Do I Wanna Know<Span Class="Orangetitle"> Deconstructed
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Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Do I Wanna Know Deconstructed Skip to: Audio/Video Overview Song Structure Momentum/Tension/Intensity (MTI) Music/Instrumentation/Vocal Delivery Vocal Melody Lyrics Benchmarking A&R Hit Factors Highlights & Takeaways Audio/Video Back to Top At a Glance Back to Top Band: Arctic Monkeys Song/Album: Do I Wanna Know / AM Songwriters: Turner, Cook, Helders, O’Mailey Genre: Rock Sub Genres/Influencers: Psyc, Alt/Indie, 60?s / 70?s Retro Length: 4:31 Structure (Form): A-B-A-B-*PC/B Tempo: 85 bpm First Chorus: 1:36 / 35% into the song Intro Length: 0:29 Outro Length: 0:22 Electric vs. Acoustic: Electric Primary Instrumentation: Electric Guitar, Prominent Bass Lyrical Themes: Love/Relationships, Introspection Title Occurrences: 5 full occurrences, 1 partial Primary Lyrical P.O.V: 1st & 2nd Overview Back to Top 1 / 112 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Released as the second single from their latest album, AM, Do I Wanna Know finds the Arctic Monkeys at the forefront of the Retro Psychtrend that is currently permeating the airwaves, alongside contemporaries including Cage The Elephant (Melophobia), Beck (Morning Phase), and The Black Keys (Turn Blue). As you’ll see within this report, despite its overtly retro leanings, Do I Wanna Know still manages to come across as fresh and exciting in today’s music scene. This is specifically due to a combination of Alex Turner’s unique vocal and lyrical contributions to the song coupled the exceptional craft that is imparted throughout. Most importantly, Do I Wanna Know contains a wealth of hit songwriting characteristics and techniques that when studied will undoubtedly help take your songwriting and producing skills to the next level! Song Structure Back to Top TIMELINE (Shows when each section hits within the timeline of the song) Form Do I Wanna Know’s form (structure) starts off like many other chart-topping Rock and Pop hits that we see. It kicks off with an intro, which is then followed by a verse, pre-chorus and chorus, and then repeats the progression save for the intro for a second time around: Intro – Verse – Pre-Chorus – Chorus- Verse – Pre-Chorus – Chorus (I – A – PC – B – A – PC – B) What happens next is where Do I Wanna Know breaks from the norm. First, instead of following the second chorus with a bridge as you would typically expect, the song goes into another pre-chorus, which is quite rare. It then goes into a unique pre-chorus/chorus 2 / 112 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com “hybrid” section (reference the music/instrumentation/vocal section of the report for details) before heading into the outro and the conclusion of the song. As a whole, Do I Wanna Know’s full form looks like this: Intro – Verse – Pre-Chorus – Chorus – Verse – Pre-Chorus – Chorus – Pre-Chorus – Pre- Chorus/Chorus “Hybrid” – Outro (I – A – PC – B – A – PC – B – PC – PC/B – O) Additionally, notice that the song DOES NOT contain a bridge or a prominent instrumental break within its framework. SECTION LENGTH & COUNT (Length of each individual section within the song) I=Intro, V=Verse, PC=Pre-Chorus, CHR=Chorus Section Count Do I Wanna Know contains 10 full sections within its framework as follows: 1 intro 2 verse sections 3 pre-chorus sections 2 chorus sections 1 pre-chorus/chorus “hybrid” section 1 outro 3 / 112 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Section Length In regard to the length of full sections within the song, they range from the moderate to quite long, with the majority landing in the low 0:20 range: Moderate 0:18 pre-chorus/chorus “hybrid” 0:22 pre-chorus 1, 2 & 3 0:22 outro 0:23 chorus 1 & 2 0:29 intro Long 0:45 verse 1 & 2 The longest section is not what you would expect Typically you would expect the chorus (i.e. the “payoff” for the listener) to be the longest section, which is the case with most mainstream Rock and Pop songs. Do I Wanna Know, however, has its longest section being the verse, which is much more in-line much with Hip Hop/Rap songs than the aforementioned genres. The reason is because Do I Wanna Know, along with many Hip Hop/Rap songs, is verse centric as opposed to chorus centric. For those of you familiar with the Arctic Monkeys, this should come as no surprise considering that Turner’s lyrics and unique vocal style are often the centerpieces of their