Most Complex Pop Song of All Time

[stoken6]

One of my favorite examples is Paul Simon "Still Crazy After all These Years"

Great nomination for this thread. There's loads going on in that song - no two verses are the same, plenty of harmonic interest, and as pointed out, it doesn't use the multi-movement trick. That's a song from my childhood and I still love playing and singing it - in James Taylor's key, oddly enough.

 

I must say JT's piano player looks really nervous and stiff. His bass player booked him that afternoon for the gig, perhaps?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[jerrythek]

I would not want to be booked for a wedding, only to be told, 'The bride has requested Bohemian Rhapsody' the afternoon of the wedding. I know the band I"m in would politely answer 'No.'

 

That"s the most complex pop song I can think of to play.

 

I did a corporate event a few years ago where that kind of happened. Luckily we were told in advance so we all did our homework, and then ran it during soundcheck. The singers did a few more rehearsals in the green room while we waited to go on. And we did a pretty good job of it. but the band was strong, so we were up to it.

[jerrythek]

One of my favorite examples is Paul Simon "Still Crazy After all These Years"

Great nomination for this thread. There's loads going on in that song - no two verses are the same, plenty of harmonic interest, and as pointed out, it doesn't use the multi-movement trick. That's a song from my childhood and I still love playing and singing it - in James Taylor's key, oddly enough.

 

I must say JT's piano player looks really nervous and stiff. His bass player booked him that afternoon for the gig, perhaps?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Funny, I didn't get that feeling at all about the keyboard player. His name is Cliff Carter, I went to college with him in Miami back in the day. He was James' 2nd keyboard guy behind Don Grolnick, and moved into the piano chair when Don passed. I thought he nailed the part/the sound... I love playing this tune, but I play it looser since I usually do it as a solo piano piece. Great performance!

 

Jerry

[Mike Davis]

Band Geek did an entertaining take on this song a while back:

 

[RABid]

[video:youtube]

[Rodan88]

Another Paul Simon story....I know a lot of guys that have played with Paul Simon.

 

One close friend in particular has been playing with him for MANY years.

 

We were discussing Kodachrome one day, and he told me that on live dates, Paul bagged the mixed meter moments (two 3/4 bars in different spots, I think) years ago. Not sure why, as he always has killer bands that could easily handle those spots (and then some). Maybe Paul was getting tripped up?

[BRW]

Maybe not as pop(ular) as many of the other bands mentioned so far, but Ambrosia had several songs that fall into the 'more complex than typical pop" category. Always was a favorite band of mine way back when. Some Nice, Nice, Very Nice tunes.

 

Ambrosia? Oh hell yeah. Just listen to the chords (and the harmonies!) here when the song gets going. The 'chorus' I guess.

 

[video:youtube]

[Synthaholic]

The first song that popped into my head.

 

[video:youtube]

[counterpoint]

Bacharach is a great example of smart pop. Say a Little Prayer is very nicely written, with a sensitive lyric and melody immaculately performed by Aretha, thoughtful harmonization and changing meters to accommodate the way the lyric and melody naturally flow.

 

The sound of "complex" well crafted songs (dare we say "jazzy" sounding) simply went out of style in pop. It sounded too much like "dad's" music. Enough time has passed for a resurgence, the question is which pop stars have the guts to do it right now?

 

 

Bacharach was (is) definitely a leader in the transition from "standards" to "complex pop".

 

There are some alt bands today that play on the edges of more complexity...not necessarily thought of as "pop" in the context of songs like "Never Gonna Let You Go". I like listening to music of "Phoenix", "The 1975", "MGMT", "Tame Impala" and several other bands of that ilk. Many of them add complexity through what I think are sometimes dizzying production techniques that throw so many things at you at once it's almost impossible to keep your focus on any one part...but there are often unusual and interesting chord progressions in their music as well.

 

Another contemporary "complex pop" songwriter I'm a huge fan of is Eg White from the UK. Among many huge hits, he wrote Adele's first hit "Chasing Pavements" which is definitely a complex chord progression by today's standards.

[o0Ampy0o]

"Horse With No Name" - my nominee for Worst Pop Song Everâ¦.

 

Horse shit!

 

Have loved many things about it and a few other America songs, most importantly is how it manages to make me feel happy. The rhythm and vocal harmonies, simple and engaging

[stoken6]

I must say JT's piano player looks really nervous and stiff. His bass player booked him that afternoon for the gig, perhaps?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Funny, I didn't get that feeling at all about the keyboard player. His name is Cliff Carter, I went to college with him in Miami back in the day. He was James' 2nd keyboard guy behind Don Grolnick, and moved into the piano chair when Don passed. I thought he nailed the part/the sound... I love playing this tune, but I play it looser since I usually do it as a solo piano piece. Great performance!

