[I Got A Woman - Ray Charles]
I Got A Woman is a mixture of R&B and early soul, being influenced strongly from blues and jazz. The song is often given credit for the birth of soul music and influencing those early soul artists. This is done by the emotional delivery of gospel music with the themes and rhythms taken from R&B music.
In this song, you can clearly hear what instruments are being used.
The Piano is played by Ray Charles, using his excellent skills to drive the song, featuring those gospel chords and syncopated rhythms.
In this song, there is a section with saxophones, tenor and baritone saxophones, which provides such powerful riffs and fill between vocal lines.
The drums for this song is a very steady, swung shuffle beat which adds to the groove and gives the song its infectious rhythm.
The walking bassline played on the bass underpins the song, adding such movements and supporting the chord changes.
The electric guitar in this song provides some nice jazzy fills and a rhythmic support which further enhances the groove.
The structure of this song goes of the following: The intro where saxophone and piano alone set up the groove, verse 1 which is where the main vocal melody is first introduced, chorus where the same hook is repeated, verse 2, chorus, an instrumental break where the saxophone solo takes place, verse 3, chorus, and the outro which consists of improvised vocals lines and instrumental fade-outs.
This song uses the standard 12-Bar Blues Progression in the key of Bb Major:
Bb7 | Bb7 | Bb7 | Bb7
Eb7 | Eb7 | Bb7 | Bb7
F7 | Eb7 | Bb7 | F7
The song uses the bluesy dominant 7th chords to give the song a nice bluesy feel. The song uses a call-and-response technique, one of the key features that are borrowed from gospel music, where Charles' lead vocals interact with the instrumental responses, acting as a conversation between human and instrument.
The lyrics in this song describe a devoted and caring woman who has been there for the narrator, proving love, care, support and stability.
The phrase "She gives me money when I'm in need" really acts a scaffolding to the songs meaning, demonstrating that this woman is always generous and loyal to the narrator. This song presents an idealised viewpoint of a woman's role, displaying her as nurturing and dependable. Ray Charles message within this song is to appreciate and admire your loving partner. On the other hand, this song also reflects the traditional gender roles of the 1950s where a woman's devotion and selflessness where idealised. Despite this factor, the energy that is delivered in the song makes it a celebratory and passionate song about love.
The songs melody is soulful and heartfelt with a lot of gospel-inspired of vocals. Ray charles' use of dynamic phrasig and vocal runs bring a powerful and emotional quality song. The melody is pentatonic with some bluesy bends and the call-and-response patterns that add a spontaneous feel.
[Everyday - Buddy Holly]
Everyday is one of the most classic songs of the 1950s. The song sounds like a gentle lullaby, which is quite different when you look at some of Holly's rather upbeat songs. The song is definitely in the rockabilly influenced ballad category.
The sort of instruments that were used in this song are very clear.
You can clearly hear the Celesta being used in this song to give it that dreamy, lullaby-like-feel melody. The celesta is simply just a keyboard instrument that has a tone somewhat similar to a bell.
You have some hand clapping going on, which was a big thing at the time. Instead of the usual percussion, this song consists of a quite rhythm repetition of hand claps, this adds a very gentle, percussive element that keep the tempo steady and the song moving.
There is an acoustic guitar. Holly's signature way of playing the acoustic guitar allows such a simple chord progression, presenting the harmonic backbone of the song.
The vocals for this song are sung but Buddy Holly himself, and his smooth vocals are propelled in such a heartfelt way, this way of singing really drives that melody of the song while the subtle backing vocal harmonies add some nice depth to his words.
This song is written in the key of A major and the chord progression follows a simple I-IV-V structure. This one of the more common chord patterns used in 1950s pop and rock music. The song follows a verse-chorus structure: Intro, verse 1, chorus, verse 2, chorus, outro. In the intro, there is just a simple instrumental melody using the celesta, and the outro is just a repetition of the chorus melody
The verse chord progression goes as followed: A major, E major, F sharp minor, A major, D major, A major, E major, A major
The chorus chord progression goes as followed: A major, E major, A major, D major, A major, E major, A major
The song employs the basic diatonic harmony, this means that all of these chords come from the key of A major. The use of the vi chord F sharp minor adds a slight bit of tension and variation in the verses. The harmonic simplicity complements the songs dreamy feel.
The lyrics in this song display a sense of hope and the excitement of love. The song speaks of love and how it grows stronger everyday, hence the name. It suggests a deeper emotional connection that is always being built.
Phrases such as "Everyday it's a-gettin' closer, goin' faster than a roller coaster" use a form of metaphorical language to demonstrate the thrilling and unpredictable nature of love, and that anything can happen with love. This is shown in the way that he compares love to a roller coaster. By doing this, he emphasises the excitement and rapid development of love between one another. The repetition of "every day" supports the idea that love is simply a natural and inevitable progression of strong emotions.