I can never remember where the downbeat is supposed to fall in the chorus of “Islands in the Stream.” 

Written by the Bee Gees (brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb), this 1983 No. 1 hit for Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers is a contender for greatest duet of all time. But I can never seem to find a stable landmass in its rushing waters. When I try to sing the titular line to myself, its cadence wriggles through my fingers like a sea lamprey migrating upriver.

Is this perceived rhythmic ambiguity a flaw in the composition? A fault in my own hearing? Whatever it is, I’ll take it as an opportunity to remix and experiment. Follow me around the room, won’t you?

When I finally sat down to analyze the chorus, I found that the downbeat coincides with the next-to-last syllable of each line. 

Islands in the stream
That is what we are
No one in be-tween
How can we be wrong
Sail away with me
To anoth-er world

It strikes me that this phrasing emphasizes the least important part of each line — “the,” “with,” and so on. It would seem more natural to emphasize each line’s final syllable. This would require beginning each phrase an eighth note earlier.

Exhibit A: Last syllable

The emphasis could also be placed on the first syllable, using the downbeat to launch rather than conclude each line. But there’s a problem with this approach.

Following the six lines of the chorus proper is a two-line post-chorus (“And we re-ly on each other, uh-huh / From one lo-over to another, uh-huh”). Here the phrasing has no ambiguity — the emphasis falls squarely on the most important word of each line. The chorus may be movable, but the post-chorus is not. As a consequence, beginning the chorus on the downbeat doesn’t leave enough space between the two sections.

Exhibit B: First syllable

However, if we omit the post-chorus, we can shift the rest anywhere we please. Below are eight permutations of the chorus melody, each beginning one eighth note later than the previous one. To my ear, all sound equally valid, though some work better than others. If like me you were ever unclear on where the downbeat is supposed to fall, now you’ll be hopelessly confused.

Exhibit C: Variations

^{Isolated vocals via Dj David C., backing track via Digital Deconstructions}

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Trompe l’oreille

Pop music depends on rhythmic expectations. Sometimes an artist will deliberately mess with those expectations. Other times the way you hear things will be misguided.

A quick post to set the record straight.

On Reddit someone’s posted an overcomplicated guide to the polyrhythmic drum intro on Phish’s “Mound” (from “Rift,” 1993). Here’s the real deal:

3 bars of 6/4
1 bar of 4/4
1 bar of 5/4
1 bar of 4/4

The form repeats three times. The snare always lands on beat 4, regardless of the time signature. The handclaps provide a frame of reference, staying in 6/4 time throughout and always falling on the 4.

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Assertively resigned, resignedly assertive

The Phish song “Horn” features theme and variations worthy of any classical composer.

After a cursory, thoroughly unscientific survey, I have concluded that one of the longest, weirdest chord progression in rock music is found in “His Kingly Cave” from Frank Black and the Catholics’ “Devil’s Workshop” (2002).

While certainly there are upward and downward deviations, the preponderance of rock and pop verses follow a three- or four-chord pattern spread over four, eight or 12 bars. (See, for example, virtually every Pixies song.) 

In contrast, the verses of “His Kingly Cave” cram 14 chords (10 of them unique) into a 13-bar format. Exotic chords with weird fingerings, no less. Perfectly mystifying for a song about dropping acid at Graceland.

If “Cave” represents an extreme but successful aberration, what’s an example of an unsuccessful one? How many chords is too many? This is partly a question of what separates a rocker from a jazz douche. But really it’s a question of musical effectiveness. How far can you extend a progression before it becomes self-indulgent, unfollowable, unpleasant?

Here’s how the “Cave” verse is constructed and why I think it works:

The first eight bars conform to the G minor scale. Bar 9 (Fsus2 to F Major) is the gateway to another harmonic world. The final four bars revolve around the peculiar F Byzantine scale.

G minor and F Byzantine have three notes in common — F, A and C (Bb too, but that’s not important here). In other words, both can be used to build a plain vanilla F Major triad, which is what brings the progression to its conclusion and links it back to the more familiar ground of the first eight bars. So while the Byzantine scale’s sudden appearance seems to intensify the acid trip, it talks you back down just as quickly.

Exhibit A: Components of the verse of “His Kingly Cave.” Listen here.

Some other long chord progressions:

Coffee and TV – Blur
8 bars; 8 chords
B  Am  E(add9) E
G  G/F  Bb  Db (2nd time: A)

Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
16 bars; 16 chords, 5 unique
C Am C Am F G C G
C F G Am F G E Am

Jabberwocky – Daniel hales, and the frost heaves.
11.5 bars; 17 chords, 6 unique
Fm  Cm  Dm  Ab
Fm  Cm  Dm  Bb
Dm  Bb  Fm  Cm
Dm  Bb  Dm  Ab  G

Blackbird – The Beatles
8 bars, 18 chords, 11 unique
G Am7 Bm(b6) G
C Em D F#m Em Eb
D Em C Cm Bm A7 D7sus G

John Waters’ “Hairspray” (1988) is a favorite film for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the eponymous song that plays over the opening and closing credits. It’s a ’60s homage propelled by that sine qua non of ’80s pop — tons of gated reverb on the snare drum.

The song itself is simple as can be. Key of C, modulates up a wholestep at the end, verse follows a I-iii-IV-V chord progression. “Let me tell you ’bout the latest craze,” Rachel Sweet sings over the bright tonic chord (C Major), then a minor chord (E minor) creates tension: “Mama’s hoping that it’s just a phase.” But she escapes back to positivity (F Major): “But I know it’s gonna last forever,” and reinforces her triumph with the dominant chord (Gsus4 to G Major) while singing, “You’ve gotta see the way it keeps my hair together.”

The chorus uses the same chords, except the vi chord (A minor) is substituted for the iii. Layered on top of the first three chords are backup singers repeating the word “Hairspray,” with one singing the root (C) and the other the fifth (G). This takes us out of the realm of basic triads and into upper extensions, effectively making the chord progression C Major / A minor 7 / F add 9 / G Major.

Exhibit A: Backup vocals and accompaniment. Listen here: https://buff.ly/34tRqj7

“Hairspray” is a nostalgia film, and this is the harmony of nostalgia, with the fundamentals of the scale staying the same even as the chords change around them.

The Fully Celebrated Orchestra was a band I idolized in high school and college. I discovered them when a friend took me to a Thurston Moore show in 1999 at MassArt. FCO turned out to be way more interesting than Thurston.

Over the next few years I drove into Boston a ton to see FCO, including one time they were playing in a bar that turned me away because I was underage. “But I just want to see the band,” I protested.

A lot of what I love about about FCO is their frenetic skronking, which isn’t really notatable. But sometimes their tunes do contain something you can put down on staff paper. An example is “Space Demons,” which has always puzzled and delighted me.

Exhibit A: Transcription of “Space Demons.” Listen here: https://buff.ly/2IFmPHW

The studio version (from “Right On,” 1998) starts with a repeating snakecharmer motif based on the B-flat harmonic minor scale. Suddenly the melody contorts into another plane of existence. Live versions of the song begin in this alternate dimension before settling into the B-flat harmonic minor, then veering off again.

The change follows no scale or chord progression I can identify. Alien as it sounds, though, it does seem to follow some internal logic.

The title may be a reference to a 1985 young adult sci-fi novel where the protagonists get sucked into a video game “Tron”-style. One moment you’re on terra firma, the next you’re in uncharted territory trying to escape demons from space.