Good or bad, like it or not. It’s the only one we’ve got Chromatic transformations and harmonic ambiguity in three Nik Kershaw songs Helge Jørgensen Masteroppgave i Musikkvitenskap Institutt for Musikkvitenskap Universitetet i Oslo Våren 2020 i Index LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ................................................................................................................... III TABLES III FIGURES III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................. V CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION -THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT NIK KERSHAW’S MUSIC... ................................ 1 BACKGROUND 1 STRUCTURE 2 ABOUT THE CHOICE OF SONGS 3 AIMS AND FOCUS 4 SCOPE AND DISCLAIMER 6 CHAPTER 3: THEORY AND METHOD ........................................................................................................... 8 POPULAR MUSICOLOGY 8 LOOKING FOR MEANING 8 HERMENEUTICS 14 ANALYSIS AND CLOSE READINGS 15 NEO RIEMANNIAN THEORY 18 NROS ................................................................................................................................................................... 19 THE TONNETZ ......................................................................................................................................................... 19 JAZZ THEORY 20 TRADITIONAL MUSIC THEORY 21 MODALITY, FUNCTIONAL HARMONY AND TONALITY ...................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 4: A HARMONIC ANALYSIS OF I WON´T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME .................................... 24 INTRODUCTION 24 A DECEPTIVE GUITAR FIGURE DEFINES THE SONG BEFORE IT BEGINS -MOVING INTO THE INTRO 27 KEYBOARD HOOK 29 VERSE 31 PRE-CHORUS 38 VOCAL ARRANGMENTS, TIMBRE AND VOCAL COMPULSION 41 THE I V VI IV PROGRESSION IN THE INTRO AND CHORUS 43 BRIDGE 48 MEANING 49 CHAPTER 5: BOGART ............................................................................................................................... 51 ii INTRODUCTION 51 STRUCTURE 52 INTRO 53 VERSE 55 CHORUS 67 BACK TO THE VERSE 72 THE DOUBLE GUITAR-SOLO 73 MEANING 74 CHAPTER 6: ONE STEP AHEAD ................................................................................................................. 77 INTRODUCTION 77 STRUCTURE 79 INTRO 81 VERSE 83 E7SUS4 IN RELATION TO THE C#7SUS4 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE VERSE ......................................................................... 87 E7SUS4 IN RELATION TO THE CMAJ7ADD9 ENDING THE MIDDLE SECTION OF THE VERSE ...................................................... 87 E7SUS4 IN RELATION TO THE C#M AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHORUS ............................................................................ 88 CHORUS 89 BRIDGE 93 GUITAR INTERLUDE AND VERSE 3 95 THE LAST ROUND OF CHORUSES 96 SUMMARY OF HARMONIC FLUCTUATIONS AND ANTICS IN THE SONG 98 MEANING 98 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION AND FINDINGS .............................................................................................. 101 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................................... 101 INDEX OF RECORDINGS ......................................................................................................................... 113 List of Figures and Tables iii List of Figures and Tables Tables Table 3-1: Formal Structure of “I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” ........................................................ 26 Table 3-2: Shows the relationships between the same chords in terms of voice parsimony, Neo Riemannian operations, modality and functionality. This table shows the six different possible combinations. The arrows in the second column are given much attention visually as this model concerns how the chords move from one another rather than the chords themselves. ............................. 46 Table 5-1: Formal structure of “One Step Ahead” with its different keys ...................................................... 80 Table 5-2: The different ways the 7sus4 chord is used in the song .............................................................. 98 Table 6-1: Different harmonic events in the three songs in the analyses .... Feil! Bokmerke er ikke definert. Figures Figure 1-1: Human Racing cover 1 Figure 2-1: NROs in the four categories. 19 Figure 2-2: The Tonnetz 20 Figure 3-1 Vocal percussion and muted guitar in the intro related to the metre of the song 27 Figure 3-2 a) and b) Two different plausible perceptions of vocal percussion and muted guitar 28 Figure 3-3: The Keyboard Hook on I won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me 30 Figure 3-4 The two-measure instrumental part between the intro and the verse 31 Figure 3-5 shows how the note e changes meaning gradually. 