 

Jerry

Don't get me wrong, it's superbly played, but imho Carter looked uncomfortable - as if he's sight-reading it for the first time.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[stoken6]

"Horse With No Name" - my nominee for Worst Pop Song Ever.

I never liked "Horse with No Name" either. My dislike for loop-based music applies equally here, and I find the lyrics weak:

- "plants and birds and rocks and things", to rhyme with "rings"?

- "fly with a buzz", "the heat was hot"

- "there ain't no one for to give you no pain" - the "for" is a redundant word, added for scansion only

It all seems like very lazy songwriting to me.

[AnotherScott]

I liked "Horse With No Name," yet never liked the kind of similar "Dreams" (Fleetwood Mac). Maybe it's the drums/rhythm making the big difference, since that gives the songs very different feels. It would be interesting to hear each one done with the style/arrangement of the other.

[Reezekeys]

I must say JT's piano player looks really nervous and stiff. His bass player booked him that afternoon for the gig, perhaps?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Funny, I didn't get that feeling at all about the keyboard player. His name is Cliff Carter, I went to college with him in Miami back in the day. He was James' 2nd keyboard guy behind Don Grolnick, and moved into the piano chair when Don passed. I thought he nailed the part/the sound... I love playing this tune, but I play it looser since I usually do it as a solo piano piece. Great performance!

 

Jerry

Don't get me wrong, it's superbly played, but imho Carter looked uncomfortable - as if he's sight-reading it for the first time.

 

Cheers, Mike.

I know Cliff too. I would be surprised to hear he was uncomfortable â he's one of NYC's first-tier studio players and a veteran of many big-name tours and recordings. According to one comment, this video comes from a ceremony honoring Paul Simon and the band is Simon's, not JTs. It appears the song is in a different key from where Paul usually sings it. That might account for the chart Cliff is reading? Or maybe he had just started on the gig? Nevertheless, put a chart of a killer song originally played beautifully by Richard Tee in front of me at a ceremony being recorded for posterity and I'm gonna be a little nervous! I think Cliff does a great job.

[nadroj]

The song itself was okay, but I could listen to that dude tell band stories for hours.

[stoken6]

It appears the song is in a different key from where Paul usually sings it. That might account for the chart Cliff is reading?

That would explain a lot.

 

There's the famous story of Art Garfunkel, on tour, telling his piano player (Knechtel? I can't remember) that his voice is a little tight, and he's doing to do Bridge Over Troubled Water in D, not Eb. Aaaand... GO!

 

Cheers ,Mike.

[Shamanczarek]

I agree on "Bohemian Rhapsody" being the most complex pop song of all time. What's funny is at the 1977 Grammys "Afternoon Delight" beat it for Best Arrangement for Voices.

[jazzpiano88]

I must say JT's piano player looks really nervous and stiff. His bass player booked him that afternoon for the gig, perhaps?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Funny, I didn't get that feeling at all about the keyboard player. His name is Cliff Carter, I went to college with him in Miami back in the day. He was James' 2nd keyboard guy behind Don Grolnick, and moved into the piano chair when Don passed. I thought he nailed the part/the sound... I love playing this tune, but I play it looser since I usually do it as a solo piano piece. Great performance!

 

Jerry

Don't get me wrong, it's superbly played, but imho Carter looked uncomfortable - as if he's sight-reading it for the first time.

 

Cheers, Mike.

I know Cliff too. I would be surprised to hear he was uncomfortable â he's one of NYC's first-tier studio players and a veteran of many big-name tours and recordings. According to one comment, this video comes from a ceremony honoring Paul Simon and the band is Simon's, not JTs. It appears the song is in a different key from where Paul usually sings it. That might account for the chart Cliff is reading? Or maybe he had just started on the gig? Nevertheless, put a chart of a killer song originally played beautifully by Richard Tee in front of me at a ceremony being recorded for posterity and I'm gonna be a little nervous! I think Cliff does a great job.

 

The screwup is between 1:05 and 1:15 where there's a hiccup in the rhythm from the editing. They were able get the Video to reasonably match the audio edit. Somewhere I read James put extra emphasis at the end to express his displeasure.

[cp-the-nerd]

It's funny, when I hear pop, I think of the current dumpster fire era we live in. Only after I read a few of the excellent responses in this thread did I remember that good music used to chart and be "popular."

