0:01

A flat nine is a particularly doesn't

0:03

an interval a space between two notes

0:05

the most composition professors would tell you

0:07

to avoid. Then again, every rule is

0:09

made to be broken and every flat

0:11

ninth can sound beautiful. You just gotta

0:13

know where to put it. Welcome.

0:23

The Strong Songs a podcast about music. I'm

0:26

your host Kirk Hamilton and I'm so glad

0:28

that you've joined me to talk about Music

0:30

with Flatmates Music with Sharp Ninth Music with

0:32

some nights at nights, and who knows Beethoven's

0:34

Ninth to. This.

0:37

Isn't entirely listener supported show which is

0:39

such a wonderful thing. and let's me

0:41

make strong sounds exactly how I want

0:43

to make it. If you'd like to

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chip in and help me keep this

0:47

thing going to the patriot.com/strong zones or

0:49

find the link for one time donations

0:51

in the show. Notes: On.

0:53

This episode, it's time to talk about

0:56

another great band that actually wasn't that

0:58

big stateside when I was growing up.

1:00

Despite their massive profile across the pond,

1:02

they still became one of my favorites

1:04

despite that. So let's turn up the

1:06

bassoon, water the garden, and prep the

1:08

state. If

1:29

you've listened to strong songs for any

1:31

amount of time, you could be forgiven

1:33

for thinking that music it hears to

1:36

certain rules. You might picture song writers

1:38

and composers reading and memorizing the rule

1:40

book and then setting out to write

1:42

songs that perfectly it here to the

1:45

rules contained within it. a minor chord

1:47

here leading to a dominant cord, their

1:49

a triplet here, resolving to a pair

1:51

of eighth notes. There. But. Here's

1:54

the thing. There. Are no rules?

1:56

Or maybe more accurately, there are

1:58

loads of rules, but. Them really

2:00

matter and all of them can

2:02

be broken. There's

2:07

no music theory police who pull

2:09

you over and give you a

2:11

ticket. If you write a song

2:13

made of cord, fragments are put

2:15

melody notes a flat ninth above

2:17

the bass notes, or copy and

2:19

paste seemingly unrelated string section arrangements

2:21

over one another. If you think

2:24

something sounds good, and you follow

2:26

your ear and intuition confidently enough,

2:28

so much becomes possible outside the

2:30

constraints of Western music theory and

2:32

accepted modern songwriting practice. And it's

2:34

in those spaces outside the walls.

2:36

Are you can find some of the

2:38

most interesting and exciting saw. On

2:42

today's episode, I'm going to be

2:44

talking about just such a song

2:46

written by a song writer who

2:49

never cared much about the structures

2:51

of western harmony. It's a song

2:53

stitch together at of disparate parts

2:55

that when taken together to just

2:57

work spaces lauer into something so

2:59

much richer and so much grander

3:01

than they could have been alone.

3:03

song that blossom. On.

3:17

This episode, I'm so excited.

3:19

Talk about C C and

3:21

their Nineteen Ninety Nine Chamber

3:23

Pot Mask. Cease to theater.

3:29

Song that doesn't so much break the

3:31

rules as a says right, Entirely New

3:33

Month. X

3:50

C C is a storied English band

3:52

who released albums from the early Nineteen

3:54

seventies all the way through to the

3:56

early two thousand. For most of that

3:59

run, the band. Consisted of songwriter

4:01

and bassist Call and Molding guitarist

4:03

Dave Gregory and lead singer and

4:05

songwriter and Be Partridge, as was

4:07

a variety of other musicians filling

4:09

out a variety of different minutes.

4:11

Stir evolution over that period of

4:13

time is fascinating and they put

4:15

out some phone or five classics

4:18

from Senses Working Overtime of Nineteen

4:20

Eighty Two, English Settlements. Controversial.

4:35

Unforgettable. Dear God. Off of

4:37

Nineteen Eighty Sixes, Skylark, To

4:52

the resplendent love Lord Mayor of

4:54

Symbols. And off of Nineteen Eighty

4:56

Nine, Oranges and Lemons. And

5:10

all level with you. Any of those

5:12

three songs or any of a dozen

5:14

other ones could have made for a

5:17

great center piece for Nxt. see episode.

5:19

And in some ways those songs would

5:21

be simpler. Each one is a brilliant

5:23

pop song stand. Each feature is all

5:26

three of the bands primary players. By

5:28

the time Scc finished Easter Theater, which

5:30

would eventually be a single on Nineteen

5:32

Ninety Nine's Apple Venus Volume One, long

5:35

time guitarist Dave Gregory had quit the

5:37

band and only Partridge in Molding were

5:39

left. Laboring away over a collection

5:41

of dense chamber orchestra recordings tilling the

5:44

seeds of a sound that was quite

5:46

a bit different from the sharp edged

5:48

eighty's pop rock said made the band

5:50

famous. The

6:00

thing is, I love Apple Venus Volume

6:02

One. It was the album that introduced

6:04

me to Ecstasy Seats and I always

6:06

knew that when it came time to

6:09

talk about this band on strong songs.

6:11

Well, it's definitely a very different sort

6:13

of album from many of as he

6:15

sees earlier works. It's still an amazing

6:18

collection of songs and a great showcase

6:20

for both Partridge and Moldings particular song

6:22

writing styles, so I knew I was

6:24

probably gonna pick a song from this

6:26

record. Oh.

