Summertime Sadness Deconstructed
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Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Summertime Sadness Deconstructed Skip to: Audio/Video Overview Song Structure Momentum/Tension/Intensity (MTI) Music/Instrumentation/Vocal Delivery Vocal Melody Lyrics Benchmarking A&R Hit Factors Recap & Final Thought Songwriter/Producer Takeaways Audio/Video Back to Top At a Glance Back to Top Artist: Lana Del Rey Song/Album: Summertime Sadness / Born To Die Songwriters: Richard Nowels, Elizabeth Grant (Lana Del Rey) Genre: Pop Sub Genres: Alt Pop, Trip Hop, Shoegazing (Orig.), Dance (Remix) Length: 3:43 Structure (Form): See structure section Tempo: 125 bpm (Orig), 126 (Remix) First Chorus: 0:17/6% (Orig.), 0:38/18% (Remix) Intro Length: 0:17 (Orig.), 0:08 (Remix) Outro Length: 0:20 (Orig.), N/A (Remix) Electric vs. Acoustic: Electric (Both Versions) Primary Instrumentation: Mixed (Orig.), Synth (Remix) Lyrical Theme: Love/Relationships (Both Versions) Title Occurrences: “Summertime Sadness” occurs 16 times within the song (Orig.) Primary Lyrical P.O.V: 1st & 2nd Overview Back to Top 1 / 96 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com As an artist, having 1 version of your song land in the top 10 throughout the world is a cause for celebration. However, doing it twice with 2 versions of the same song is a MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT. This is exactly what Lana Del Rey achieved with both the original and the Cedric Gervais Dance remix versions of Summertime Sadness. The compositional strengths of both enabled Del Rey to cross pollinate into multiple genres and demographics, ultimately taking her stature as a force within today’s mainstream music scene to the next level. Song Structure Back to Top Timeline (Shows when each section hits within the timeline of the song) Original Version Cedric Gervais Dance Remix 2 / 96 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Form General Form Original Version Aside from the fact that it first kicks off with the chorus as opposed to the verse, the original version of Summertime Sadness utilizes the song structure that’s indicative of most of today’s (and yesterday’s) chart-topping Pop hits: B - A – B – A – B – C – B (Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Bridge – Chorus). Dance Remix The Cedric Gervais Dance remix on the other hand deviates for the original in the sense that it first kicks off with the verse, incorporates instrumental breaks, heads back into the chorus AFTER the instrumental breaks, and DOESN’T feature a bridge: A – B – IB – B – A – B – IB – B (Verse – Chorus – Inst. Break – Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Instrumental Break – Chorus). Full Form Original Version When you take into account ALL of the sections within the song, the original version looks like this: Intro – Chorus 1 (Part A) – Verse 1 – Pre-Chorus 1 – Chorus 2 (Part A) – Chorus 2 (Part B) – Verse 2 – Pre-Chorus 2 – Chorus 3 (Part A) – Chorus 3 (Part B) – Bridge – Chorus 4 (Part B) – Chorus 4 (Part A) – Chorus 4 (Part B) – Outro Dance Remix The Dance remix looks like this: 3 / 96 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Intro – Verse 1 – Pre-Chorus 1 – Chorus 1 (Part A) – Chorus 1 (Part B) – Instrumental Break 1 – Chorus 2 (Part C) – Interlude – Verse 2 – Pre-Chorus 2 – Chorus 3 (Part A) – Chorus 3 (Part B) – Instrumental Break 2 – Chorus 4 (Part B) – Chorus 4 (Part B) As you can see, both the original version and the remix possess some distinct similarities as well as some key differences in regard to their form. Regardless, one thing is indisputable – they both put a primary emphasis on their choruses. Not only are there more occurrences than any other section, but they both hit quite early as well, getting the listener into the “payoff” ASAP (even in the remix where it’s preceded by an intro, verse AND a pre-chorus). We’ll be getting into individual section specifics later within the report. Section Length, Count & Segmenting I=Intro, V=Verse, PC=Pre-Chorus, TURN=Turnaround, CHR=Chorus, BRG=Bridge, BRK =Break Original Cedric Gervais Dance Remix Section Count 4 / 96 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Original Version The original version of Summertime Sadness contains 11 full sections within its framework as follows: 1 intro 2 verse sections 2 pre-chorus sections 2 full choruses 1 extended chorus 1 partial chorus 1 bridge 1 outro Notice that everything is pretty “standard” except for the chorus sections: First, notice that the first chorus occurrence