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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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Fallin'
Title
Alicia Keys
  Artist
Album Songs In A Minor

Buy this Album

Songs In A Minor
 
Alicia Keys
  Songwriters
 
Alicia Keys
  Producers
Play Song Excerpt Help with Real Audio
Concept
Classic soulful ballad of a girl hopelessly in love.
Lyric

Emotional lyrics coming from a conflicted romance. The words are simple and straightforward. There are no real poetic images, just a description of the situation she finds herself in.

I never felt this way. How do you give me so much pleasure, and cause me so much pain? Just when I think I've taken more than would a fool, I start fallin' back in love with you.

Groove
Not based on a typical commercial groove, this song is performed in triplets, what used to be considered 12/8 time, but is now notated in 4/4 meter with 8th note triplet, aclassic example of 12 to the bar. The piano arpeggios are in triplets and so is the basic melody which is then improvized with impulsive freely flowing fills in and out of this triplet rhythm. The drum feel is loose giving the piece more of a real than a perfect sound.
Melody

The melody is reminiscent of 50s and 60s R&B ballads, especially Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved Man (The Way I Loved You)". While not a killer melody, the chorus does have a hooky phrase that one wants to sing along with. The verses are more improvized than sung which makes this a performance piece more than an established song.

Harmony
Harmonically, the chords are a simple loop, just two chords, both minor sevenths repeated over and over. The progression is i7 followed by v7, repeated endlessly.
Structure
Intro Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Repetitive Cycle (Jam) Chorus Chorus
Signature
A vocal improv flourish grabs the listener's attention right from the get go.
Production
One of the year's best performed recordings. Part of its success is Keys' vocals. Part of it is her timing. We haven't heard such soul on the charts in a long time.
Predicted Longevity
A classic recording that will be played for years and years.

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