Cat Cohen's Anatomy of a Hit a Hit in 2008

Love Song by Sara Bareilles

This is the archived version of Catcohen.com.

Share

On many levels Sara Bareilles delivers one of the best contemporary love songs of the past few years. Song: Love Song Artist: Sara Bareilles Album: Little Voice Songwriter: Sara Bareilles Producer: Eric Rosse B000R7I3LY

Concept
A modern homage to the inherent ironic conflicts in young adult romance.

Lyric
The lyric exposes many sides of the conflicted feelings of love with its brilliantly textured images. Head under water, and they tell me to breathe easy for a while The breathing gets harder, even I know that You made room for me, but it’s too soon to see if I’m happy in your hands I’m unusually hard to hold on to Blank stares at blank pages, no easy way to say this You mean well but, you make this hard on me I’m not going to write you a love song, cause you asked for it Cause you need one, you see I’m not going write a love song, cause you tell me it’s make or breaking this If you’re on your way I’m not going to write you to stay If all you have is leaving I need a better reason to write you a love song today

Groove
An appealing modern, yet retro, uptempo shuffle groove over a strong quarter-note feel.

Melody
A very unique melody with incredible architecture, great contrast and asymmetry that still manages to repeat enough to keep the listener on target.

Harmony
Rock triads unusually voiced in unpredictable sequence with uneven harmonic rhythm changes plus a few dirty notes to give an edgy sound. ii I Isus2/3 V vi V I VI7 (loop 5x) ii I/3 IV vi ii I/3 IVmaj7 ii7 V iii7 IV vi7 (2x) ii7 I/3 vi II7 IV V [2x] vi iii IV I V (2x) vi iii IV V

Structure
Sig A B C Sig A B C D C’ Sig Signature-intro verse pre-chorus chorus signature verse pre-chorus chorus bridge chorus-variant signature-outro

Signature
Keyboard triads with dissonant notes attract attention from the getgo.

Production
The innovative production grabs and keeps the listener from the first note to the last. Kudos!

Performance
Sara’s vocal is emotional with conviction and style and superb phrasing.

Predicted Longevity
One of the best crafted pop recordings in years, this song is sophisticated, yet accessible. It should have a long life with the young hip urban boutique-shopping audience it reflects.

Album Cover: Little Voice

See More Anatomy of a Hits
 
This is a temporary archived version of Catcohen.com with content from 2017. It will be replaced by a new website shortly (Fall 2022).
© 2000-2022 Cat Cohen Unlimited