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Friday Influences Thread! 06-22-12 HAH!

Lee Knight

By Lee Knight
in Songwriting Workshop

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So go ahead... join in. You've looked at the FIT for weeks now. Some of you years even. You've thought, "What would I post if I were to post?" If you were to? Come on! Join in! It's a musician thing. Like a jam, you know? "But those guys don't know me..." Well fix that!

 

Today is the first day of... however that goes!

 

---

 

[video=youtube;yYoTMxVzQ-A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYoTMxVzQ-A

 

My shot at a play by play of XTC's Mayor of Simpleton. Try listening through once uninterrupted by just following the bolded lyrics below. Then try a 2nd pass using the pause button. A lot. :)

 

READY?!?!?

 

press play >

 

0:00-0:08

Intro, starting with an 8th note anticipation before the 1. SMASH! right into it!

 

Key of G.

 

l: C / D / :l 4 bars

 

A 1st position C chord. Your basic folk chord. The sliding up 2 frets with the same fingering gives us that cool Dsus4 and 1/2 step between the F# note on the D string and the open G (try it). A sus4 and a 3rd rubbing and sustaining. Groovy. Meanwhile the bass line doesn't favor the C or D chords. In fact it avoids them choosing to outline the key of G in 8th notes in a simple but cool dance through the G major scale:

 

Bass l: G(octave) F# B C D C B A G, G(octave) F# G(octave) B C E D :l

 

That mild rub of the bass outlining the G scale, and the guitar volleying between C and Dsus4... is the crux of the tune. It's unique stamp.

 

0:08-0:22

The 1st part of the verse continues through the chords and bass of the intro. 8 bars.

 

Never been near a university,

Never took a paper or a learned degree

 

0:22-0:28

the 2nd part of the verse continues with a 4 bar section:

 

And some of your friends think thats stupid of me

But its nothing that I care about.

 

Here^, we break for the first time from the repeating pattern with both the bass and guitar resolving to G together but quickly moving on, in an upward climb...

 

G, Asus4, C(bass descends down from C) D(bass continues down now playing an F# on the D, etc. for cool harmony)

 

0:28-0:36

Well I don't know how to tell the weight of the sun

And of mathematics well I want none

 

Now the chord pattern is reversed, instead of G, Asus4, C, D we get:

 

l: C, D, G, Am7 :l

 

0:36-0:45

 

And I may be the mayor of simpleton

But I know one thing...

 

G E/G# Am D

 

Awesome climb. The tune is a constant series of climbs strung together by attaching descending bass lines returning to I. Note the G# on the E chord under the word "simpleton". As if, even though he's dense, he has a clarity of vision in his love. Moving, pushing upward.

 

...and that's I love you

 

^ A return to that intro of C's and D's. But wait!

 

0:46-0:56

There's more!!!! He's not done with this verse! Let him reiterate!!! Drive your point home, Andy!

 

When their logic grows cold and all thinking gets done

You'll be warm in the arms of the mayor of simpleton

 

Now we've got the C, D circle but the bass does another climb altering the chords with

 

C, D, C/E, D/F#, C/G, D/A, D (the turn around chord on the title of the song! Mayor! Dominant!) G, C, G... and back to...

 

0:56-0:59

The intro again. All under a minute.

 

Whew!!!!

 

0:59-1:37

Verse 2! What's different from Verse 1? Well, nice backups in the gaps of the lead vocal. Backups overall are added... and we don't have that tag at the end of the verse but go right into a bridge after the shorter verse 2, at the asterisk below*.

 

I cant have been there when brains were handed round

(please be upstanding for the mayor of simpleton),

Or get past the cover of your books profound,

(please be upstanding for the mayor of simpleton),

And some of your friends thinks its really unsound,

That you're ever seen talking to me.

 

 

Well I don't know how to write a big hit song,

And all crossword puzzles well I just shun,

And I may be the mayor of simpleton,

But I know one thing,

And thats I love you...*

 

1:37-1:52

Bridge. Our B section. Relative minor, boys!!!

 

I'm not proud of the fact that I never learned much

Just feel I should say (Nice uber compressed, mono tack piano!!! along with that bass fill!!!)

What you get is all real, I can't put on an act, (nice delay trick!!!)

it takes brains to do that anyway (and anyway)

 

Bm, Em, G (relative minor then back, lets not stray from tonic)

Bm, E7, A7, D (secondary dominant turnaround!)

 

The bridge lyrically, is an alternate POV. "Hey! I'm not proud!" and at the repeat of that Bm, Em G sequence, he changes it up (this IS Andy Partridge) with secondary dominants (E7, A7) and drives home the punchline with a A7, D... cause it takes brains which he ain't got. Brilliant.

 

1:52-2:13

Verse 3 starts at a later point in the verse. So while it's shorter like V2, it's truncated up front this time. Not at the tail.

 

Well I don't know how to puzzle problems and puns

And a home computer has me on the run

And I may be the mayor of simpleton, but I know one thing,

And that's I love you (I love you)

 

...with an additional I love you for good measure. Right over the intro's C's and D's and cool bassline again. continuing into...

 

2:13-

Verse 4?!?! With backup in the gaps but also parallel harmony on the whole verse!