 

Chicago

Earth Wind & Fire

Steely Dan

Queen

Yes

The Eagles

MJ

 

Fun thread.

[dongna]

I assume we're excluding that new John Mayer song that was posted here recently?

 

Shout out to Synthaholic... when I first saw his nomination (Scritti Politti Perfect Way for those who missed it), from memory I scoffed and dismissed it as 80's fluff. Then I went and listened to it again in the context of this thread, and darned if it isn't a lot more complex than I remember.

 

Beatles Here Comes the Sun

 

There's gotta be some Rush tunes that qualify, but I'm not enough of a Rush-head to be able to name any specific tune(s) off the top of my head.

 

Beato himself had an earlier video (if I recall from memory) where he went in depth into the complex (or at least unusual) chord progression in Sting's Fortress Around Your Heart.

 

Steely Dan has been mentioned multiple times-- pretty much their whole discography is a gold mine for this thread.

[TommyRude]

Anything by Zappa

 

Ahh wait, that's more anti-pop

[vanderSchoot]

Anything by Zappa

 

Ahh wait, that's more anti-pop

Hahaha 15/16 beats because we CAN !!

[vanderSchoot]

Try to cover this without using certain forbidden substances.

[video:youtube]

[Reezekeys]

I like this version. Someone should transcribe the vocal:

 

[video:youtube]

[Doerfler]

I agree on "Bohemian Rhapsody" being the most complex pop song of all time. What's funny is at the 1977 Grammys "Afternoon Delight" beat it for Best Arrangement for Voices.

 

Back then, a brown paper bag full of cash and drugs to the right person made some decisions easy.

[o0Ampy0o]

I agree on "Bohemian Rhapsody" being the most complex pop song of all time. What's funny is at the 1977 Grammys "Afternoon Delight" beat it for Best Arrangement for Voices.

 

Back then, a brown paper bag full of cash and drugs to the right person made some decisions easy.

Did BR get early radio play? I first heard it on Don Kirshner"s Rock Concert and it was played there frequently. I did not look at Queen as a strong band until other material was getting airplay.. Once that had caught my attention and perhaps other"s BR got some exposure aside from weekly replay of the video on DKRC. Their strength leaked out from behind the Glam Rock image. There wws a B side to a hit at a jukebox 'Whiteman' in which they shined. This strength came together for that Live Aid performance. They were the fist band to actually perform live on stage after at least one, Billy Ocean, had lip-synched and it just set the stage. I hear of mistakes replicated for the movie but they were so good it didn"t matter. (All my opinion and sorry to take this off the topic.).

[piano39]

Bohemian Rhapsody

was the first thought that came to my mind. Something like Bat Out Of Hell, or Diamonds and Pearls, share that "kind" of complexity. Donald Fagen's Maxine is complex in a different way.

 

I had to laugh at 4:01 "this would be, uh, a Am7b6, or Fsus2 over A". I would write "Fmu" and move on - but I am surprised at how many of my (top-flight) muso buddies haven't come across mu major chords.

 

Cheers, Mike

 

I don't know whether or not I am "top flight" muso, but this is the first reference that I ever saw to mu chords. I just researched it (thanks wikipedia). I like it.

[AnotherScott]

Did BR get early radio play?

Yeah... since charts correspond largely to radio play (or at least they used to), we can see that from wikipedia's listing of how it charted. In 1975, it hit the #1 spot it in the UK. In 1976, it got as high as #6 or #9 in the U.S. depending on whose chart you follow (though it didn't get as high as #1 or #2 until its Wayne's World inspired second wind in 1992).

[o0Ampy0o]

Did BR get early radio play?

Yeah... since charts correspond largely to radio play (or at least they used to), we can see that from wikipedia's listing of how it charted. In 1975, it hit the #1 spot it in the UK. In 1976, it got as high as #6 or #9 in the U.S. depending on whose chart you follow (though it didn't get as high as #1 or #2 until its Wayne's World inspired second wind in 1992).

May be the area I was in at the time and general activity of ducks just not lining up. I don"t remember that one being played much on the radio while it was almost guaranteed that the video would be aired on DKRC. I suspect the pre-Perry Journey received more radio play than elsewhere. I was living in the South SF Bay area and there was a big difference between what the two strong SB Rock stations played and what was being broadcast out of SF. Some shared but in those days at different points in time the SB stations might have been as significant as SF stations.

[jazzpiano88]

Complex country Song -- Truck Driver Divorce:

 

[video:youtube]