33 Figure 3-6 Shows the first verse. 36 Figure 3-7: Pre Chorus 38 Figure 3-8: Parsimonius movements from Bbmaj9 to A 41 Figure 3-9 A, E, F#m, D in the Tonnetz Figure 3-10 A, E, F#m, D in the circle of fifths. 46 Figure 3-11 The Bridge 49 Figure 4-1 The bell (fire extinguisher) in the intro 54 Figure 4-2 intro 54 Figure 4-3 Pick-up measure and the first three measures of the verse 57 Figure 4-4measure 4-8 of the first half of the verse 59 Figure 4-5 The tonnetz shows how the vocal melody correlates the parts in different keys together by the common town c, as the instruments at the same time juxtaposes the two parts by a maximum, moving directly from C’s third e, to Ab’s tonic. 60 Figure 4-6 The second half of the first verse 61 Figure 4-7 Circle of thirds 63 Figure 4-8 Harmonic versatility of broken chords in the vocal melody 64 Figure 4-9 The Chorus 68 Figure 5-1:Intro 82 Figure 5-2: F#m7 guitar voicing in the intro. 82 Figure 5-3:Verse 83 Figure 5-4: The structure of the 7sus4 chord used in the song 84 Figure 5-5: The contrasting middle section of the verse 84 Figure 5-6: The last four measures of the verse FIKS GITAR OG KEYB!!! 86 Figure 5-7 Shell voicing. Here shown as Bm7(no5) used in “One Step Ahead” but with e as tonic so it becomes E7sus4(no1) 86 List of Figures and Tables iv Figure 5-8: Example 1 shows the two chords in the same inversion. Example 2 shows the chords as they are actually played in the song 87 Figure 5-9: The PR operation from the E minor key to the C# minor key (a), and the chords moving from E7sus4, or Em7add11 if you include the vocal melody in the voicing of the chord (b). They are both represented by a horizontal line on the tonnetz, still sharing one common tone, e, with C#m. 89 Figure 5-10: The different voice leadings from Em7add11 to C#m 89 Figure 5-11: Chorus 91 Figure 5-12: Bridge 94 Figure 5-13: Step analysis of the Bridge. *stands for modal interchange. / separates a chords function and the chord it functions to. E in this case is the dominant V of F#m´s III, A. 95 Figure 5-14: The P operation from F#m7 to Am 95 Acknowledgements v Acknowledgements Writing this thesis has been as fun as it has been exhausting. It would not have been possible had it not been for all the extra effort the love of my life, Elisabeth Jacobsen, has put into all daily routines and lo- gistics that comes with being a family of six with 4 kids in primary school, two rabbits, a bunch of fishes, and my only contributions being discussions on 80s pop-harmony and disappearing out to sea when- ever possible (preferably with the kids). My mother Randi Jørgensen has also provided invaluable help with the family logistics in this period. A special thanks to my four favourite people in the world for inspir- ing me in different ways as I have been busy writing: Isabel’s Lego figures on my work desk have put a smile on my face every time I have looked at them, and her passion for music is equally inspiring. Ma- line’s silly jokes and sounds have made me endure more working hours than I would have without them. Thanks also for pointing out that many people will mistake this thesis for an eel. Very helpful. Whenever Ingrid came flying through the room on roller skates, crashing into our living room drum kit, it always gave me newfound energy to keep writing. Thanks to Edel for all smiles and hugs and for reminding me that summer is coming. Thanks to Lani Lunde for creating the possibility for me to combining writing this thesis with having a full-time job. Thanks to Gøran Karlsen, Karl Mørkved and Rasmus Huss for valuable discussions and in- puts on Nik Kershaw’s music and this thesis. Thank you, Eirik Askerøi for valuable inputs and feedback, and for tips on literature. Thanks to Elisabeth Jacobsen and Randi Jørgensen for proof reading. I thank Stan Hawkins for all help and supervision. His help has been invaluable in several ways; for inspi- ration, encouragement and for believing in me. His feedback has been crucial when it comes to steering this thesis in the right direction. A special thanks also for being explicit on everything that has not been good enough in the process of writing this. Your precise and unconcealed critique has saved me a lot of time going down the wrong road. Introduction – There is something about Nik Kershaw’s music... 1 Chapter 1: Introduction – There is some- thing about Nik Kershaw’s music... Background Looking at photos, videoclips and album covers from Kershaw’s most popular period as an artist, you will see a young man styled to perfection to look the part of a teen idol. His appearance is perfect for a poster hanging on the walls of worshiping teenage fans. Imagine picking up Kershaw’s debut album Hu- man Racing for the first