6:36

Cartridges and like That was the first

6:38

I heard off of the album. and

6:40

Million was the first time I've ever

6:42

heard of X P C. He played

6:44

on my local alternative radio station Ninety

6:46

Two Point Three in Bloomington, Indiana. I

6:48

was nineteen years old and I thought

6:50

it was just about the most romantic

6:52

son's I'd ever heard. Of.

7:08

My memories of those years or less

7:10

clear than they used to be, but

7:12

I still vividly recall hearing is a

7:15

second song off of the album on

7:17

that same radio station as he sees

7:19

pagan conjuring some green mid. Sized

7:31

never heard anything like if there were not

7:33

other bands of sounded like this The and

7:35

Ninety Ninety Nine. I

7:43

loved. It seems that I heard it and

7:45

I remember at the end of the song

7:48

searing the Ttc the band's name xt Seats

7:50

and being sought that this was the same

7:52

band that wrote that other very different song

7:54

but I also loved and had only heard

7:56

a few days earlier. So

8:00

I ran out of the local record

8:02

shop in bought Apple Venus volume one

8:04

on Cds a copy that I still

8:07

own to this day, which is good

8:09

since the album is unfortunately difficult if

8:11

not impossible to find on streaming services,

8:13

at least at the time of recording

8:15

this episode. I put the City on

8:17

and was immediately drawn in by the

8:20

album's odd mix of chamber composition it's

8:22

angular melodies and never quite lay in

8:24

the way I expected and lyrics that

8:26

went from grandiose ritual with six spell.

8:40

Charming understated odes to

8:42

everyday life. At

8:49

a. Lan.

8:56

He. Says Cohen moldings

8:58

fruit not. And while the songs that

9:01

are drawn me and initially were and

9:03

be Partridge sounds I really fell in

9:05

love with molding songs as well That

9:07

one as well as Frivolous and Night

9:09

which comes about earlier and love. This

9:22

song was so bittersweet, really beautiful

9:24

to me even then at that

9:26

young age. and it remains a

9:28

quiet, personal theme song for many

9:30

of my most cherished you for

9:32

Princess. That

10:00

song, like makes me cry almost every

10:02

time I hear it. And again, any

10:04

of those songs River of Orchids, Green

10:06

Man, Frivolous, Tonight's any someone the album

10:08

could have said it in for the

10:10

rest of them. It could have summarize

10:12

the distinct brilliance of this pair of

10:14

song writers at this moment in time,

10:17

But when I went back and listen

10:19

to the album in it's entirety, one

10:21

song stood out, even among such rarefied

10:23

comes. Easter

10:29

Theater. the third track on Apple Venus

10:32

volume One is such a fascinating journey

10:34

is a song this shifts moves like

10:36

it's shrugging into new skins. and it

10:38

was the result of such a serious

10:41

mix of song writing techniques, A

10:45

cast a spell every time I listen

10:47

to it and I'm excited to pick

10:49

it apart and explain how it works,

10:51

even if I can't always clearly explain

10:53

why is it. Would.

11:04

Work and that makes it magic.

11:24

Evolved From Vital Stats Future Theater

11:26

was written by Andy Partridge in

11:28

a process that she's actually talked

11:30

quite a bit about, and I'll

11:32

share some of that in this

11:34

episode, Partridge saying the lead vocal

11:36

part, as well as the electric

11:38

guitar solo that takes place after

11:40

the first chorus. The song also

11:42

features Collin Molding on electric bass

11:44

and backing vocals, as well as

11:46

Dave Gregory on acoustic guitar and

11:48

melodrama. At least I'm pretty sure

11:50

he played Mela Tron. He has

11:52

an additional keyboard credit and I've.

11:54

Seen the mela trend footing around out

11:56

there. Like I said, Gregory left the

11:58

band in the midst. Making this

12:00

album, but I'm glad to see

12:02

him still featured on some tracks

12:04

like this one. In addition to

12:07

those three musicians, Easter Theater features

12:09

Prairie Prince on drums. It's as

12:11

was a Studio Orchestra featuring Steve

12:13

Sidwell on a number of Trump

12:15

As from what I've gathered listening

12:17

to interviews with Partridge as well

12:19

as from reading his book an

12:21

excellent and sometimes surprisingly are rated

12:23

series of conversations with Todd Bernhardt

12:25

called Complicated Game Inside the Songs

12:28

of X T see this album.

12:30

Came together in a pretty complex,

12:32

laborious process as Partridge It's Molding

12:34

and producers Hayden Bendel and Nick

12:37

Davies piece together bits from a

12:39

hurried orchestral recording session at Abbey

12:41

Road Studios in an attempt to

12:44

find a unified snooze for the

12:46

album, as well as it's eventual

12:48

follow up wasps Star Apple Venus

12:51

Volume to the resulting album was

12:53

followed by a number of interesting

12:55

and helpful supplemental recordings, including Partridge

12:58

original demo recording, which sounds shockingly.