songs. The second longest section is REALLY not what you would expect! Notice that the second longest section within the song is not the chorus, pre-chorus or outro. It’s the INTRO! As you know, the rule of thumb is to keep your intros on the shorter end of the spectrum in order to minimize the chance of the listener losing patience and tuning out (as I say, “hook’em in and get on with it!”). The Arctic Monkeys knew the rule, but they chose to break it. Did this detract from the song’s overall effectiveness? Not at all, as you’ll see why within the intro section of the report. TOTAL SECTION BREAKDOWN (The total time consumed by each section and its percentage of the total song) 4 / 112 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com As was the case with section length as discussed above, when we look at the total time that was allocated to each section within the song, the majority once again goes to the verse, which is more in-line with the Hip Hop/Rap genre than Rock or Pop. This was due to both occurrences being significantly longer than any other section within the song. The next greatest amount of time as you would expect went to the chorus (payoff) sections of the song. Right? WRONG! It actually went to the pre-chorus, which is an extreme rarity by mainstream standards. In this case, however, it was well warranted. Not only is it exceptionally infectious, but it’s also the only section within the entire song besides the pre-chorus/chorus “hybrid” section to feature the title lyric in its entirety. 5 / 112 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com And finally, we have the chorus. Notice that it accounts for just 17% of the song’s entire composition, almost HALF that of the verse. Does this mean that it’s not well crafted or any less important than the other sections within the song? NOT AT ALL. On the contrary, it’s just as, if not more infectious, engaging, memorable and important than all of the other sections, as you would expect a chorus to be. We’ll get into why later… One more surprise is that following the chorus it wasn’t the outro or pre-chorus/chorus “hybrid” section that were allocated the most amount of time. It was the INTRO, totaling 11% of the song’s entire composition. Now that’s something that you don’t typically expect to see! MTI (Momentum/Tension/Intensity) Back to Top (Evaluation of the intensity of each section within the song timeline on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the most intense) CHR=Chorus, V=Verse, PC=Pre-Chorus, TRANS=Transition Point When we talk about a song’s MTI level, we’re referring to how fluctuations in momentum, tension and intensity levels are utilized within each section of the song. Do I Wanna Know is characterized by a slow burning, seductively dark groove that embodies each section within the song. Considering that the overall essence of the groove remains pretty much constant throughout, shifts in MTI levels are brought about via the addition/subtraction of instrumentation within the mix coupled with shifts in the nature of the vocal melody/delivery. MTI Levels – Section By Section Intro 6 / 112 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Do I Wanna Know kicks off with a low/mid intensity level brought about by the solo drums during part A of the intro. The introduction of the primary riff and bass into the mix during the second half then functions to kick the overall MTI level up a couple of notches. Verse 1 The MTI level is kicked up a notch over that of the preceding intro via the introduction of the lead vocal into the mix. This results in an increase in both intensity and tension. Pre-Chorus 1 The MTI level further increases first and foremost due to an increase in tension, followed by an intensity increase as well. Transition – Pre-Chorus Into Chorus The MTI level takes a brief dip specifically due to the drums being pulled from the mix. Chorus 1 The MTI level is shot up to its first apex within the song from an intensity and momentum standpoint, brought about via the shift in the nature of the backing music and vocal delivery. Verse 2 The MTI level is initially brought way back down due to the “breakdown” (i.e. sparse) nature of the first half of the section. The intensity and momentum then increase during the second half primarily due to the reintroduction of the primary riff. Transition – Verse 2 Into Pre-Chorus 2 The MTI level drops down a couple of notches primarily due to the drums being pulled from the mix.