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Specific parts of songs that kill you


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Okay, so,

 

I find myself finding tiny miniscule parts in songs that for some reason really kill me, in the way that it really gets me emotionally for some reason. A phrasing, a combination of notes, a specific guitar lick, a vocal inflection, anything. Am I the only one?

 

Here are a few examples of mine:

 

Wilco - At My Window Sad and Lonely 0:50

 

The way Jeff sings "Do you ever think of me my darlin'?" for some reason always sticks out to me and is just so beautiful.

 

George Harrison - If Not For You 2:39

 

The way George goes up on the line "Nowhere at all" for some reason just always sticks out in my mind as being so beautiful.

 

 

 

So, riddle me this, am I just completely nuts or do other people have these weird favorite parts?

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I drive my wife crazy pointing out little parts of songs, a certain drum snap or little riff or whatever. I will have to give it some thought.

 

One thing that always gives me chills is the way Merry Clayton's voice cracks on the "Rape, Murder" in Gimme Shelter.

 

John Lennons falsetto at the end of "In my life".

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Three come to mind: 1. the first "shake it to the east, shake it to the west" line in Funkadelic's "Hit It and Quit It". 2. Betty Carter in "Can't We Be Friends", when she sings "through with love" and drops instantaneously through about 3 octaves and back. 3. "Sunken Treasure" from Tweedy solo (I think 1-9-2003, maybe 2004), singing "with you..."

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The piano line on Ashes that plays at the "I'm down on my hands and knees every time a doorbell rings" line. The last guitar solo in Muzzle of Bees. The end of Reservations, all of Chinese Apple.

 

--Mike

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Poor Places - I like the gentle little guitar riff after Jeff sings (i think) "I'm not goin' outside..."

 

I just got Brian Wilson's "SMiLE" LP last night, and I love the part in "Surf's Up" when he sings "a children's song.."

 

I also love the chord changes during "Cabin essence timely hello."

 

I've got a million of these.

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It's funny that this came up today. I was just talking with someone about my favorite lyrics last week. These are just SOME of the ones that rip me up a little each time.

 

 

 

 

And wonder who you've been in rhythm with

 

 

 

In the beginning

We closed our eyes

Whenever we kissed

We were surprised

To find so much inside

 

 

 

I'm assuming you love me

And you know what that means

 

 

 

How can I get closer and be further away

From the truth that proves it's beautiful to lie

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When the coda for "Hey Jude" by the Beatles kicks in. I bask in its glory every time. Also, for Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road," when the instrumental part kicks in it blows my brains out. When it comes to Wilco, they've already been mentioned...the Ashes part, the beginning of the guitar freakout in At Least That's What You Said, and the horns in Pieholden Suite at the end are real grabbers.

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Impossible Germany -- end of the instrumental part when Nels, Jeff, and Pat all play that same riff -- kills me. That's one of the songs that always takes me back to a live show.

 

Via Chicago -- at the end, when his voice sounds like it's gonna break on "I'm coming home."

 

Poor Places "Someone ties a bow in my backyard to show me love"

 

Walken -- that guitar bit towards the end that's preceeded by Glen coming in strong on the drums. And the slide guitar after "I was singing this song about you."

 

Non Wilco -- opening chords of REM's "So. Central Rain."

 

Scary piano at the begininng of "While my Guitar Gently Weeps"

 

 

There's so much more -- these are just the oof the top of my head.

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I usually get slain by a simple, well-placed harmonica solo, like in Moonshiner, or Call Me On Your Way Back Home, or The Ghost Of Tom Joad. Gets me every time.

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Usually, there's a well-marked line between the songs I really love and those songs that hit me really hard, that I can't listen to very often. A few songs straddle that line (and have been listened to quite a lot, lately)...

 

I crossed many states just to stand here now, my face all hot with tears

I crossed city, and valley, desert, and stream, to bring my body here

My history and future blaze bright in me and all my joy and pain

Go through my head on our mountain bed where I smell your hair again

 

 

One by one the teardrops fall as I write you

One by one my words come falling on the page

One by one my dreams are fading in the twilight

One by one my schemes are fading fast away

 

 

I kept my distance

Because she fell in love with everyone

Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees

She fell in love with me

I was polite to her

A soft sadness had her much more than her loneliness

 

and all of We're Just Friends.

 

 

As for other bands,

Radiohead's House of Cards, Let Down, and (of course) Fake Plastic Trees

August - Rilo Kiley

Happy - Jenny Lewis w/ Watson Twins

Do You Realize?? - Flaming Lips

Now at Last - Feist

 

 

There are probably a few more, but these are the ones that I've never been able to get enough of, even if I feel less than chipper after listening to them. :stunned

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