Titles Part I

I heard "Falling to Pieces" by The Script and "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and The Beaters yesterday morning and it got me thinking about titles.

"Falling to Pieces" has 12 title mentions in the lyric. That's quite a few but another phrase in the song ("when a heart breaks it don't break even") also appears 12 times. Yet there's no confusion. You recognize that "Falling to Pieces" is indeed the name of the song and the main idea that ties everything together.

So how does it work? Firstly, it's the placement. The singer is describing a breakup, unsure of how to deal with it. Then he sums it up with "I'm falling to pieces...I'm falling to pieces." Pretty clear. The music also fits. In the verses, the melody falls within the singer's middle range with a rhythmic, almost rap-like drive. In contrast, when the title is sung, he goes into a very high range and sustains the notes in long phrases. You sense that he is vulnerable, which fits the context perfectly. You also sense from the change of pace from fast to slow that this is the main idea, this is what I've been talking about.

This song is a whole package. We know who is singing to whom and why. The perspective doesn't change. Because we understand what's happening we can identify with the singer. We feel the emotions. We can all relate to the situation; we've all experienced a breakup one way or another (even a young listener would have some frame of reference via other people, media). Finally, the way the music parallels the scenario so well gives the song authenticity. Either the writer calculated all this out or, more likely, this is an outgrowth and expression of real experience and emotional honesty. On second thought, I'm thinking it's both. Doesn't the strongest writing come from mining your own experiences and emotions? Things you know about. Then you've got to use the craft of writing to get that across.

I hear a lot of stuff these days where one or both seem to be lacking. I'm not sure why, but I do see a lot of listeners turning off their BS indicators, and going with whoev' and whatev'. It's all good, right? I mean, why does anything have to make sense? It's just music. It means whatever you want it to mean.

In my opinion, it's not all good. Some of it's crap. Is it any wonder that stations that play "The best of the 70s, 80s, 90s and today!" are so popular these days? Hmm.

Anyway..................

"At This Moment". Well........

This song gets to me. I don't even want to talk about title placement any more. It goes way beyond that.

Well, all right. There are three title mentions, skillfully and subtly placed. The title itself appears in three different questions that introduce the verses. That's not a song form you hear very often. (Can you think of even one other song that's like that?) I'd be willing to bet, though, that after a first listen most or all listeners would be able to come up with the title. The reason is that it works. It's a perfect summary of the main idea. The whole song is about this moment. Time freezes right when the woman he's deeply in love with tells him she's not in love with him anymore and that she's in love with someone else.

Ouch. And then he talks to her. And what he says.....it kills you. And the music..... the sax....

You need to open a new tab and just listen to it right now. If you can get through that song without weeping you have either never been in love or you're thinking about baseball.

The standard formats for songs exist because they work so well, so people tend to gravitate toward them. This song is an example of not being tied to form, not pushing a lyric into an ill-fitting template but rather letting it stand on its own unique merits. Truly exceptional songs often do that. And this one is from the heart.

Two well crafted songs, both emotionally honest and intense, two different treatments and ways to handle title. Both work. You just listen and they take you someplace.

"Titles Part II" to come.

Now, seriously, listen.