is a partial, consisting solely of part A (i.e. “Kiss me hard before you go…”). Chorus part B (i.e. “I’ve got that summertime, summertime sadness…”) is not utilized at this point. Later in the song, however, notice that the fourth full chorus first kicks off with an “extra” part B partial breakdown before heading back into parts A and B as was the case within the second and third occurrences within the song. Remix The remix version of Summertime Sadness also contains 11 full sections within its framework as follows: 1 intro 2 verse sections 2 pre-chorus sections 3 full choruses 1 partial chorus 5 / 96 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 2 instrumental breaks As was the case with the original version, everything is pretty “standard” except for the choruses: First, notice that choruses 1 and 3 are the regular “full” choruses, consisting of parts A and B. Chorus 2, however, not only is a partial chorus, but it’s also changed up in nature from parts A and B. For this reason we’re going to refer to it as chorus part C (i.e. the repetition of “I’ve got that summertime…”). You can look at chorus 2 part C in one of three ways: You can consider it as an independent chorus section considering that it follows an instrumental break. You can consider it as a continuation of chorus 1, acting to “bookend” or “sandwich” the instrumental break section. You can also consider it to be an instrumental break/chorus hybrid section considering that it possesses characteristics of both sections. All 3 would be correct, but we’re going to consider it as an independent chorus section for purposes of this analysis. Section Length & Segmenting Original Version For the most part, FULL sections within the original version of Summertime Sadness range from the moderately short (~0:17 which defines most sections) to the moderately long (0:51 – full chorus 4). One of the keys to keeping the listener engaged as you know is to cut longer full sections into shorter “segments” that will provide a new element entering the mix more frequently. This was primarily indicative of the chorus sections within the song as follows: Chorus 1 (0:17) Partial chorus (chorus part A) Chorus 2 (0:34) Chorus part A (0:17) Chorus part B (0:17) 6 / 96 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Chorus 3 (0:34) Chorus part A (0:17) Chorus part B (0:17) Chorus 4 (0:51) Chorus part B (0:17) – Breakdown Chorus part A (0:17) Chorus part B (0:17) After the segmentation was employed, all but 3 sections within the song landed at 0:17, and even those were pretty close: Pre-Chorus 1: 0:18 Outro: 0:20 Bridge: 0:22 Remix Notice that we have a very similar story with the remix as well, with the vast majority of sections landing at 0:15, just 0:02 shorter than the original version (specifically due to the change in tempo). The 2 exceptions were: The intro within the remix is basically half the length of the original version, clocking in at 0:08. Remember, this is the Dance version of the song, and you need to get people moving ASAP! There’s an 0:08 turnaround that follows chorus 2 part C, which transitions into the second verse of the song. Total Section Breakdown (The total time consumed by each section and its percentage of the total song) Original 7 / 96 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Cedric Gervais Dance Remix As you can see in the graphs above, both the original version and Dance remix possess some key commonalities and differences. 8 / 96 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Commonalities First and foremost, you can easily see that the VAST majority of time within both versions is dedicated to the chorus and all of its individual “parts,” comprising 52% of the original and 49% of the remix. Trailing far behind the chorus, the amount of time allocated to the verse and pre- chorus sections within both versions is almost identical as well, comprising 13% of the original and 14% of the remix. Additionally, despite the difference in their respective lengths, the amount of time allocated to the intro in both versions is quite close, comprising 6% of the original and 4% of the remix. Differences Here’s where the 2 songs part ways, specifically due to the types of sections that they both employ within their respective framework: The original version of the song allocates 8% of its total composition to both the bridge and outro. Notice that these sections WERE NOT utilized within the remix. On the other hand, the remix allocates 14% of the song to the instrumental breaks, which were not utilized within the original version.