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production and longer song structures. 'Born To Run' was the moment when he successfully revamped the best
music of the pre-Beatles era. The Spectorish production starts with a six-note Duane Eddy-type guitar motif
supported by a barrage of saxes, guitars and keyboards. The verse moves twice round an E-A-B change before
bringing in a couple of minor chords. Listen for the bVII chord on the first "oh-oh", played as a sus4 and then
resolved. There isn't a separate chorus, as the hook is part of the verse. Since the song is about journeying, it is
fitting that the middle section after the sax break travels in harmony terms. From E major we go to a 16-bar sequence
of sus4 chords and their resolutions: D, G, A and C. The sense of key is fluid throughout. We watch possible tonal
centers rush by as though in a car seeing the sights. Then, with a crash, F is established as a new key for six bars;
after a few bars there, the music ascends and then descends by semitones (half-steps), landing on a drawn-out B
chord that thrusts the music back into the final verse. Springsteen repeats the hook several times, reharmonizing by
adding a VI chord (C#m) before the coda.
At this time, Springsteen was very conscious of the effect of a song in concert and seems to have shaped his material
for the stage. He adapted the old "soul revue" trick of having many mini-climaxes in a song. 'Born To Run' has a
number of these peaks, so the energy of the track never drops.
14—
Bebop Deluxe:
'Maid in Heaven' (1975)
Bebop Deluxe were a UK band who enjoyed moderate success at the tail-end of glam rock with a literate "take" on
the Bowie/Queen sound. Led by singer-guitarist Bill Nelson, 'Maid In Heaven' is one of their two hit singles. It is a
beautiful example of how exciting 1970s rock can be when it struggles out of its self-indulgence. 'Maid' starts with
something of a false intro, an F D A progression that implies F is the key. A change to G in bar six, however, leads
to the true key of D major and an eight-bar sequence with some fine lead over the top. The verse is a further ten bars
- six vocal and four with a guitar arpeggio. After Verse 2, the song goes to a middle eight that pivots off an Em
chord (displacing D and thereby adding interest) and links up with part of the intro (a crescendo on A) before two
more verses, the last of which repeats the hook line "was made in heaven for you". The earlier descending arpeggio
figure is then extended down a full octave. The coda is decorated by studio phasing, dynamic drums, expressive lead
and a classic rock I V IV progression, before the whole thing finishes with a punched-out descending sequence
going down the scale to chord I.
A bright, passionate, thumping little world in a mere 2:17, and for all its romance it still has the humanity to say, in
the last verse, "take the rough with the smooth".
15—
R.E.M.:
'Fall on Me' (1986)
This song was voted the best single of 1986 by Creem and is taken from the band's fourth album, Life's Rich
Pageant. The lyrics are as impenetrable as ever with I.R.S-era R.E.M (the theme is apparently ecological), though
enough of the images come through to carry a variety of emotions. The song is in C major but there's no sign of
chord I until the pre-chorus, and there it is present only for two beats, displaced in a II V I IV progression. The verse
consists of a melancholic Dm-Am change (II-VI). The middle eight is almost entirely on the minor chords II, III and
VI, and there's an extended pre-chorus instead of a third verse to delay the last choruses by a fraction.
The real power of the song lies in the chorus, which is fueled by a powerful I II IV V turnaround. What lifts it into
the sublime is the presence of an increasing