Song Writing Analysis - Popular Music Analysis of Radiohead - No Surprises - Coursework Example

Table of Contents Chapter Introduction 2 1 Radiohead 3 Chapter 2: Lyrical and Musical Composition of No Surprises 6 2 Lyrical Setting 2.2 Melodic and Harmonic Relationships 2.3 Effects of Melancholy 13 2.4 Effects of Xylophone & Bells…………………………………………………………………13 2.5 Modal Harmony……………………………………………………………………………………14 Chapter 3 Discussion and Conclusion References 20 Appendices Chapter 1: Introduction In the previous generation, we thought Madonna assaulting music fans in negligees and army boots was the musical wild side. Boy George and Cyndi Lauper satisfied our need for strange. From punk to the new wave Brit Heavy Metal… Psychobilly and the Futuristic movement… the earliest abstract bands listed UK Decay, the Banshees and Bauhaus. But suddenly, all over the world, gothic culture broke out, arresting conservatism and demanding the right to be musically deranged. Alice Cooper drank chicken blood on stage. For some reason, Ozzy Osborne bit the head off of a bat. Graphic tattoos, pythons and tongue piercings had become boring. Out of nowhere, a musical emancipation pronounced darker theories of death and pain that drew many punk rockers and pop culture fans into the dark. John Lennon was replaced by Marilyn Manson. Novelist Tom Wolfe labeled the 70s as the ‘Me’ Decade in “The ‘Me’ Decade and the Third Great Awakening". By the late 1970s, a culture of black lipstick, blood and men adopting female names had grown into its own genre. The State of California was easing its ban of marijuana and by 1979, the Gay Movement was red hot. Roughly between 1971 and 1984, everybody was in some type of artistic movement and expressed themselves through music. It was this era that inspired the gothic music genre unification of punk rockers, heavy metal fans, and even some conservative Rock-n-Rollers through the World Wide Web. In 1985, Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Thom York, Ed O’Brien, and Phil Selway joined the melodic movement of the misunderstood as Radiohead in Oxfordshire, England. Influenced by alternative rock, American indie and surges of punk and Britpop that surrounded them locally, the band brought their own kind of ‘strange’ to Rock. This paper is an exploration of a new era genre of music; particularly that of the fairly new punk rock band Radiohead. The focus of the study of the linguistic analysis of the musical style and songs including, Ok Computers, The Bends, and Radiohead’s 1997 release No Surprises, within the context of popular music idioms and rock. 1.1 Radiohead Radiohead was formed in Oxford because all the band members grew up and attended secondary school in Oxfordshire (Osborne, 2004: 15). Through their use of harmony, disruptive melodic figuration and rhythm, Radiohead has been able to build a reputation by accumulating a distinctive musical language, and by drawing from a musical palette characterized by a strained relationship between mainstream expectation and convention. The band’s music style is based upon garage band effects: loud and expressive, much like the American grunge bands Nirvana, Sound Garden and Pearl Jam (Hiburn, 1998:7). A significant part of Radiohead’s reputation as original composers and performers of music, punk-ish rock that did not conform to stereotypical pop-music expectations and norms. A vital part of engaging with their music is being able to track the events that form associations for the Radiohead-listener with equal events in a single Radiohead song or album (Moore, 2003: 58). Radiohead’s early music was rather mainstream. Radiohead’s first two studio recordings seemed quite primitive due to lack of a provocative esotericism that came to be associated in their later works. The making of OK Computers played a large role as a significant paradigm shift for the band, artistically and musically (Tate, 2005: 14). Both of their first two albums, 1993’s Pablo Honey and 1995’s The Bends, owed a great deal to the style of grunge-rock that was associated with the Pacific Northwest in the 1980’s (Hiburn, 1998: 6). During the composition, production and recording of OK Computers, the band focused on honing an original sound; this was accomplished by isolating themselves from exposure to mainstream music. The song was done with the help of friend and producer Nigel Godrich who was frequently compared to “fifth Beatle” George Martin for his critical role in the bands work (Cheal, 1997: 15). All of the band’s compositions were were progressive at this point; however, the band’s lyrics and tone drifted further and further away from lyrical and compositional interpretation. While listening to another song