Song Patterns

  • SZA: So daring like “Kiss Me”

    Check out this three-note sequence in the chorus of SZA’s F2F (2022). It’s an unusual contour. It sounds familiar. In Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer (1999), those same three notes are played on accordion. (Transposed to match.) F2F also has a bendy whistling synth line, timbrally similar to the Kiss Me accordion. Both…

  • Ben Folds Five Three Six

    In the introduction to Dr. Nathaniel Adam’s 2011 dissertation on Radiohead’s OK Computer, he defines what he calls a “musical signature,” using an example from Ben Folds’ melodies: Some musicians, composers or performers have a specific musical signature, like a theme, gesture, or technique; for example, there is a certain vocal gesture used by singer-songwriter…

  • Taylor Swift’s Paramore song

    Paramore’s Misery Business, like Genghis Khan, has progeny far and wide. Taylor Swift’s 2010 Better Than Revenge is an interesting case because it draws from more than one song on the same Paramore album. Disclaimer This is not an accusation of plagiarism. All writers take inspiration from other writers. Misery Business On the surface, Better…