 

If depth of feeling is a currency

(Please be upstanding for the mayor of simpleton)

Then I'm the man who grew the money tree

(No chain of office and no hope of getting one)

Some of your friends are to brainy to see

That they're paupers and that's how they'll all stay (and he step out with some lyric fingerpointing 'tude)

 

Well I don't know how many needles make up a ton

Of all the Nobel prizes that I never one,

And I may be the mayor of simpleton, but I know one thing,

And that's I love you (I love you)

 

When ALL logic grows cold and all thinking gets done,

You'll be warm in the arms of the mayor of simpleton (Again!Climbing!!! Nice upbeats snare accent with vocal!)

You'll be warm in the arms of the mayor of simpleton (CLIMB!)

You'll be warm in the arms of the mayor (Again!!!!!! D7sus4/A)

 

And WTF!!!! An A bass in G! Great fade. And WTF again!?!?! Let's give them a cascade from above with stacked and overlapped harmonies begging for understanding and empathy for this dolt. A dolt in love. PLEASE! Be upstanding for the mayor of Simpleton and the king of pop ecstasy.

 

OK... I will. I freaking love it. One of the best basslines, melodies and lyrics ever. Partridge at his peak.

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LCK Newbie

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My shot at a play by play of XTC's Mayor of Simpleton.

 

 

Nice tune.

 

My first foray into acting was in seventh grade. We did a production of "The Music Man."

 

I played Charlie Cowell, the traveling anvil salesman, but I was "in love" with Susan Zeiman, who played Marian the Librarian, opposite Myles Kuwahara as Professor Harold Hill.

 

Apparently, Paul McCartney was also a fan of this show.

 

[video=youtube;Mr5gCdUXJQY]

 

"There were birds in the sky

but I never sawr them winging.

No I never sawr them at all..."

 

LCK

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rsadasiv Newbie

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When I was doing the Skinny Tie stuff I looked into doing Mayor of Simpleton. I got the guitar arpeggio and the bass walk of the verse, but a lot of the charm of the tune is in the multi-part vocal harmonies and the studio arrangement, which didn't really translate well to the live feel I was trying to achieve.

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When I was doing the Skinny Tie stuff I looked into doing Mayor of Simpleton. I got the guitar arpeggio and the bass walk of the verse, but a lot of the charm of the tune is in the multi-part vocal harmonies and the studio arrangement, which didn't really translate well to the live feel I was trying to achieve.

 

 

Sure... but man, I actually think that the attention they took at that simple chord sequence, the C to Dsus4 to C, while the bass outlined the G scale... that is the character of that tune and makes it works so well. Here it is sans studio magic. While a different beast, its inherent character remains...

 

[video=youtube;3d8cc0AhX4c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d8cc0AhX4c

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bee3 Newbie

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You can dismiss them as a hippy jam band... but I'd be careful. Excellent musicianship. Sophisticated musical ideas. I love this band... and have been a huge fan since 93 or so. They were one of the first 'modern' bands I really got into who were using piano and organ in a way that resonated with me. I'd say Paige McConnell probably inspired me to buy my first organ/Leslie combo...

 

When I was younger, any songs I wrote or collaborated on were heavily influenced by Phish. I've since moved on... way on actually... and am influenced in the complete opposite direction, trying to achieve shorter, concise songs with lyrics that actually mean something. So, in a way, I'm influenced NOT to do it Phish's way... but I have a huge amount of respect for them.

 

[video=youtube;Xmn2zqtMChY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmn2zqtMChY

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I had the extreme good fortune in the mid 90s (when I was coming of age!) to get to see these guys in some variation or another at least once a week... I was underage but used to get in to this shabby little bar in West Philadelphia every Tuesday night... these guys smoked it every time. It was at these shows that I learned about Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, etc... they typically played as a trio with the keyboardist playing a Hammond A model and covering bass duties with his left hand. Most weeks, Chico Huff, the bass player would drop by... and just tear it up! Then any combo of horns would just show up occasionally and destroy it.

 

I really miss those days. I urge you to listen.

 

Here is a sample:

 

[video=youtube;9-GttPJkNvw]

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I love this album from '73 for that 70's Cop Show sound. Their first album had a very young Robben Ford on guitar (later replaced by L. Carlton) and Larry Nash on keys (later replaced by Joe Sample). I prefer these guys to their better know replacements. Max Bennett on Bass (going old school flatwound P-Bass) and Johnny Guerin (going dead drums, major pocket).

 

Funk Jazz Muzak. But I loved it. I learned how to play in the pocket at 15 years old listening and playing along with this. These guys were Joni's backing band for a good chunk of time.

 

Tom Cat - Tom Scott and the LA Express.

 

[video=youtube;KNsKkJWQzNI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNsKkJWQzNI&feature=related

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rsadasiv Newbie

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Wow... that's uncanny.

 

Keith sued and eventually got a cut of the royalties. :idea:

 

 

But changing pace... I got schooled pretty bad by shortchord on jazz standards this week, so how about some girl group pop.

 

[video=youtube;osVaF4t-zFc]

 

(and the version I learned first)

 

[video=youtube;CGD27WgtKhI]

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