayton, Louisiana, Washington, Houston, Kingston, Texarkana, Monterey, Faraday, Santa Fe, Tallapoosa, Glen Rock, Black Rock, Little Rock, Oskaloosa, Tennessee, Hennessey, Chicopee, Spirit Lake, Grand Lake, Devil’s Lake, and Crater Lake. He goes back to the chorus in between the two parts I mentioned and then lists off another bunch of cities, sings the chorus again, sings the chorus again, lists off another bunch, and then sings the chorus one more time.
Melodically: The song uses E, A, E, B7, and E throughout the entire song. With the song written in E, this is a I, IV, I, V, I pattern — a basic 12-bar Rock-a-Billy arrangement. The lists get so long and there are so many of them (broken down by verses), so it makes sense to begin and end on the I chord. Instrumentally, the song uses acoustic, electric, and bass guitar, all played by Marty Stuart, as well as drums and other percussion, played by Steve Ferrone (of The Heartbreakers).
Structurally: Like I mentioned with “I’m Gonna Miss Her,” the payoff has already been stated. Of course if the song were structured like another list song discussed in our poetry blog, “A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall.” The main focus is on where this guy’s been, and it’s not supposed to be a conversation, it’s supposed to be a never-ending list. If it had been about the conversation between the driver and the guy who’s been everywhere, more verses about that would have been necessary. It took me about 15 minutes (including quitting after two) to type out all the places he’s been. So, that’s another good reason why there isn’t more setup than just the one verse. However, despite the fact that it’s a list song, that setup was necessary. Almost like a sitcom needing a reason to justify doing a clip show (like in Malcolm in the Middle, the kids rehashing their home life via therapy).
You can listen to “I’ve Been Everywhere” below.
3. “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys
Lyrically: Before we take a look at “Kokomo,” I want to distinguish it from a song like “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” by Alan Jackson or “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” by Kenny Chesney, in that with the latter song, there’s some sort of storyline as to why the narrator needs to get away. But with “Kokomo,” there’s no reason as to why they need to get away, other than just simply saying, “To get away from it all.” But the rest of the verses describe what it’ll be like when they’re there, including a drink being in their hands and feeling sand beneath their feet. The chorus lists off all the places they’ll go: “Aruba, Jamaica, Bermuda, Bahama, Key Largo, Montego,” and of course the titular “Kokomo.” The songs I mentioned earlier are terrific, and I’ve featured at least the Kenny Chesney song in my escapism blog, but the list song works perfectly for this tune. It sounds like a lot of traveling (though if you listened to “I’ve Been Everywhere,” it’ll seem like a day trip), but the line “We’ll get there fast and then we’ll take it slow,” cancels out any idea that this is gonna be a quick trip to every tropical place mentioned. There’s also a pleasant melody behind it (to be discussed later) that makes the choice of a list, rather than getting too bogged down in details of why they need the break, so much easier to listen to.
Melodically: The song uses C, F, C, F in the intro and chorus, adding in Fm, C, Am, Dm, G7, and C in the second half of the chorus (the intro is the first half of the chorus, sung and played). With the song in C major, this is a I, V progression in the intro, and a I, V, v, I, vi, ii, V, I progression in the chorus. The verses use C, Cmaj7, Gm7, F, Fm, C. D7, G7, C, Cmaj7, Gm7, F, Fm, C, D7, G7, and C, which is a I, IMaj7, v7, IV, iv, I, II7, V7, I, IMaj7, v7, IV, iv, I, II7, V7, I progression. With the end goal being Kokomo, it makes a ton of sense to begin and end on the tonic chord in all parts of the song. Instrumentally, the song uses acoustic guitar, slide guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, drums, steel drums, accordion, and saxophone, with the steel drums appropriately being the most prominent.
Structurally: As I mentioned earlier, the song begins with a half chorus, followed by a verse (which ends with the phrase “Way down in Kokomo”) before diving into the chorus, which is the source of the aforementioned list of places they’re going to hit up while on their tropical getaway. A few years ago, I got heavy into Tapestry by Carole King, and there are so many of her songs that have simple verses and quick transitions back into the chorus, AKA good pop music. To me, the structure of “Kokomo” feels the same way. It’s a simple message, with a vivid enough description of what they’ll do on the island without getting too bogged down in anything else. This tune came out during a time of turmoil for the band, but it’s always been one of my favorites.
You can listen to “Kokomo” below.
4. “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette
Lyrically: One of my last blogs, which discussed irony, was called “Isn’t It Ironic? (No, Seriously),” which was a nod to the fact that nothing in Alanis’ song is actually ironic, it is, as my English major cousin put it, “Just a bunch of bad stuff that happened to people.” So while I won’t be using this blog to break down that grammatical error, I will use it to advance the idea of a list song, because that’s just what it is. In discussing “Kokomo”, we contrasted it from “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” and “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere” in that there was a setup as to how the narrator got to a spot where he needed to escape. The people in “Ironic” are in unconnected vignettes, but the true list comes in as a gut punch in the chorus: “It’s like rain on your wedding day, a free ride when you’ve already paid, it’s the good advice that you just didn’t take, and who would’ve thought? It figures.” In future choruses, she talks about “A black fly in your chardonnay” and “A death row pardon two minutes too late,” as well as “Ten thousand spoons, when all you need is a knife, and meeting the man of your dreams, then meeting his beautiful wife.” The people used in the list are the old man, afraid of flying, who flew off after leaving his wife and kids and then his plane crashed, an old man who turned 98 and died the day after winning the lottery. All of these things serve as a list of bad things that happened to people, under the umbrella of what Alanis calls irony.
Melodically: The song is written in the key of F# Mixolydian with the capo on the 4th fret. Relative to the capo, it uses Emaj7, Bmaj7/D, Emaj7, Eadd9 in the intro, a I, V, I, pattern. The verses use Gb/F#, B, Gb/F#, Ab, a III, V, III, IV pattern. The chorus then uses Gb, B, Gb, and Ab. Though this is the same pattern as the verse chords, the verse chords include the bass notes, while the chorus chords are just the straight up notes. The middle 8 uses A and B (the IV and V chords, played three times), followed by A and E (the IV I chords). The middle 8, however, gets repeated at the end, and uses Emaj7 and Bmaj7/D, played three times, and then ending on the Emaj7. Instrumentally, the song uses guitar, bass, drums, and organ.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle 8, verse, chorus, ending format, with the ending being a rehashing of the middle 8. There were plenty of examples between the verses and the choruses, and kind of a conclusion with the middle 8 and ending, but especially with the ending, you don’t feel satisfied because it ends on the two chord, just like you don’t really feel satisfied with the way it ended for these characters. It’s such a raw, terrific song.
“Ironic” is, not ironically, embedded below.