13:00

Close to the finish song. Is

13:10

also a charming song writing session Partridge

13:12

recorded in his garden said where he

13:14

explains how he came up with some

13:16

of the original ideas for the song,

13:18

and I'll use excerpts from that throughout

13:20

this episode. Six

13:23

or so earthy, so

13:25

soil covered. On

13:28

something oil. Troglodyte

13:32

Business. And. There's an instrumental

13:34

version of the album called Instead

13:36

of Venus which I'll definitely be

13:38

using it signs in this episode

13:40

to highlight the sun's interesting orchestral

13:42

arrangement. So

13:51

let's get into it. Easter Theater Move

13:53

back and forth between the kiddies and

13:55

the key of each it's key center

13:57

is better thought of as a general

13:59

never. No Direction though. rather than

14:01

an actual point on a map. it

14:04

does consist of a verse chorus in

14:06

a bridge. some going to refer to

14:08

those three sections by name. for all

14:10

it's harmonic oddness. The structure? actually pretty

14:13

straightforward. Let's take it from. The. Case,

14:32

so I'm going to focus on that verse

14:35

for the most part, but I do wonder

14:37

if we mention that intro? It starts with

14:39

this stabbing it's dissonance string figure that only

14:41

repeats once again later in the some. Sort

14:49

of d Major Melodies is the first

14:51

three notes of a D Major scale

14:53

placed over a be flat with some

14:56

decent and stabs in the middle. So.

14:59

The figure is basically this. Creates.

15:13

The sort of augmented whole Tony sound.

15:15

But if you just take those Melanie

15:17

notes on their own, he get this.

15:21

And. That's actually the same as the verse

15:23

melody. I'll be a presented category and

15:25

in a different key. To

15:33

that makes the kind of logical sense,

15:36

even if it's hard to explain in

15:38

terms of harmonic theory and then actually

15:40

gives a good sense of how I'm

15:42

gonna talk about this song as a

15:44

whole. Any Partridge wrote this song less

15:47

according to harmonic logic and music theory

15:49

and more according to his musical intuition.

15:51

And a lot of the song involves

15:53

just that sort of thing, taking one

15:55

seats and then placing ad somewhere else

15:58

to see how it'll sound. The.

16:03

Birth of Easter Theater contains to

16:05

repeated phrases moving over that ascending

16:07

figures you can hear in the

16:09

orchestra below the vocals. Smell

16:13

us transition to the instance venus version

16:15

so we can just focus on that

16:17

ascending figure with no minute. He. Said

16:22

As he starts issuing he. And

16:27

his to ask. Into

16:30

T shirt. And

16:33

then these. It's

16:37

an unusual collection of notes starting with

16:39

a half step and going to a

16:41

major, a third, and then a sharp

16:43

for. And it gets even more unusual

16:45

once you factor in the rest of

16:48

the notes that are happening above the

16:50

base know they're not. Technically course, there

16:52

were just harmonic seats, so I guess

16:54

I'll just call them seeps and try

16:57

to avoid calling them courts for the

16:59

first save with got that he in

17:01

the face and then a C syrup

17:03

and a D sharp up above those

17:05

three note. Arms the shape than

17:08

the base moves up a half sept

17:10

F at the top two notes stay

17:12

the same as the second safe. Then

17:14

the base move up to a T

17:16

sharp and the top two notes move

17:18

up to an eve and enough sharp.

17:20

And you know that's kind of an

17:22

augmented dominant thing, but there's no third

17:24

so you could call it may be

17:26

G Sheriff augmented dominant knows theories, but

17:28

that's not how I would describe it,

17:31

that's not how and be Partridge conceived

17:33

of it. So I'm not going to

17:35

try to put names. On any

17:37

these shapes the final say is that

17:39

seem shape up a whole step with

17:41

an a sharp in the face and

17:44

an excerpt and it's he served on

17:46

top. Store for seats for this verse.

17:48

our number one. Number

17:50

Two, Number three

17:52

and number for. It's

17:55

strange, but it's a learn and right. You

17:57

can't say it. Oh

18:10

my little behind the scenes bonus that

18:12

Partridge recorded. He goes in depth on

18:14

his process for ratings this sequence of

18:17

notes and it turns out he wrote

18:19

it on guitar, which actually explains a

18:21

lot. Of set

18:23

playing, this gets on. I stumble

18:25

on these rather nice forsee kind

18:28

accords. On a

18:30

maze, just the bottom three strings of a

18:32

guitar. Six

18:35

or so earthy, so

18:37

soil. Stomping

18:41

on. A

18:43

little troglodyte with this and I'm but I

18:45

do what I always do. I just start

18:48

moving. my thing is Ryan gonna nervously and

18:50

I suddenly hit upon moving up to S.

18:52

S. Since

18:59

the Earth. Syncing

19:16

I've learned over my years making this show

19:18

is that most songs take the shape of

19:20

the instrument on which they were written and

19:22

once you know that Easter Theater and least

19:25

as part of his to theater was written

19:27

on a guitar, those odd shapes and the

19:29

first make a lot more sense. Actually learned

19:31

this could have heard making that seep out

19:33

of those bottom three string for the will.

19:36

Tricky. It's easier if you to the six

19:38

string down to d but you can do

19:40

it and centered tuning and it's kind of

19:42

a satisfying see to play in. It makes

19:44

a total kind of. Guitar sense sliding

19:47

that shape of the neck,

19:53

Know if you take this guitar part and

19:55

then give it on orchestrator and have him

19:57

write it out for an orchestra. Next thing

19:59

you know. Something. Has

20:06

said he was drawn to the would

20:08

win section of the orchestra for this

20:10

part of the song says he hears

20:12

something ancient and pagan in those fluids

20:14

assumes and clarinet switch fits with a

20:16

song subject matter. The

20:19

some is being played by a mix of

20:21

woodwinds and strings but the most notable found

20:23

for me is that the soon it's that

20:25

if covering the basis. Of

20:30

as soon as a beautiful double read

20:32

instrument that I have played the I

20:34

wouldn't say that I can play and

20:36

I certainly don't own one person's are

20:38

incredibly expensive and you haven't Okay sample

20:40

Library of One now. It is a

20:42

deeply some key beautiful sound to me.

