Song Analysis - Part 1: Where I Stood (Missy Higgins)

Why this exercise?

Breaking and analysing songs is a very powerful tool and can help any musician learn and understand a genre inside out. Though every song differs from the other in multiple ways but there is an underlying connect between songs that puts them into a certain genre and makes them convey a certain emotion. And if one has a sense of that, it makes a huge difference when it comes to taking musical decisions.

Which song are we analysing and why?

The song that I've chosen to work on is 'Where I Stood' by Missy Higgins. She is an Australian singer-songwriter who writes simple but powerful. The song 'Where I Stood' was featured in the North American Top 20. It's a beautiful song with strong emotion and there is so much that we can learn out of it. We' look at various aspects including structure, instrumentation, dynamics, arrangement, rhythm, harmony, melody, mixing, etc. Without further ado, let's just dive straight into it.

Structure

The song essentially has three sections, say A, B and C. The song starts with an intro section which essentially repeats itself in the first verse. This means the song has two A-sections in the beginning, followed by a chorus, or a B-section. There comes an instrumental section here, or say C-Section. It is then followed by another verse, or an A-section, which is then followed by the second chorus, a B-section. The song then has a bridge, or D-section, which is then followed by a final chorus, or B-section.

Thus the song structure looks something like: A-A-B-C-A-B-D-B

Instrumentation and Production

The song was produced by Mitchell Froom. Lets look at each of the sections from the structure we discussed above:

A1: Piano + Vocals

A2: Piano + Vocals + Drums + Bass

B1: Piano + Vocals + Drums + Bass + Acoustic Guitar + Electric Guitar + Pads

C1: Piano + Drums + Bass + Cymbals + Shaker

A3: Piano + Vocals + Drums + Bass + Shaker

B3: Piano + Vocals + Drums + Bass + Acoustic Guitar + Electric Guitar + Pads

D1: Piano + Vocals + Drums + Bass + Acoustic Guitar + Electric Guitar + Pads

B4: Piano + Vocals + Drums + Bass + Acoustic Guitar + Pads

The song was produced within the 'boundaries' of a singer-songwriter track. There were no electronic elements in the production. The production of the song is pretty modern yet keeping the singer-songwriter vibe intact.

Arrangement

The song begins with vocals and piano and builds up with drums and bass entering to pick the energy up and the energy further builds up in the chorus with the acoustic guitar entering in the chorus and playing some fast strums. Pads too help glue all the parts together providing a solid floor to the chorus. Electric guitar joins in late as the chorus swells into the instrumental section. The instrumental section brings the energy down and gives the listener some breathing time out of all the excitement. But the excitement kicks back in soon with the drums and bass once again moving fast into the second chorus with acoustic guitars and pads. This time the vocals have a second layer adding to the vibe. The song moves into a bridge section with instrumentation continuing to keep the energy up right from the second chorus. The song breaks down and brings energy to the floor with a vocal and piano section which hits the roof right away with the whole setup entering to finish the song on a high!

Dynamics

The song is immensely dynamic and keeps the listener hooked up to the track throughout. It's a great song writing and arrangement skill to include such dynamics. The song is a rollercoaster with highs and lows spread evenly through the song. The song starts on a low (energy) with piano and vocals and quickly builds up section by section till it breaks down after the first chorus and brings the energy back. The song steadily enters into the second verse and agains builds up to hit the roof in the chorus and the bridge. The song once again breaks down at the end just before it finishes on the high.

Rhythm

The song has a steady simplistic rhythm in 4/4 with kick hitting on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4 while the hats working on every eighth note. The rhythm essentially stays the same with a few ghost notes in the chorus section. The rhythm section enters and exits to keep the energy dynamic throughout the song.

Melody and Harmony

The song is in the key of A.

The chord progression for the track starts with a B minor and sets the feel of the track in B. I believe its in B Dorian. Do give me a feedback on the same if you feel it isn't.

Detailed chord structure is available on many websites. I'm leaving a link to one of them I felt was the closest to my findings. Click here.

Technology

The song was recorded and mixed by David Boucher. It was difficult to find the exact gear that he used for this particular record but I stumbled upon another song which mentioned his gear list. Not necessarily the microphones and equipment from this gear list was used for this record. The following list is merely indicative of the type of gear David Boucher would go for.

Drums: 1964 Ludwig Gold Sparkle

Bass: 1972 Fender Precision Bass

Guitar: Parts Tele, Harmony Meteor

Keys: Wurlitzer 200

Organ: Hammond B3

Amps: 1960’s Kalamazoo Two, 1953 Fender Tweed Deluxe, Ampeg, Bell&Howell, 60s Fender Bassman Mics

Vocal: U87

Kick: Custom Mojave

Snr: Josephson e22

OH: KM56

Wurly: EV 666

Organ: C37a, RE-20

Guitar: EV666, Sm57

Console: MCI JH416

Mixing

The track starts with Piano and Vocals. Vocals wins the 'presence war' between the two and there seems to be a dip in the 3k region of piano. The piano in the first verse is a stereo piano with the lows on the left and highs on the right. The bass and kick sound clean and the snare sounds crisp yet rounded. The chorus has a layer of acoustic guitars on the left balancing the highs on left and right. Kick and snare are centre and hats too feel centre-ish through out. The width of the song doesn't change much between the verse and chorus but there are added elements, as discussed above, in the chorus that make it sound big.

Performance, Artistic Intent and Vibe

For me, the vibe of the track is such that I would love to play it on a rainy day over a cup of coffee. The song talks about a very personal emotion and it takes the listener on a journey going through the past. The lyrics talk about contemplation, introspection and finding oneself.

The performance of the vocals is so expressive. Places like 'whispering' and 'listening' are beautifully done. She picks up the energy in the chorus and beautifully brings it down in the second part of the chorus.

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Analysing songs like this is a great practice to know the tracks inside out. It must be done on a regular basis as it is a great learning tool. I hope this article helped you grab something. I'll be continuing the practice in the future. Please send in your suggestions as to how I can improve on song analysis. It's an ever growing process but the key is to be consistent. See you next time.