on the album called ‘Karma Police’ there are plenty movements related to No Surprises. However, when we look at the whole album, smells of the same sounds, same melancholy; and yet the songs have relations between each other (Bate, 2004: 277). For instance; chords, melody, timbre, harmony, drum beats etc. The whole album looks and sounds like a story. It’s always about Radiohead s type of recording and making songs, they don’t choose to use same or similar things. I believe in their timbre, chords, melody can similarly change but still they always put something fresh and new. Such as; Electronic sounds, pedals, harmonization, and vocal harmonization. A tone can be a colon or mood of the voice (not to be confused with timbrea pitch or “An entire step; an interval equalling two “semitones” (or half steps). G is a tone higher than F. A tone is also called simply a “step.”(Bates, 2004: 277). Fig. 1 Excerpt from Karma Police, (Ultimate Guitar, 2012) Gurnell (2011: 1) in a recent article writes about Radiohead and Oasis in the 90’s and invokes one of the most common reactions to Radiohead’s music, that it is ‘difficult’. In her dissertation, “How to Disappear Completely” Marianne Tatom Letts addresses several aspects of Radiohead’s difficulty. In it her main focus is on two albums Radiohead’s Amnesiac (2001) and Kid A (2000), in it she discussed the albums as experimental concepts (Reisch, 2009:3). Her thesis concerned mainly of Radiohead’s role in capitalist culture, but she still explores much of the music done in chapter 2 and 4 of her dissertation. In the context of society, as part of her analysis Letts adds in problems and musical issues of Radiohead’s balance between progressive experimentalism and success (Reisch, 2009: 5). Chapter 2: Lyrical and Musical Composition of No Surprises No Surprises is the 1997 Radiohead release that standouts due to its suburban idealism expressed through lyrics about man’s burden of life. The song is actually at the highest end of the spectrum of sad songs, with a lingering mood of dejection and depression. The title No Surprises is utilized to reflect life’s emotional unfulfilment which drives the lyrics of the song to conclude that the only way to peace is through “a handshake and some carbon monoxide” (Aidin, 2011: 27). A feeling of resignation from life and society is a clear message from the narrator of the song. The track is based on duple meter that is a four by four rhythm/ 4-by-4 rhythm. The key signature is comprised of a major minor combination. The song is in the mid-range in terms of tempo, neither too fast nor two slow. Some of the other songs in mid-range tempo in the modern pop music category includes: “Imagine” by the Beatles, “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton, “Like a stone” by Audio Slave, “Ghetto” by Akon, “As long as you love me” by the Backstreet Boys, “Words” by Boy zone. The timbre is guitar dominated with a heavy base line that’s is audible and dominant right from the beginning. By listening to a song’s key other components of the song can be identified. The key signature comes between the clef and the time signature. A Key signature may comprise of sharps or flats and can never comprise of both. The Key signature of a song is the notes or the melody played correctly. 2.1 Lyrical Setting The imagery by Thom Yorke is thoroughly depressing. A good example is the lyric “A heart that is fill up like a landfill/ a job that slowly kills you/bruises that won’t heal” (Griffiths, 1999: 389). The base of the lyrics to “No surprises” is more for being “sung” than spoken because of their joint syntax. There are two groups to the lines of the song; lines that use the verb tense and words that carry more adjectives and nouns which makes incomplete sentences due to the lack of active verbs. In the absence of organizational euphony, Thom diverts the resulting pattern in the hidden lyrics (Doll, 2007: 123). There is a traceable narrative in “No surprises” due to the alteration and the two balances. It is a good kind of poetry that suits a human narrator. The narrator of the song has a lot to say and he does through this simple lyrical poetry with minimum usage of words and description but more with his expressions than with a few lines sung in the typical way (Aidin, 2011: 27). The lyrics refer to heaviness in the heart due to prevailing circumstances in his life including a government that has betrayed its loyal citizens, a job that leaves nothing , and a growing distance between people and their emotions. Everyone is in their own frenzied pursuit of goals and aspirations without caring for the larger good and the simpler things in life. The first stanza talks about the life of any