20:44

I love the the scene and I

20:47

think it's a crucial part of the

20:49

songs overall identity. So

20:52

that's the Vs Harmonic foundation. Let's

20:54

bring in the melody. Melody

21:00

as another harmonic layer to the song.

21:02

And actually, let's see a complete picture

21:04

of the harmony of the verse. Is

21:09

melody is pretty squarely in be

21:11

major, which is and superimposed over

21:13

those for signing harmonic since. It's

21:18

a really simple melody taken on it's

21:20

own. It's very squarely inside. Be Majors

21:22

is the first three notes that of

21:24

be a major scale like if you

21:26

play that melody over the four chords

21:28

this is but you'd get. He

21:40

was actually sounds. Ok,

21:48

okay get. it's a great example of

21:50

just how different a melody can sound

21:52

depending on what you choose to play

21:55

it over as a huge difference between

21:57

that. And then. Usual.

22:03

Harmony and a simple melodies combine

22:05

to make everyone sort of. Nuclear

22:21

the Sun is an ode to

22:23

the goddess of spring or spring

22:25

personified, however you really want to

22:27

conceive of her. The imagery partridge

22:29

countries on this verse is all

22:31

rebirth and fertility land. a week

22:33

from sweep hairs will kick in

22:36

leaps, as well as some less

22:38

subtle imagery. Flowers climb erect, smiling

22:40

from the moist kiss of her

22:42

rainbow mouth. And I'm not totally

22:44

sure when this song became a

22:46

song about spring, but purchase sounds

22:48

as though he was inspired. At

22:50

least in part by the imagery.

22:52

The visual image? It's of that

22:54

initial guitar part fruiting around in

22:56

the ground, growing up in working

22:58

toward first thing out of the

23:00

somewhere else. Easter

23:09

poses to confuse a hello i'm is

23:11

a kid because I couldn't sit or

23:13

lie it was such a miserable time

23:15

of year and why that was his

23:18

i carnival of a tortured man with

23:20

with nails by answer his hands it

23:22

is similar such a joyous time in

23:24

our seem like there was all this

23:26

new life and busting up through the

23:28

grand and and everything's procreating and reproducing

23:30

itself and it's the end of decay

23:33

and start of the new cycle. I'd

23:36

recently been reading a book by Barbara Jean

23:38

Walker Code. The Women's encyclopedia myths and

23:40

secrets and my head was full

23:43

of Easter being the East of

23:45

in the Germanic goddess of New

23:47

life in her symbols being eggs

23:49

and the hair. that is where

23:51

the Easter Bunny central. Ah and

23:53

I was in a head full

23:56

of had full of Easter August

23:58

and so all these live. We're

24:00

We're just killing enemy.

24:02

Impressionistic. Wish. He.

24:08

Says the first reaches its conclusion,

24:11

the harmonic see changes were one

24:13

more time. On

24:16

that fourth see the one that's over

24:18

in a sharp the middle node climbs

24:21

a half step and if he comes

24:23

this extremely tense figure that so just

24:25

ready to resolve, ready to explode. Which

24:33

is exactly what it does, as the

24:36

first chorus throws up in the theater

24:38

doors and Easter herself takes the. Course

25:10

of his or her provide has

25:12

great sense of release as those

25:14

tense, dissonant harmonies resolve into a

25:16

grand descending chord progression. And here

25:18

I do feel like I can

25:21

start talking about Core because the

25:23

chorus uses a more traditional sequence

25:25

of chords as opposed to those

25:27

seats. From the verse, it starts

25:29

on a sort of Jeannine Over

25:31

A Be Thing Finland squarely on

25:33

a D major chord, with the

25:35

melody in those same first three

25:37

notes of the D Major scale

25:39

as. The base descends first to

25:42

see sharp and then to a

25:44

please before beginning to cycle again.

25:47

The. Result as a strong, confident descending

25:50

line. and since I keep coming

25:52

back to the idea of direction

25:54

allergies a season, it's a big

25:56

contrast from the first. The verse

25:58

was pushing up. With why

26:00

rumbling and feeding it has something

26:03

from the frozen ground. This course

26:05

is moving down. I kind of

26:07

fixer as Easter herself standing above

26:10

us on the stage letting her

26:12

energy pour out and down over

26:14

those of us lucky enough to

26:17

stand in the audience. I

26:35

love the vocals on this chorus,

26:37

both the lyrics and the vocal

26:39

arrangement and the way that the

26:41

to play into one another. This

26:43

whole song as descriptive. it some

26:45

from a first person plural kind

26:47

of a deal. It's We. We

26:49

is the primary point of view,

26:52

so it's an observed song and

26:54

it almost it's together like scenes

26:56

from a nature documentary, particularly in

26:58

diverse. The chorus is similarly descriptive

27:00

and it actually verges into stage.

27:02

Directions states last, enter Easter and

27:04

she's dressed in yellow yolk. stage.

27:07

Right now, the sun has died,

27:09

the father can be born, and

27:12

they're doing something very fun with

27:14

the panning on those states. Directions

27:16

states last stage right and. I'm.

