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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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Fill Me In
Title
Craig David
  Artist
Album Born To Do It

Buy this Album

Born To Do It
 
C. David, M. Hill
  Songwriters
 
Mark Hill
  Producers
Play Song Excerpt Help with Real Audio
Concept
Hip groove tune about two young people trying to make love behind some disapproving parent's back.
Lyric

Story about the singer trying to get into the girl next door's pants while her parents are away. Lots of contemporary images of a comfortable life style including wine, jacuzzi, 4 by 4, etc.

We were just doing what young people in love do. Parents trying to find out what we were up to saying "Why were you creeping 'round late last night? Why could I see two shadows moving in your bedroom light?.

Groove
The groove's the thing in this recording. David is a master of syntheic drums and mixes a variety of half-time and regular time 16th syncopated feels witha sprinkling of jungle styled 32nd notes on top. His vocals are sung rapped in the same mixture of beats. He contrasts his sections with a half as fast pulse in the verse and twice as fast in the chorus. Also his phrasing is so syncopated in the chorus one temporarily loses the downbeat, no mean feat as it is easily recovered later in the section.
Melody

There is a gentle melodic feel which is more rhythmic and riffy than with any memorable sweeping melodic lines. David is more a hip storyteller than melodist. The range is limited to a few notes, less than an octave. However, it is a distinctively more musical genre he writes in than rap with the freedom of the rap style packaged in soft sensual music.

Harmony
Harmonically, the chords are diatonic minor chords, basicallya loop of minor and major sevenths, i7 v7 bVImaj7.
Structure
Signature Verse Verse Prehook Chorus Signature Verse Verse Prehook Chorus Bridge Chorus Tag
Signature
Synthesized acoustic guitar riff with fragments of the hook from the chorus introduce the piece.
Production
Superb production with clear crisp perfect sound and rhythm.
Predicted Longevity
A sophisticated new sound for the charts. Im afraid it is a good example of hit and run as there is not enough strong song elements, especially melody, to keep it on the charts for a long time. I am confident its innovative sound will influence other young R&B groovers. Its easy slickness and hipness make it a perfect background for hip parties and I'm sure boutiques (music to try on hip clothes by). David is only 20 and may evolve into someone more substantial in the future.

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