ordinary man who goes to work, makes a living, fights the hardships of life, and struggles to remain within the law and rules of society. He has also lost patience with a number of issues which are not directly mentioned in the lyric nor shown in the video, but hinted at subtly through choice of words and imagery in the video track. ‘The water level rising above the head’ signifies many things all at once. A failing purpose in life, suicide or death by drowning, disillusionment in love, addiction, misunderstood intentions, and disquiet can all be perceived through the visuals and the audio (Aidin, 2011: 27). The lines “I’ll take a quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide” refers to addiction due to continued dejection and hopelessness in life (Adams, 2007: 62). The narrator is broken beyond repair, withstanding breaking down and giving in to the call of ‘death’. The very next line clarifies his resolve to solve all his problems and detach himself from life and its issues: ‘This is my final fit, my final bellyache with’. No Surprises represents the emotions of many people in the 21st century. It is the grim face of the modern 21st century man . A man who becomes educated to build his dreams, begins to struggle , becomes disillusioned, suffers in a relationship, and even more amidst an increasingly alien society; watching governments cheat the people and things breaking apart in his life (Baker, 2007: 65).This adversity drives the narrator to the point where he wants to detach himself from the world and its millions of issues, by taking a big step (Clarke, 2010: 13). The title phrase of the song – ‘No alarms and no surprises’ has multiple interpretations. A person who has ‘no alarms’ and ‘no surprises’ is devoid of any feeling or emotion. His life is a platitude with no highs or lows, a simple existence detached from the world or society (Adams, 2007: 67). This song is sort of a combination of the themes of Let down and Fake Plastic Trees. These are the two schools of thoughts of interpretation. One school of thought believes that the songs talks about the intentions of committing suicide and another school of thought thinks that the song talks merely about resignation form life and worldly attachments driven by depression, frustration and harsh realities (Adams, 2007: 68). According to the second school of thought this need for detachment comes from the hatred towards oneself when the world starts judging people. "You look so tired and happy"  translates to, "I am so tired and unhappy."  He realises that he is tired and unhappy but tries to fool himself as if he is happy and nothing has gone wrong. A feeling of intoxication or heavy drug use so that senses are numb and perceptions are altered is introduced through this line. "Bring down the government."  could be translated in two ways.  “The way in which the lead vocalist Thom Yorke sings the lyric is half-hearted for such a radical statement”. He could be reiterating the sentiment present in the fiery youth but more subdued in his adult ways. He is calling for a resignation from the society that has given him nothing but pain and frustration with a judgemental eye and scrutiny of his credentials at every step. (Stoia, 2010: 3) "Ill take a quiet life, a handshake, some carbon monoxide, and no alarms and no surprises."  In the way expressed by the narrator, life has become void and meaningless. This song is about detachment. The song is about utter frustration with the monotony of urban life that has taken a deathly toll on the mind (Cheal, 1997: 15). The effect is so adverse that the narrator considers being aloof from everything and everyone. What this entails is not clear as it has not been clearly specified in the lyric or in the video, but it certainly hints at something drastic to restore calm and peace within. He recalls the day when he accepted his stable yet drably unexciting adulthood of degrading politics and slow deterioration.  "Silent."  It means that he will remain silent about his grievances. The lyric, according to Doll (2007: 123), carries out a static nature due to the halting and cell-like nature. The single piano theme complements and accompanies the lyrics. The lyrics are in two incarnations are repeated first in B minor then to G-sharp and later adjusted back to B minor. There is a resistance of conventional analysis due to the two incarnations. Pitch and rhythm do not look like they will be a factor in the first lines of the track. "This is my final fit."  The narrator is not at all happy but resolves to abstain from complaint. "Such a pretty house.  Such a pretty garden."  “The speaker is in denial.  He is still attempting to convince himself that he is happy.”