27:31

guessing that most of your out there

27:33

have read stage directions at some point

27:35

in your life purchasing case stays left

27:37

is referring to the left side of

27:39

the seeds from the actors point of

27:41

view which is actually the right side

27:44

of the states as viewed by the

27:46

audience so when that first line comes

27:48

in stays in last it's actually placed

27:50

at stage left in the stereo pan

27:52

which is pan to have a right

27:54

since remember we are the point of

27:56

view and we are the audience And

28:07

of course, when we stand up, we all

28:09

rise together. In

28:18

terms of the orchestration, they've added a

28:20

few crucial new instruments to the chorus.

28:23

First of all, Prairie Prince and Colin

28:25

Molding have entered on drums and bass

28:28

respectively. The drums here are EQ'd and

28:30

tuned to a deep, low resonance, and

28:32

Prince is keeping most of the groove

28:34

on the kick and the tom drums.

28:36

There is a thump, a pop, and

28:39

a sizzle in this groove, but it's

28:41

a very thump-dominated groove in general. In

28:44

his book, Complicated Game, Partridge actually

28:46

talks about how he began to

28:48

tune drums to match the tuning

28:50

of different songs he was recording,

28:52

and thus a subtle but important

28:54

technique. All drums can be

28:56

tuned, and toms and kick drums ring

28:58

at specific pitches. So sometimes

29:00

drummers and producers will retune a drum set

29:03

so that the notes of the drums match

29:05

up with the pitches of a given song.

29:08

It's kind of a pain, it takes some time,

29:10

you have to adjust tuning knobs on all points

29:12

around the drum head. I've never been very good

29:14

at tuning drums also, so I'm kind of avoid

29:16

doing it whenever I can. There's definitely

29:18

a learning curve to getting it right, but

29:21

it can sound great depending on the song.

29:23

Of course it's not something that you need

29:25

to do all the time by any stretch,

29:27

some people never retune their drums, but I

29:30

do think that they've tuned Prince's drums here

29:32

to match the key of the song, which

29:34

helps the drums blend in and flesh out

29:36

the bass and the orchestra. In

29:44

addition to that drummy thump, the pop

29:46

is provided by a subtle tambourine, and

29:48

the sizzle is a shaker which is

29:50

panned a little bit to the right.

29:53

One and see if you can hear all

29:55

three of those elements going at once. Holding

30:10

space is similarly big and round on this

30:12

song. I don't know what kind of bass

30:14

he's using here, but I think his bass

30:16

playing sounds so good on

30:18

this album, it perfectly anchors each

30:20

song. He's not playing anything super

30:22

exciting here, but his presence alone

30:24

is a dramatic shift from

30:26

the verse where there was no

30:29

bass. He's just playing this steady

30:31

bass line down through that descending

30:33

progression, which adds to the chorus's

30:35

overall feeling of grand descent. Now

30:47

above the rhythm section and below the

30:50

vocals, there's a whole world of music

30:52

happening. Let's listen to the instrumental version

30:54

and see what we can hear in

30:57

that chorus with the vocals removed. So

31:13

I'm hearing a few different things

31:15

here. From the actual orchestra, I'm

31:17

hearing high violins and some woodwinds

31:19

led by what sounds like an

31:21

oboe on this nice counter melody.

31:34

While the primary harmonic instrument made blown

31:36

well with the orchestra, it's actually a

31:38

main artistic instrument. It's

31:42

actually a melotron played by

31:44

Dave Gregory. I

31:48

had always assumed that all this nice flutey,

31:50

stringy goodness on the chorus was played by

31:52

the orchestra that they paid to record for

31:54

this song, but upon listening to this instrumental

31:57

cut for the first time, I was immediately

31:59

struck by that unusual, distinct

32:01

pumping in the harmony.

32:03

Do you

32:06

hear it? I've

32:11

talked about the melatron on the show

32:13

before. It's that iconic tape-based instrument that's

32:15

turned up on a ton of recordings

32:17

in the 60s and 70s. As

32:24

it turns out, even if you do hire

32:27

an orchestra, you can still use a melatron

32:29

to bolster that orchestral sound to great effect.

32:31

It's such a beautiful

32:34

arrangement. Alright,

32:39

let's add the vocals back in. As

32:44

for the overall idea of this chorus,

32:46

this is actually the second example in

32:48

as many episodes of a songwriter taking

32:50

an old idea and finding a home

32:53

for it in a new song. In

32:55

his explanation of the genesis of Easter

32:57

Theatre, Andy Partridge says that he actually

32:59

had the idea for this chorus, the

33:01

melody and the chord progression, way back

33:03

in 1986 as he

33:06

and the rest of the band were

33:08

recording Skylarking in San Francisco. So just

33:10

like Fish finally using that Chinese wall

33:12

lyrics they'd had banging around since the

33:15

80s on Limb by Limb, here's another artist

33:17

building a chorus out of an unused bit

33:19

they'd been keeping on ice for more than

33:21

a decade. That

33:23

melody was originally one Partridge had just found

33:25

bouncing around in his head. In

33:27

1986 he played it for Colin

33:29

Molding and they basically said, well, yeah,

33:31

that's a nice melody. So he put

33:33

it away on a shelf in his

33:35

brain and many years later he was

33:37

working through that verse chord progression. He'd

33:39

gotten to the top of the climb

33:41

and he just didn't know where to

33:43

go next and he describes

33:46

the Eureka moment so perfectly that I'll just

33:48

let you listen to him tell it. And

33:51

it's really tense and I don't know what to

33:53

do with it. Then all of a sudden from

33:55

1986 the little ball

33:58

bearing comes back off of holiday. rolls

34:00

around to the front of my head, drops

34:02

into a slot, and I end up with...

