“Class of 2013” is an emotionally charged song written by the Japanese-American singer-songwriter Mitski. Mitski is an indie rock artist known for her beautiful lyricism and haunting melodies. Yet, as an artist with a large fan base, she is surprisingly a very private person. The only look her fans get into her life is through songs. Her music is often characterized by their intimate tone as it reflects deeply on her personal life. “Class of 2013” is about Mitski’s troubled relation with her mother. Her mother disapproves of her of life as artist. In the song, Mitski seeks solace from her mother but the request is burdened by their strained relationship.
The studio version of “Class of 2013” and live versions differ greatly from one another. The studio version is a much dynamically subtler song with a measured meter. It lacks the expressive timing that Mitski uses within her live performance. Changes in accompaniment, timing, meter, timbre and dynamic in the live version demonstrate how expressive timing functions within Mitski’s live performance. Spontaneity is not something that can be captured in the studio version or through sheet music. Within this blog post, I will be comparing the studio version to the live performance Mitski did for the record label Audio Label as part of the live sessions in 2015.
Studio Version
Live Version
The studio version of this song is set in 3/4 with a with rolling arpeggiation in the piano accompaniment. Yet, this waltzy piano line is not at all mirrored by Mitski’s melancholy lyrics. Her phrases almost never come in on the downbeat and instead often start in the middle of the downbeat instead. She also often has ties over the bar lines in the middle of her phrases which prevents a strong sense of downbeat often. Mitski’s frequent use of syncopation also destresses the downbeat in her own melody line. For instance, in the line “Can I dream for a few months more?”, when she sings “few months” at 1:28, each word is placed on a dotted quarter note. Thus, the bar is divided into 2 rather than the traditional three division which makes the bar feel like a duple bar. Thus, when contrasting the metrical consistency with the piano accompaniment and Mitski’s melody line, it is clear she is trying to destabilize the meter within her lines.
Unfortunately, there is no official, published score for this song. The only score I could find was uploaded by a very helpful reddit user. The score, therefore, has no dynamic markings. Yet, the studio version is well-transcribed here. Mitski’s guitar chord pattern does show a lot of correlation between lyrical syllable and harmonic change. Many of the stressed words within the song are highlighted by a chordal shift. For instance, within the first phrase at 0:05, “Mom, I’m tired”, both “Mom” and “Tired” are stressed and arrive on a chordal change. This can also be seen within the climax of the song when Mitski sings “Mom, can you wash my back this once and we can forget” at 0:51. On the stressed words of “Mom”, “wash”, “once” and “forget”, there are changes in chords. The chordal changes function more as an indicator of where to place stress rather than the actual downbeats of the 3/4 rhythm. When Mitski performs this live, it is performed without meter, so it makes sense that the downbeats do not function metrically in the studio version. However, the dynamic stress, and expressive timing of the live version is not really captured by this score at all. Furthermore, the guitar tabs alone do not instruct the musician of the time signature. Therefore, depending on whether the musician listened to the live recording or the studio recording will impact how they metrically interpret the song. From this score, the studio version could be easily imitated. However, the dynamic stress, and expressive timing of the live version is not really capture by either the guitar tabs or the sheet music.
Mitski’s performance during the live session staggeringly contrasts the studio version. Instead of the piano accompaniment, Mitski aggressively strums an electric guitar to a drone tone. She purposefully creates distortion through her careless strumming which creates a specific timbre that her own voice seems to imitate. Unlike the in the studio version where Mitski’s singing style is clear and well-tuned, Mitski here seems to be distorting her voice by intentionally missing the centre of pitch and by scooping between pitches. The slight off-pitch singing gives her more of a sense of desperation. After she strums the guitar, she seems to let the distortion fall and rest. She lets the reverb resonate before she moves onto the next line of the song.
Expressive timing within her live performances can be partially accredited to the lack of meter. This gives Mitski the freedom of entrancing when she wants and speeding up/slowing down the musical line at her leisure. As the live version is seemingly unmetered, her entrances and the amount of time that passes before she starts a new line is not comparable with the sheet music. The hesitation and the performed spontaneity of her entrances makes it seem like she is reacting to her mother in real time. The song evokes the spirit of a child going to their parent’s bed at night asking for help. For instance, this can be seen in the line at 4:17 of the live version: “Mom can you wash my back this once and we can forget”. This line reveals Mitski is nostalgic for a time when her relationship with her mother was one of codependence and uncomplicated love given between a mother and her young child. In this performance, Mitski holds the word “Mom” and “Wash” longer than she does in the studio performance. She also reaches a higher level of emotional intensity within this moment by screaming the line into her guitar. The voice-cracked quality of her voice and lengthened shriek of the word “Mom” imitates the hysterical crying of a scared child.
Within the studio version of “Class of 2013”, the piano keeps Mitski’s melody within the steady tempo and meter of 3/4. While she still demonstrates emotional depth within the studio, the live performance seems rawer due to the timing flexibility allowed in a live performance. Her use of expressive timing can be seen within her unmetered, drone accompaniment, her unplanned entrances, and her lengthening of certain pitches. While the studio version is still a compelling song, Mitski is able to add so much to “Class of 2013” within a live setting. Her live performance can convey the despair Mitski feels about her tumultuous relationship with her Mother. Both versions of this songs are motivated differently by what Mitski is trying to achieve with each. The studio is a subtlety interpretation of the heavy subject matter of lyrics which are juxtaposed with the waltzing, calm piano accompaniment. Yet, within the live version, Mitski seems determined to reach a more intense level of emotive performance through her seemingly spontaneous, expressive timing and her extreme dynamic choices.