Anti-Telos Choruses in Recent Pop
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Anti-Telos Choruses in Recent Pop Drew Nobile • University of Oregon • [email protected] SMT 2019 • Columbus, OH Some post-2010 pop songs with anti-telos choruses (bold = discussed in presentation) Climax Artist Song Year Notes elsewhere? Zedd, Maren “Pull me closer” in prechorus; chorus has vocals only Second half of The Middle 2018 Morris, & Grey with lots of empty space chorus is climactic Chorus talks about being “so far away,” but anti-telos Halsey Without Me 2018 underscores the loneliness of distance Less of a buildup in prechorus, but definite pull-back Selena Gomez Back to You 2018 Pop drop at chorus Second half of Zara Larsson Ruin My Life 2018 Chorus asks for intimacy with sparse accompaniment chorus is climactic Zedd & Elley Duhé Happy Now 2018 Pop drop Prechorus builds to a climactic event; chorus snaps to Look What You Taylor Swift 2017 aftermath (“look what you made me do”), skipping Made Me Do the event High-pitched breathy singing in chorus after Final chorus is Taylor Swift …Ready For It? 2017 aggressive, rapped verse and prechorus climactic Anti-telos accompanies nervous question to unfaithful Second half of Charlie Puth How Long 2017 lover: “How long has this been going on?” chorus is climactic Zedd & Alessia Stay 2017 Chorus has vocals only with lots of empty space Pop drop Cara Low energy makes it initially unclear which section is Final chorus is Taylor Swift Delicate 2017 chorus climactic Half-time chorus simulates lights dimming to set a Second half of Bruno Mars That’s What I Like 2016 (sexual) mood chorus is climactic The Chainsmokers Closer 2016 “Baby pull me closer” in chorus as beat drops out Pop drop Ariana Grande Side to Side 2016 Whispered chorus after belted prechorus brings singer Final chorus is Ariana Grande Problem 2014 right up to our ear climactic I Knew You Were Taylor Swift 2012 Pop drop Trouble Justin Bieber Beauty and a Beat 2012 Pop drop Verse and prechorus are a sexual proposition; anti- Britney Spears 3 2011 telos teases addressee into accepting Selected References Barna, Alyssa. 2018. “The Dance-Chorus in Recent Top-40 Music.” Presentation at the annual meeting of Music Theory Southeast, Columbia, SC. Butler, Mark J. 2006. Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in Electronic Dance Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Burns, Lori. 2010. “Vocal Authority and Listener Engagement: Musical and Narrative Expressive Strategies in the Songs of Female Pop-Rock Artists, 1993–95.” In Sounding Out Pop: Analytical Essays in Popular Music, ed. Mark Spicer & John Covach (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press), 154–92. de Clercq, Trevor. “Embracing Ambiguity in the Analysis of Form in Pop/Rock Music, 1982– 1991.” Music Theory Online 23/3. Harding, Charlie. 2016. “How the Pop-Drop Became the Sound of 2016.” Billboard Online, https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7625628/pop-drop-sound-of-2016- chainsmokers-justin-bieber-switched-on-pop Moore, Allan. 2005. “The Persona-Environment Relation in Recorded Song.” Music Theory Online 11/4. ———. 2012. Song Means: Analysing and Interpreting Recorded Song. Farnham: Ashgate. Nobile, Drew. 2020. Form as Harmony in Rock Music. New York: Oxford University Press. Osborn, Brad. 2019. “Formal Functions and Rotations in Top-40 EDM.” Presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Music Theory, Columbus, OH. Peres, Asaf. 2016. “The Sonic Dimension as Dramatic Driver in 21st-Century Pop Music.” Ph.D. Diss., University of Michigan. Summach, Jay. 2011. “The Structure, Function, and Genesis of the Prechorus.” Music Theory Online 17/3. Anti-Telos Choruses in Recent Pop Drew Nobile • University of Oregon • [email protected] SMT 2019 • Columbus, OH Some post-2010 pop songs with anti-telos choruses (bold = discussed in presentation) Climax Artist Song Year Notes elsewhere? Zedd, Maren “Pull me closer” in prechorus; chorus has vocals only Second half of The Middle 2018 Morris, & Grey with lots of empty space chorus is climactic Chorus talks about being “so far away,” but anti-telos Halsey Without Me 2018 underscores the loneliness of distance Less of a buildup in prechorus, but definite pull-back Selena Gomez Back to You 2018 Pop drop at chorus Second half of Zara Larsson Ruin My Life 2018 Chorus asks for intimacy with sparse accompaniment chorus is climactic Zedd & Elley Duhé Happy Now 2018 Pop drop Prechorus builds to a climactic event; chorus snaps to Look What You Taylor Swift 2017 aftermath (“look what you made me do”), skipping Made Me Do the event High-pitched breathy singing in chorus after Final chorus is Taylor Swift …Ready For It? 2017 aggressive, rapped verse and prechorus climactic Anti-telos accompanies nervous question to unfaithful Second half of Charlie Puth How Long 2017 lover: “How long has this been going on?” chorus is climactic Zedd & Alessia Stay 2017 Chorus has vocals only with lots of empty space Pop drop Cara Low energy makes it initially unclear which section is Final chorus is Taylor Swift Delicate 2017 chorus climactic Half-time chorus simulates lights dimming to set a Second half of Bruno Mars That’s What I Like 2016 (sexual) mood chorus is climactic The Chainsmokers Closer 2016 “Baby pull me closer” in chorus as beat drops out Pop drop Ariana Grande Side to Side 2016 Whispered chorus after belted prechorus brings singer Final chorus is Ariana Grande Problem 2014 right up to our ear climactic I Knew You Were Taylor Swift 2012 Pop drop Trouble Justin Bieber Beauty and a Beat 2012 Pop drop Verse and prechorus are a sexual proposition; anti- Britney Spears 3 2011 telos teases addressee into accepting Selected References Barna, Alyssa. 2018. “The Dance-Chorus in Recent Top-40 Music.” Presentation at the annual meeting of Music Theory Southeast, Columbia, SC. Butler, Mark J. 2006. Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in Electronic Dance Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Burns, Lori. 2010. “Vocal Authority and Listener Engagement: Musical and Narrative Expressive Strategies in the Songs of Female Pop-Rock Artists, 1993–95.” In Sounding Out Pop: Analytical Essays in Popular Music, ed. Mark Spicer & John Covach (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press), 154–92. de Clercq, Trevor. “Embracing Ambiguity in the Analysis of Form in Pop/Rock Music, 1982– 1991.” Music Theory Online 23/3. Harding, Charlie. 2016. “How the Pop-Drop Became the Sound of 2016.” Billboard Online, https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7625628/pop-drop-sound-of-2016- chainsmokers-justin-bieber-switched-on-pop Moore, Allan. 2005. “The Persona-Environment Relation in Recorded Song.” Music Theory Online 11/4. ———. 2012. Song Means: Analysing and Interpreting Recorded Song. Farnham: Ashgate. Nobile, Drew. 2020. Form as Harmony in Rock Music. New York: Oxford University Press. Osborn, Brad. 2019. “Formal Functions and Rotations in Top-40 EDM.” Presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Music Theory, Columbus, OH. Peres, Asaf. 2016. “The Sonic Dimension as Dramatic Driver in 21st-Century Pop Music.” Ph.D. Diss., University of Michigan. Summach, Jay. 2011. “The Structure, Function, and Genesis of the Prechorus.” Music Theory Online 17/3. .