34:05

Oh! I

34:08

remember something! It goes... Bah!

34:10

Bah! Bah!

34:13

Bah! Bah! Bah!

34:16

Bah! Bah! Bah!

34:19

Bah! Bah! Bah!

34:22

Bah! Bah! Bah!

34:25

Bah! Bah! Bah!

34:28

Bah! We

34:30

love you, baby! Ah! Ah!

34:34

Ah! The end of the

34:36

chorus is another great example of harmonic

34:38

rule-breaking. On the last descent, the bass

34:40

redirects to C instead of a B

34:42

at the end of the line, with

34:44

the rest of the melody staying in

34:46

place. That

34:49

gives the chord a strong D major

34:51

over C sound, which, look, I promise

34:53

I didn't pick this season's song specifically

34:55

so that I could demonstrate the sound

34:57

of the Lydian mode over and over

34:59

again, but there it is!

35:02

That's a major sharp four sound.

35:04

It calls forth a particularly lush

35:06

and bright version of Lydian on

35:08

this third-to-last chorus. Here

35:11

we go. And

35:16

from there, things get weird. Those

35:25

last couple of chords are very odd.

35:27

First, the bass drops down to an

35:29

F, but the melody stays on an

35:31

F sharp, which is a flat ninth

35:33

in the melody, and that's an interval

35:35

that basically never sounds good. It's

35:37

one that most composition teachers would tell

35:39

you to avoid outside of, like, a

35:42

dominant seven flat nine chord, yet here,

35:44

maybe partly because the next chord resolves

35:46

to an F sharp major chord, it

35:48

works okay, I'd say. It's a jarring

35:51

and fascinating final collection of chords, that

35:53

lush and beautiful D major over C,

35:55

moving to that jarring and dissonant F

35:57

with a flat ninth in the melody.

36:00

resolving finally to an F sharp major

36:02

chord out of nowhere. What

36:05

a chorus! So

36:16

let's listen back to the whole thing and keep your

36:18

ears open for all of the things we just talked

36:20

about. That dark, carefully tuned

36:22

drum set, thrumming out the pulse

36:25

with a subtle tambourine and shaker

36:27

to hold the whole thing together.

36:29

The electric bass on that steady

36:31

downward walking line, Dave

36:33

Gregory's melotron keeping that pumping, almost

36:35

organ-like harmony going, blended with the

36:38

actual orchestra on that higher counter

36:40

melody, and the vocals above it

36:42

all moving through that unusual chord

36:45

progression that blooms into dissonance

36:47

before resolving in an unexpected

36:50

direction. Ears

36:52

on, here we go. Ears

37:05

on,

37:07

here

37:10

we go.

37:17

Ears on, here we go. From there,

37:19

it's so fresh you need to take

37:22

a lesson from another great Englishman.

37:26

And perform a strategic electric

37:28

guitar deployment. The

37:36

second verse is the same as the

37:39

first in terms of the basic structure,

37:41

melody, and harmony, but the bass and

37:43

drums stay in after the chorus, and

37:45

it introduces the songs to primary solo

37:47

instruments as well. First,

37:49

the electric guitar played by Partridge,

37:52

and second, a trumpet solo played

37:54

by Steve Sidwell. With

38:00

a guitar solo censor search the verse.

38:02

It carries us out of the chorus

38:04

and into the news. In

38:17

the Nineteen Ninety Nine interview with Guitar

38:20

Player Magazine Partridge self effacing we described

38:22

as as a quote fake friend May

38:24

guitar solo and close but well I

38:26

gotta say I think of it as

38:28

a genuine and a Partridge guitar solo.

38:31

I do get why he'd compare it

38:33

to Queensland man. Way

38:39

back when I was making my episode about

38:41

Bohemian Rhapsody, I notice for the first time

38:44

the clever and often for stream ways the

38:46

Queen deploys their guitar is. Something

38:52

I called strategic point me to pull

38:54

meant a lot of queens on start

38:56

with no or minimal guitar and then

38:58

have him from ceiling and at an

39:00

opportune moment in the arrangements. Six

39:05

string singing of lifting the song to a

39:08

new buff. all. Rather

39:12

than see. And

39:17

that's just what Partridge does here. You

39:20

can hear the similarities, right? I think

39:22

that Solo on Nineteen Seventy Four as

39:24

Killer Queen is particularly close, but it's

39:26

something that Brian May does a lot.

39:28

And when he wasn't a just a

39:30

few bars of purchases solo on he

39:32

says theater you can hear the inspiration.

39:41

I really like as a solo

39:43

begins in the midst of all

39:45

this sequential or Castro marrying and

39:48

pumping mela tron chords Suddenly this

39:50

distorted electric guitar benzene with this

39:52

new dramatically different tax. Rolls.

40:06

One, the melody of the solo

40:08

is distinct harmonically. it's following on

40:10

what's going on with the vocal

40:12

melody tracing notes from a be

40:14

major scale for the most part

40:16

keeping that kind of elevated be

40:18

major over he sound with these

40:21

occasional above steps outside of the

40:23

Keith middle chromatic passing tones. and

40:25

of course, for Fat Ass Down

40:27

in the Police, it's consistent with

40:29

the songs general resistance to harmonic

40:31

classifications. No

40:38

means is kind of familiar, but a

40:40

little. the. Guitar

40:51

hands off to the other solutions. Sidwell,

40:56

something which enters on the strident

40:58

solo line that as owns found

41:00

fit guileless. Apologies.

