Cat Cohen's Songwriters' Website
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.

Guest Columns
Articles and Writing Issues from other Songwriters and Instructors
Write a Guest Column!

Ask Cat | Letters, Questions & Answers
Songcraft, pop format and marketing issues

Cat's Classes, Workshops, Private Instruction

Cat's Songwriting Consultation Services
Pro Feedback through correspondence

Cat's Traveling Songcraft Presentations
Songwriting Instruction and Evaluation for Your Group or Association

Cat's Bio
Who is this Cat fella anyway?

Cat's Alumni News
Where are they going? Where are they doing?

Songwriters' Information Sources
Books, Organizations, Other Websites

Cat Cohen and the phrase "Anatomy of a Hit" are trademarks of Cat Cohen UnLimited

 

Smooth
Title
Santana (featuring Rob Thomas)
  Artist
Album Supernatural

Buy this Album

Supernatural
 
Rob Thomas, Itaal Shur
  Songwriters
 
Clive Davis, Carlos Santana
  Producers
Play Song Excerpt Help with Real Audio
Concept
Smooth describes the singer's desire for a smooth-looking and acting lover who's playing hard to get. He tells her how hot he is for her and for her to "... just say yes or forget about it!". This is set to an incredibly hot Latin groove.
Lyric
Any lyric that starts with "It's a hot one, seven inches from the midday sun" is not going to be your typical moon, spoon, June middle of the pop song. The sexy, sultry story of a man captivated by a woman is told with great imagery "my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa" and with heavy attitude.
Groove

The straight ahead barely syncopated Latin 8th note track is played over a strong quarter note feel. This sets a great background for Thomas' heavily syncopated vocals.

There are a few 16th overlays in the Latin percussion, probably congas, and a very effective triplet figure in the break after the chorus that sets up a hot salsa-like solo section that showcases Carlos Santana's guitar work.

Melody

The recording starts off with a 7-tone minor figure in the background (emphasizing the flat 6 of the scale, a gypsy-like color) while Santana plays a 6-tone minor scale guitar riff. This is different than the minor pentatonic riffs of his earlier music.

Thomas' melody is written in 6-tone minor (minor pentatonic with a 2nd tone of the scale added). The melody itself is very step-like but it contains a few leaps of a 4th in the chorus for distinctive shape.

Harmony

Smooth uses only 4 chords, the i, iv, and major V chord, the basic chording of harmonic minor (Am, Dm, and E). In addition a ii diminished chord is used in passing (B dim).

This harmonization is very popular in Latin dance music and is the most popular chording of the past year on the pop charts.

Structure
Two-part song form with both verse and chorus repeated. Signature A A B B Signature A A B B Solo B B Signature.
Signature
Features a 7-tone minor scale figure in the background and a guitar riff with the distinctive Carlos Santana sound.
Production

The sensual up-tempo 8th groove is as smooth as the lyrics and Santana's guitar work is impeccably tasteful as well as very familiar sounding.

The end result is incredibly satisfying both as a dance tune and a listening experience.

Predicted Longevity

This song will be played for years in nearly every pop music oriented bar and lounge in every city in the world. People will dance, some make love, perhaps fall in love, while listening to this song.

There may even may be Smooth-babies conceived to these engaging sounds and rhythms. In other words, this song will have a lasting influence.


Want to know when new articles are posted?

Subscribe to our free mailing list!

E-mail:

(c) Copyright 2000-2002 Cat Cohen UnLimited All Rights Reserved