Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Deconstructed Skip to: Audio/Video At a Glance Song Overview Structural Analysis Music, Instrumentation & MTI Vocals, Lyrics & Harmonic Progression The Vocal Melody Top 10 Assessment Hit Factor Assessment Conclusion Songwriter/Producer Take Aways Audio/Video Back to Top At a Glance Back to Top Artist: Taylor Swift Song/Album: We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together / Red Songwriters: Martin Sandberg (Max Martin), Johan Karl Schuster (Shellback), Taylor Swift Genre: Pop Sub Genre: Straight-Up Pop, Tinge of Country Length: 4:14 Structure: A-B-A-B-IB/VB-C-B Tempo: Mid (86 BPM) First Chorus: 0:39 (20% into the song) Intro Length: 0:06 Outro Length: 0:24 Electric vs. Acoustic: Combination Primary Instrumentation: Acoustic Guitar Lyrical Theme: Love/Relationships 1 / 43 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Title Occurences: We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together occurs 11 times within the song Primary Lyrical P.O.V: 1st & 2nd Overview Back to Top Released as the lead single from the much anticipated Red album, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together saw Taylor Swift pairing up with two of today’s hottest Pop hitmakers, Max Martin and Shellback, with the aim of taking the success achieved on her previous album to new heights all the while solidifying her stature in the Modern Pop & Country genres. Since its release, Never has topped the charts in three countries including the U.S. Hot 100, and has set numerous records including most digital sales in a week by a female artist (623,000) and reaching the top of the iTunes singles chart in the fastest time ever (50 minutes). So – was it the “hype” and “curiosity factor” that accounted for Never’s record setting success or was it the song itself? Read on and find out! Structural Analysis Back to Top At-a-Glance Section Length (Length of each individual section within the song) I=Intro, V=Verse, Chr=Chorus, Turn=Turnaround, Brg=Bridge, IB=Instrumental Break 2 / 43 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together contains 18 individual sections within its framework, all of which are quite short in length (landing between 0:06 and 0:13). Key points: The song is very linear in nature, with each section landing at exactly 0:11 except for the intro, turn-around, break and second half of the outro. Notice that the break and second half of the outro are just one and two seconds longer, respectively. The intro and turn-around are the shortest sections within the song, each landing at 0:06. Notice that the first verse is comprised of two 0:11 stanzas, while the second verse is only one stanza long. Notice that each full chorus is split into two halves, each landing at 0:11. The first half consists of the two “we are never ever getting back together” lines while the second half consists of the “you go talk to your friends…” followed by the “but we are never ever…” lines. The full outro section is split into two halves as well (the pre-chorus/chorus combo “we…whoo oo oo oo” lines followed by the “you go talk to your friends…” lines, which is actually a complete reversion back to the second half of the chorus). Timeline (Shows when each section hits within the timeline of the song) Total Section Analysis (Total time consumed by each section and its percentage of the total song) 3 / 43 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com There are eight FULL sections within Never’s framework, comprising 35% of the song’s total composition all the way down to just 3%. What’s interesting is that with the exception of a solo, Never contains just about every type of section that you could squeeze into a song. The result – the listener is provided with a good amount of “variety” that ultimately makes for a very engaging listening experience. Key Points: As you would expect, the three full chorus sections account for the vast majority of time within the song, comprising 35% of its total composition. That being said, we can look at it another way as well. Considering that the second half of the outro is technically a reversion back to the second half of the full chorus, we can also revise the chorus number to where it accounts for 41% of the song’s total composition. Combined, the two verse sections account for the second most amount of time within the song, encompassing 17% of its total composition. The outro, bridge and pre-chorus sections all encompass virtually the same amount of time (13%, 12% and 12% of the song, respectively). As you would expect, the intro and turn-around take up the least amount of time within the song (3% each). Now, let’s see how the sectional breakdown of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 4 / 43 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com stacks up against the average of the 23 songs that landed in the Billboard Pop Songs top 10 during Q2-2012: Intro We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Comprises 3% of the total song. Q2-2012 Average: Comprises 4% of the total song. Comparison: Never’s intro is basically right in-line with the Q2-2012 average. Verse We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Comprises 17% of the total song. Q2-2012 Average: Comprises 24% of the total song. Comparison: 7% less time is allocated to Never’s verse compared to Q2’s average. Pre-Chorus We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Comprises 12% of the total song. Q2-2012 Average: Comprises 12% of the total song. Comparison: The amount of time dedicated to Never’s pre-chorus is right in line with the Q2 average. Chorus We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Comprises 35% of the total song. Q2-2012 Average: Comprises 44% of the total song. Comparison: 9% less time is allocated to Never’s chorus compared to Q2’s average. Note: If you factor in the second half of the outro as mentioned earlier (which is a reversion back to the chorus), the gap shrinks to just a 3% difference (41% vs. 44%). Bridge We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Comprises 12% of the total song. Q2-2012 Average: Comprises 13% of the total song. Comparison: The amount of time dedicated to the bridge is right in line with Q2’s 5 / 43 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com average. Outro We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: Comprises 13% of the total song. Q2-2012 Average: Comprises 9% of the total song. Comparison: 4% more time is dedicated to Never’s outro than Q2’s average. Note: If you remove the second half of the outro and consider it as part of the chorus as mentioned above, the gap shrinks to just 2% (7% vs. 9%). Summary: In-Line with Top 10 Pop Song Averages: The intro, pre-chorus and bridge. Deviates from Top 10 Pop Song Averages: Never allocates less time to the verse and chorus sections while devoting more time to the outro than Q2-2012 averges. Overall, you can see that We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together has a lot in common with the average top 10 Pop hit when it comes to the total time allocated to each section within the song. This was no doubt a direct result of the Max Martin / Shellback influence, especially considering that it’s their co-writes that usually land in the Pop Songs top 10! Music, Instrumentation & MTI 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) When we talk about a song’s MTI level, we’re referring to how fluctuations in momentum, tension and intensity levels are utilized in each section of the song. MTI Level Key Points: 6 / 43 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com There are four MTI level peaks within the song: Chorus 1, Chorus 2, the Instrumental/Vocal Break and the third Chorus through the Outro (once again, keep in mind that the second half of the Outro is a reversion back to the chorus). There are three MTI level lulls within the song: The Intro, the Solo Vox/Turn-around coming out of Chorus 1 and the Bridge (plus the brief pause that follows). Notice that the MTI level is immediately brought down directly following choruses one and two. Coming out of chorus 1, this is achieved by pulling the backing music out from under the “back together” vocal at the tail end followed by the low MTI level turn- around. Coming out of chorus 2, the backing music is pulled, but this time there’s a vocal harmony on the phrase “getting back together” coupled with a cymbal swell that leads into the Vox/Instrumental Break section that follows. Notice that the MTI level “lull” isn’t as pronounced the second time around. Notice that each subsequent chorus section is a bit more intense than the preceding chorus. This is achieved through changes in overall level as well as additional instrumentation being added to the mix.