41:14

For the Facebook or Google Templeton, I don't have

41:17

my when sense so I had to do my

41:19

best with the keyboard. The

41:23

trumpet is playing and and again

41:26

basically be major pets is claimed.

41:28

This regimented melody that sounds like

41:30

it could be handled or something.

41:32

And like the guitar solo, it's

41:34

an example of Partridge summoning a

41:36

musical trope. the Strong Key brand

41:38

may guitar solo as straight as

41:40

chamber trumpet solos, putting it through

41:42

the songs on harmonic limbs and

41:44

coming out with seeing more of

41:46

this. I

41:54

like that I've been focusing on direction allergies

41:56

so much the season since A lot of

41:58

the song seals primarily Gm. The Trick:

42:00

A partridge has taken a bunch of

42:02

seats that wouldn't ordinarily be plugged into

42:05

one another, and he's found a way

42:07

to make them all set. And they

42:09

really do sit. The song is constantly

42:11

moving up and down. up and then

42:14

down. The guitar solo to san the

42:16

trump a solo sequentially climb. The

42:22

second verse starts lyrically and a

42:24

more mythic place as Odin mounts

42:26

the tree and all that minutes.

42:28

Second half it returned to more

42:30

naturalistic lyrics of bugs will Last

42:32

and burst racing to be first

42:34

turning all the soil. A

42:42

minute final mirror. Have

42:51

the prom dress fingers through her spinning

42:53

script. I gotta say I think this

42:55

is the first time that I have

42:57

ever seen that word it's in the

42:59

song's lyrics and me be the first

43:01

time I've ever seen that word at

43:03

all. To

43:12

the. Same

43:24

first time I've seen must

43:26

vocal arrangements building into that

43:28

sense to Lydians swirls. Oh.

43:39

For saving out and into something

43:41

new. This

43:57

bridge is just beautiful A moment.

44:00

Repose and reflection after the

44:02

dramatic crests and valleys of

44:04

diverse and course. He

44:09

arrangement here means further into twentieth century

44:11

minimalist styles. I'm not sure if that's

44:13

what parties was consciously going forth, but

44:16

this wind arrangement in particular reminds me

44:18

of the sort of Steve Reich inspired

44:20

line for I talked about back when

44:23

I broke down sixty and Seasons as

44:25

some Chicago several years ago. You can

44:27

think of it as a series of

44:29

simple repeating phrases, each slightly different from

44:32

the other, one stacked on top of

44:34

one another so the together to create

44:36

this much denser sounding tapestry. It's

44:39

actually more simple than it sounds. It's

44:48

really just three parts, arranged in a

44:50

way that makes them sound figure if

44:52

and they really are. The bassoon is

44:54

the simplest and it's right there in

44:56

the middle. It's

45:01

moving back and forth between two notes just

45:03

a half step apart a M T shirt

45:05

and it never cysts from that patterns. Above

45:09

this the clarinet playing a really

45:12

neat descending pattern. Was

45:18

sick the bassoon out and listen to just the

45:20

clarinets on their own. It's

45:24

this need to sending sequential pattern that

45:26

carries over the fire line each time

45:29

it changes notes which creates a nice

45:31

boring assessed. Those

45:37

to bouncing sixteenth note would win.

45:39

Lines are held in the from

45:41

embrace of the stream Spitzer playing

45:43

a pretty simple parents themselves. This

45:48

bridge basically goes between two cords

45:50

see sharp miner or maybe a

45:52

overseas sharp and he major and

45:54

the strings outline that seems. A.

46:00

He served. Resolving.

46:03

To a major. Or

46:05

I have put all the parts and. Combine

46:12

those three otherwise simple parts and

46:15

you get something distinct and so

46:17

evocative. Once

46:21

you get some relief is going. It's hard

46:23

to resist the urge to play with it.

46:25

An elaborate on it can see where things

46:27

can go. Okay,

46:38

okay bachelor according. To

46:48

all of that comes with some

46:50

melody or momentum has been depleted.

46:53

There's no longer this pack seeds

46:55

possible, instead a moment to simply

46:57

bask in the glory of Easter

46:59

herself. At

47:22

this point in the arrangement the

47:24

drums reenter and are to song

47:26

instruments. The electric guitar and the

47:28

trumpets add their voices to the

47:30

next. Culminating

47:42

moment as so many musical elements

47:44

come together at. and

47:49

with everything in place time for

47:51

a chaotic transition for the final

47:54

course I

48:09

love that transition in part because it

48:11

strikes me as a true patchworking of

48:13

existing ideas. There's that

48:15

introductory string singer again now

48:17

featuring bladdy brass. There's

48:22

those chorus vocals singing stage left

48:24

some on their own. And

48:28

I love how Colin Moulding lands on

48:31

this two note bass part at the

48:33

start of this chorus. Boom, boom. It's

48:35

very grand. But

48:40

I mainly love it because, well, the

48:43

closing chorus sounds somehow more exciting

48:45

or intense for some reason. Like

48:48

it's maybe just a little bit higher than the chorus

48:50

that came before it. That's

48:54

because it is. Partridge

49:00

has sneakily changed the song's key up

49:02

a step from D major to E

49:04

major using the bridge's new key center

49:06

to do it in a way that

49:08

you might not even notice. This

49:13

is the first chorus squarely in

49:16

the key of D major. Here

49:20

comes the second chorus. Can

49:22

you hear that? Partridge

49:26

was already singing pretty high and now

49:28

he's a whole step higher. It gives

49:30

the thing a totally different energy. So

49:35

remember when I was first talking about

49:37

this song, I mentioned that it's kind

49:40

of in both the key of D

49:42

and the key of E. And that

49:44

relates to earlier sections in the song,

49:46

but this chorus, this second chorus, is

49:48

really a full embodiment of that idea.

