陽光大衛私房粉絲網

很專業對Crush歌詞及旋律的研究，對歌曲創作有興趣的人不妨一讀。

robinfrederick

=> THEME
The theme of this song -- falling in love but not knowing whether the other person feels the same -- is one that has been explored in many hits The songwriters will need to create a fresh point of view in order to get the listener's attention. (Shortcut #38.) By focusing the chorus on a series of questions, "Crush" emphasizes the insecurity and anxiety of the situation, at the same time letting listeners know, indirectly, exactly what the singer is feeling.

=> STRUCTURE
The structure does not follow the usual hit song form. It opens with an 8-line verse ("I hung up the phone tonight..."), followed by a pre-chorus ("Why do I keep running...") and a chorus ("Do you ever think..."). All of this is just what most hit songs would do. (Shortcut #26.)

Things change in Verse 2. The first four lines of Verse 2 repeat the melody from Verse 1 but the second half of Verse 2 has a melody that listeners haven't heard before. It sounds like a variation on the verse melody and has the same lyric form, so that's most likely what it is. This section segues directly into the second chorus with no pre-chorus, creating plenty of forward momentum.

There's no bridge in this song; after the second chorus, it goes to the pre-chorus, then repeats the chorus to the ending. The second pre-chorus may have been cut both to enable the song to get to the chorus sooner and so that it could be used as a bridge without creating too much repetition in the song. It's an interesting solution to a problem.

Try this structure in a song of your own. Just make sure you can get to chorus from either the verse or pre-chorus. "Crush" uses the same chord progression in both verse and pre-chorus which helps to solve that problem.

The structure is Verse / Pre-chorus / Chorus / Verse / Chorus / Pre-chorus / Chorus to fade out.

=> MELODY
There's a great example of contrast between sections in this song. Not only is the chorus melody in a higher note range than the verse or pre-chorus, but it also has a very different melodic rhythm. The melodic rhythm of a song is the result of using a combination of short and long notes to create a pattern. (Shortcut #88 and #95.)

In the first four lines of the chorus, the pattern of long and short notes is clearly Short-Short-Short-Short-Long. Then the melodic pattern changes, emphasizing the downbeats for two lines. After that, the whole pattern is repeated. The melodic rhythm patterns in the verse and pre-chorus are quite different from the chorus; they feature more of a see-sawing Long-Short-Long-Short-Long pattern.

The Payoff Line: The final line of the chorus is one that listeners will remember so it needs to be a compelling closer. This chorus ends with a catchy "yay-ee-yay-ee-yay" on the final word that extends the chorus and creates a memorable hook.

=> LYRICS
The first line of the first verse sets up a specific situation ("I hung up the phone tonight / Something happened for the first time / deep inside, it was a rush"), drawing listeners immediately into the singer's situation with physical and emotional detail. Then the second half of the verse sets up the feeling of anxiety that's going to dominate the chorus ("the possibility that you would ever feel the same way...it's just too much).

The pre-chorus (beginning with the line, "Why do I keep running...") sounds somewhat generic lyrically; the "hypnotized/mesmerized" rhyme is a familiar one., It's not a particularly fresh lyric but it does make the point that the singer is deeply in love, describing the strength of the crush and leads listeners in the questions of the chorus. However, since this section is going to be repeated for the bridge, I feel the writers could have made better use of the lines; with a little work they could have been more compelling and original.

The chorus lyric is where this song really shines. The short phrases create a sense of breathlessness and urgency, while the series of questions adds drama. And all the while the singer is asking questions, he's telling listeners what he himself feels.

DO IT NOW!
Because the chord progression is so repetitive, as well as being very familiar, this is an easy song to learn and play. Try using it as a "ghost song" to practice your skills. Write a new lyric and melody to this chord progression. Be sure you don't use any of the hit song's melody or lyric. (Shortcut #2.)

Copyright 2009 Robin Frederick.