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Anatomy of a Hit

Anatomy of a Hit
Hit song analysis
View all Anatomy of a Hit Articles

Coming Soon:
Beyonce—Irreplaceable
Corrine Bailey Rae—Put Your Records On
KT Tunstall—Suddenly I See

Nelly Furtado–Promiscuous
Ne-Yo—So Sick
James Blunt—You're Beautiful
Rascal Flatts–What Hurts The Most
Eminem—Lose Yourself

Norah Jones —Don't Know Why
Avril Lavigne —Complicated
Alan Jackson—Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?

Pink—Get the Party Started
Craig David—Fill Me In
Alicia Keys—Fallin'
Train—Drops of Jupiter
Janet Jackson—All For You
Dido—Thank You
Sisqo—Incomplete
Macy Grey—I Try
Faith Hill—Breathe
Destiny's Child—Say My Name
Santana/Rob Thomas—Smooth
Ricky Martin—La Vida Loca

More Anatomy of a Hit Articles...

Classic Songcraft Articles
Reprints from Cat's columns in The Music Connection and LASS/NAS Musepaper

Outside vs. Inside Songwriting
Cat describes the change of opportunities in today's songwriting scene from Outside Songwriting for established artists to Inside Songwriting for original acts.

Grabbers and Shakers
Cat lists many of hue characteristics that make a pop song a hit song including what grabs a listener's attention and what keeps an audience involved all the way through to the end.

A Songwriter's New Year's Resolutions
Cat lists some goals and resolves we as songwriters can make to improve our writing and our careers for the coming year.

Other Classic Articles

The Hispanic Invasion
Today's pop scene has much in common with that of the mid-'60s. American pop music is being invaded by foreigners. Only this time the British aren't coming, it's the Hispanics.

1999: A Year of Retro and Recycling
Cat looks at the year 1999 in pop music and saw a return to recordings with older more melodic writing and more romantic dance styles including latin dance styles. Hot and sexy began to replace alienation and rebellion as the millennium turned.

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Articles and Writing Issues from other Songwriters and Instructors
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Cat Cohen and the phrase "Anatomy of a Hit" are trademarks of Cat Cohen UnLimited

 

Incomplete
Title
Sisqó
  Artist
Album Unleash The Dragon

Buy this Album

Unleash The Dragon
 
M. Jordan/A. Crawford
  Songwriters
 
"Shep" Crawford
  Producers
Play Song Excerpt Help with Real Audio
Concept
Singer expresses regret at having not committed to a love relationship. His life is now incomplete.
Lyric

A descriptive story of a successful performer who has everything he wants but the girl he once turned down. As the song progresses he gets to the point that he'd trade everything he has just to get her back

Bright lights, fancy restaurants

Everything in this world a man could want

Got a bank acount larger than the law should allow

Still I'm lonely now

Pretty faces from the covers of a magazine

From their covers to my covers want to lay with me

Fame and fortune still can't find

Just a poor man running out of time

Groove
The groove is slow, moody, sexy, sparse and relaxed in 16ths with occasional sprinkling of 32nd notes in the synth drums. The strings in the background give the song a romantic pop feel.
Melody
The melody in the verse is sung simply, intimately and almost in monotone with a couplet pre-hook ramp up at the end. The repetitive chorus is higher pitched, more rhythmic and ends with the title in a strong button hook. The bridge adds even more dimension and intensity. When Sisqó returns to the chorus at the end the background singers sing the melody and he jams effectively and emotionally over them
Harmony
Harmonically the song is built mostly in slightly sad pastel minor sevenths with a few major sevenths in the chorus. This is pop writing at its best. Diatonic chords are used with a couple of substitute chords pushing the envelope gently such as aa v7 chord in the prehook and a II7 chord in the chorus.
Structure
Classic ballad structure, basically verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus. However, the last line of the verse acts effectively as a short pre-hook. A (B) C A (B) C D C
Signature
Simple but effective signature, not distintyice but definitely advertizes the song's classic R&B-pop style.
Production
Perfect prosody in that every element of the production describes sophisticated romantic regret.
Predicted Longevity
Classic and universal in its appeal, it became and hit and although it slowly faded afterwards, I predict its life will be long. I wouldn't be surprised if the songs gets covered by other singers. HINT - Patti, Aretha, Anita, Luther

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Macy Gray: I Try


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