Listening Guides

iTune link = Billie Jean

The subject matter of "Billie Jean" was rather unusual for Michael Jackson. Where most of his songs deal with innocent romantic love, in "Billie Jean" a woman accuses the singer of siring an illegitimate son, an accusation he continues to deny. Jackson obviously wrote the song as a vehicle for showing a tougher, more dramatic side of his stage character. His voice sounds angry and defiant throughout the song.
     The infectious rhythmic feel of "Billie Jean" is as responsible for its success as its subject matter. Jackson conceived the basic drum pattern on a drum machine. It was supplemented by a live drummer on the recording. Two bass patterns were added next. The first is a constant patter of eighth notes, propelling the groove ever forward. The second bass pattern is a series of two accented notes, soon joined by a synthesizer chord riff.
     Jackson begins the verse in the lower register of his voice. His vocal is laden with the shuddering vibrato and emotional hiccup fills that characterized his style from 1980 on. After four measures he is doubled by his own overdubbed voice an octave higher. In the chorus, the "Michael Jackson" choir blossoms into full harmony; the blend is sparkling and extremely precise.
     In the second verse a synthesized vocal sound plays a counter line to Jackson's vocal. There are also a number of "Michaels" responding to the main vocal with echoed phrases from the verse. On the climbing portion at the end of the verse, a violin line replaces the synthesized vocal line. In the seventh and fifteenth measures of the chorus, the violins play a sweeping descending line between the vocal phrases.
     A choppy electric guitar rhythm also begins to assert itself in the last portion of the second chorus. The guitar then plays an eight-bar solo based on that choppy rhythmic pattern. The vocals reenter at the halfway point in the chorus and continue with a vamp based on the chorus until the fade-out of the recording.

Listening Guide 22.2
"Like a Prayer" 4 beats per measure

iTune link = Like a Prayer

Madonna's 1989 album Like a Prayer was her most ambitious album to date. She intended it to be a more serious, probing album, blending many disparate elements of rock and pop. The title track maintains a strong dance groove but also retains the religious imagery that was a part of her persona, in this case relating her sense of love to angels, a prayer, and the like. Enhancing the religious effect is the use of famous gospel composer and choir leader Andrae Crouch and a chorus of singers. There is also the use of churchlike organ at the beginning of the track. Underlying it all is a solid dance groove, created by synthesizers, guitars, and drum machines.
     The construction of the song has four main parts. There is the typical verse and chorus, of course. At the beginning of the track is a section in a somber, minor key. This opens the song, first with the choir singing wordless harmony; then Madonna presents the melody. Since there is no tempo or groove stated at this point, it serves as sort of a prologue to the song proper. In the tradition of opera, a singer would often sing a portion out of tempo, a recitation, or recitative, followed by the main song, or aria. In that same spirit, this portion of "Like a Prayer" is labeled recitation. There are the usual verse/chorus alternations, then the recitation section returns in tempo. Madonna then extends the ideas with a rapid-fire melodic sequence. Finally, there is what is labeled here a coda, a musical term describing a new section that ends the piece; here it features the choir. The recitation extension is inserted before a repeat of the coda. The track fades during this second presentation of the coda

iTune link = Purple Rain

Analysis of "Purple Rain" (Purple Rain, CD format, Warner Bros. 7599 251102)

Purple Rain is Prince's most successful album; the film and movie made him a superstar in the mid-1980s. It demonstrates his command of a number of stylistic and production approaches to music.
      The title cut, "Purple Rain," is a power ballad, heavily leaning toward the ballads of pop metal bands of the day. Prince's solo voice, the drums, and the guitars are heavily processed, giving the music a lonely, distant, and cavernous sound. On the verses Prince's vocal style is half spoken, half sung, reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix at times. He logically builds the intensity of his vocal delivery with each verse/chorus combination until, by the third verse, he is almost sobbing and hysterical with passion. On the second and third choruses, the vocal harmony is rich and strong. After three verse/chorus combinations, there is a metal ballad-style guitar solo that goes for a generous 32 measures at a very slow tempo. Halfway through, Prince's voice answers the guitar with high falsetto singing.
    Rather than returning for a final verse and chorus, Prince chooses to have four more measures of a guitar solo, followed by powerful held notes from the guitars with no tempo. Over a two-minute long process, the held notes begin to die away and a tinkling, high piano riff is heard. It is almost like a soundtrack to a star exploding in space, its fragments gradually dissipating into the void.
    Also notice in this piece that Prince does not use a conventional steady grouping of eight four-beat measures. Each verse and chorus has an extra two beats at the end of the eight-measure grouping. These 2/4 measures, as opposed to the more plentiful 4/4 measures, are indicated in the Listening Guide as half measures (hence 8.5 measures).