49:51

It's a terrific modulation, I think, because

49:53

it's so organically woven into the song.

49:55

You don't quite clock it in the

49:58

way that you might clock. clearer

50:00

cut key change like in a pop song

50:02

where they sing the chorus and then they

50:05

just repeat that chorus up a step. There's

50:11

nothing wrong with that of course. I did

50:13

a whole episode about this song. I could

50:16

have made half of it about how Whitney

50:18

does that key change but I do always

50:20

appreciate when a songwriter cleverly builds up to

50:22

a key change so that when it finally

50:24

happens you may not consciously notice it even

50:26

if you can still feel the increase in

50:29

intensity on a gut level. This

50:38

first time through the closing chorus is

50:40

great but the second time the reprise

50:42

really brings it all together. It's

50:53

so good there's that ascending woodwind line

50:55

that sets things up. Then

50:59

Colin molding plays an even more extended

51:02

bass fill before dropping down. And

51:10

once they're underway also joining is

51:12

an acoustic guitar strummed I believe

51:14

by Dave Gregory and Steve

51:20

Sidwell's trumpet returns for a simple

51:22

but lovely descending line bringing everyone

51:24

together on stage for one last

51:27

hurrah. So let's listen to

51:29

that last chorus and just let it all

51:31

wash over you as each new sound stands

51:33

up to be counted bringing the song together

51:36

one last time. It's

52:00

me tonight, Texas Baby. Every

52:03

stain keeps you

52:19

still in the air and

52:24

every villain, there's

52:38

a word people often use to describe

52:40

songs like Easter theater. Perfect.

52:43

And while that word is appropriate,

52:45

it's also reductive in a way that

52:47

I find unsatisfying. Andy

52:52

Partridge evidently feels similarly. He's described Easter theater

52:54

as one of the most perfect songs he's

52:56

ever written, but he uses the word in

52:58

a way that makes me think he also

53:00

finds it lacking, or at least, that he

53:02

seeks more than perfection each time he writes

53:05

a song. And

53:09

Easter theater, with its overwhelming cleverness,

53:11

how it takes unlikely musical elements

53:13

and fits them together so beautifully,

53:16

how logically it flows from section

53:18

to section, it even fits in

53:20

this invisible key change, there

53:22

is a sort of beautiful, perfect symmetry to

53:24

it, but at the same time, it can

53:26

be so ugly and strange, it can defy

53:28

logic and order in a way that I

53:30

think is true to its subject matter. Like

53:40

Spring herself, like the natural world,

53:42

all digging and burrowing and procreating,

53:45

there's a messiness under the grand

53:47

design, and it's all there in

53:49

every beat of every measure. incredible

54:00

band and I could listen to it

54:02

a thousand more times and be reborn

54:04

each time. And

54:45

that'll do it for my analysis of Easter

54:47

Theatre by the one and only XTC. I

54:50

hope you enjoyed this episode. I had a really great

54:52

time making it and it was a centering project for

54:55

me in the midst of an otherwise trying time. Thanks

54:58

as always to Emily Williams for her

55:00

production support and emotional support this season,

55:02

to my brother-in-law Mike Furlotti for letting

55:04

me borrow his beautiful Les Paul to

55:06

recreate that guitar solo, and

55:09

special thanks to Sam Parrish for packing up

55:11

and shipping a bunch of things from my

55:13

studio back home so that I

55:15

could finish this episode from my mom's basement.

55:17

It's amazing what's possible in this day and

55:20

age with the right recording equipment. Thanks

55:22

to all my Patreon supporters for helping

55:25

me make this show, for making this

55:27

whole thing possible, and for

55:29

making it not that huge a deal if

55:31

I have to say overnight a bunch of

55:33

recording gear, since that's not an inexpensive thing

55:35

to do. And thanks to

55:37

you, yeah, you, for listening to Strong Songs.

55:39

I know an hour is a long time

55:41

to give a podcast, especially in this modern

55:44

age when there's so much competing for

55:46

your attention, and I really appreciate that you

55:48

chose to spend the last hour with me.

55:51

We are drawing to the end of Strong Songs Season

55:53

6. I have had a ton of

55:55

fun this season and have been really proud of every

55:57

episode I've made. We've got two episodes of Strong Songs.

56:00

left first a mailbag Q&A and then

56:02

the season finale which is focusing on

56:04

a very widely requested song that I'm

56:06

super excited to talk about. I've already

56:08

done the mailbag but if you want

56:11

to write in with a question for

56:13

the future send email to listeners at

56:15

strongsongspodcast.com. That'll do it

56:17

for now. I'm so glad that you're all

56:19

out there loving music and loving life. As

56:21

always take care and keep listening.

56:50

you