(Gurnell, 2011: 91). An effect to the lyrics is added when the piano enters in the first lines, its late arrival combined with a halting performance and controlled pitch-content delegates its role as a background accompaniment. The accompaniment of the song is a bit straight forward like music in French films parts (Dunbar, 2001: 127). This similar effect has been used by the Beatles in an experimental track from their 1986 album dabbed The White Album. In the song “Revolution 9” the piano is placed in a different context in the track playing the role of an addition. It changes the norm where the piano opens the song in most rock music albums. The lyrics are written and delivered in a concise manner making it easy to lose the message if one does not pay close attention.” 2.2 Harmonic and Melodic Relationships The minor chords, the substitution and melodic harmony play important roles in bringing to the fore front the melancholic nature of the song. G minor plays a very important in moving the listeners. A subtly genre in alternate rock it resembles to songs such as “Breaking My Hearth Again” by Michael Learns to Rock. There is the type of harmony that shifts away from the usual and defines every tone’s ambiguity resulting to a particular key. “No Surprises somewhat relates to this instead of experimenting on modality and pandiatonicism as seen in “Electioneering and “Climbing Up the walls” or section tonality in “Karma Police” and “Paranoid Android” (Moore, 2003: 45). All three harmony categorized are experienced in the Ok computer’s and to a certain extend they are also engaged in the next Radiohead’s 2000 album “Kid A”. The song is based on a slightly sharp variant of E major chord with the root note being E. In its chord progressions it has a minor chord and a sustained 4 chord in it as well. The following chords are played in this song: D, B minor, E minor, A, A. Fig. 1 No Surprises, Cap, (Ultimate Guitar, 2012) As a major-mode song with little chromatist, No Surprises suggests the mundane, joining “Let Down”, and certainly there is no threat of less tone or moving away from the home key, which in this case was F major (Covach and Graeme, 1997: 32). The lowered sixth degree scale is the one chromatic tone that the song makes use of, first appearing in the introductory riff that shows the primary. The fifth of the half diminished supertonic seventh or perhaps the submediant functions as the third of the modally mixed subdominant triad, depending on whether the G at the end of the second measure is translated as a member of the harmony or as a passing tone although the metrically weak placement of the G makes it seem more like a passing tone. On the second note of the song this was identified as the main term, the alteration between minor and tonic progression. The metric placement sounds different depending also on how one wants to hear it (Cheal, 1997: 15). “No surprises” timbre keys are not stretched but they are indeed different. The keys can be linked with two progressions and are based upon their harmonic function and the formal placement of the proposed song. Melody The signature melody of the song is played right in the beginning. While the first two bars are played only the lead and the bass guitar is heard. The next two bars are played with all instruments lead guitar, bass guitar, rhythm, drums and bells. This technique of instrumental accompaniment where the different instruments join in one after the other in different lines has been used in many songs. The track is neither ascending nor descending but in between the two and more close to “undulating” melodic movement or contour. It has proportionate usage of lower octave and mid octave notes (Dunbar, 2001: 129). It doesn’t have jumps in notes reaching to higher or plummeting to lower octave. What follows from this is that it is an easy listening song, with subtle variations brought in by chord substitution. The song is not wavelike in pattern. It is rather continuous and steady in terms of pitch, octave shifts (no octave shifts or augmentation), and amplitude. There is no musical drama unlike operatic music or other pop songs like – “Heart Beat of Hope” original sound track from the movie “Prince of Egypt” or the song “So Far Away” by the progressive rock band Avenged Sevenfold. The song is divided into a prelude consisting of 4 bars of the signature tune, followed by the first stanza, interlude, second stanza and conclusion (Heifetz, 2012). The major and minor combination creates the melody and adds to the slow paced, intoxicating, easy going, free flowing expression of the song. D major and B minor are two chords that go very well with one another due the similar root note (D) that is used but just a change of a few notes that makes it B minor. E minor followed by A major and its subtle A major suspended 4th chord further take the music ahead giving it the authentic feeling of melancholy, a silent sad lullaby, a goodbye to the world and its tensions. Disruption can be seen through melodic tones; that is, tones that are chromatic in the inferred collection. A good example is the use of minor and major medants and other non-hierarchically scale degrees. When non-functional chords pose a challenge to the assigned key or instructed function of the phrase then the disruption is through over chromatic harmony. For example in the song “Paranoid Android” a progression from A major to C major is identified in the third section. In “The tourist” there is a half style slide to the quasi-half cadence bearing in mind the category’s differ from the scale’s topography (Rothstein, 1995: 289). 2.3 Effect of Melancholy Depression is the chief emotion in this song. It is conceptualized as a subjective emotional state expressed as lingering feeling of intense sadness and a severe inability to enjoy life (Bates, 2004: 278). It is associated with behavioural manifestations and external symptoms like as sleeplessness, eating disorders, and inactivity that affect daily activities. The main contributor of melancholy in this song is the minor chord G minor. Apart from the minor chord the xylophone bells also create a strange inexpressible feeling of suffocated pain and agony. D major followed by B minor creates the mood for the song. It sets the expectations from the song and gives a clear message early on that the song is a serious and sad one (Bates, 2004: 275). The song, “Final Countdown” by the band Europe is an example where an entire modern orchestra comprising of electric synthesisers, guitars, percussion, drums, bass guitars, wind instruments were used and in the first few minutes the instruments joined in one by one at different points in time (Monelle, 2000). Depression, the key sentiment of the song has also been interpreted as a state of mood and a set of symptoms 2.4 Effect of the Xylophone and Bells The bells playing in the background have tremendous effect on the intensity of emotions flowing out of the songs. The song would have had a different on the minds of listeners had the bells not played or the bell track was absent all together (Buckley, 2001: 744). Bells are instruments usually used in happy songs, children rhymes, Christmas carols, essentially for purposes like occasions, festivals, birthday celebrations and other expressions of joy and mirth. When used in the context and in combination with the instruments played in this song it has a totally different effect. This effect has been used in many songs of the late 20th and 21st century like the song according to Buckley (2001: 744): “If I had words, to make a day for you” from the film “Babe”, a children’s movie about animals. Bands such as Green Day, Audio Slave and Red Hot Chilli Peppers have also used the effect of xylophone in an alternative rock setting. It brings out magnificent effects in evoking feelings of pain, frustration and melancholy. 2.5 Modal Harmony There is presence of idiomatic writing in the song. The song plays to the strengths of the middle octave and harmony on guitar. Chord D and G minor create the effect of sadness and melancholy. The chord progression D, BM, Em, A, Asus4 resembles the 1st tone of the Ambrosia mode. It also is similar to the first tone of the Gregorian mode. Modal harmony shifts are noticed where major and minor harmony crosses their lines especially through the application of successive chords of D and G minor (in the signature tune at the beginning, interlude and the end of the track) or D and B minor (during the vocal part). Modal developments happen in this song. Fig. 2 Chords Used in Popular Songs, (Yau, 2012) The Major four chords appear indie a minor key and many borrowed chords like a sus4 (Dunbar, 2001: 131). The songs had been written in such a way that the chords are pronounced by the rhythm sections and the notation played by the bass guitar, lead and the bells (Bates, 2004: 281). Filling up the background with instruments like violin and the rhythm guitar are true reflections of idiomatic writing style found in the making of this song. The characteristic of rock music is prolonged vagueness, an excellent example for the harmony Radiohead provides in “No surprises”. Radiohead’s songs carry a harmonic on modal passage whose emphasis lies on chordial functions and of the key. The timbre of this song is representative of the contemporary alternate rock sound. It includes instruments like guitar, bass guitars, synthesisers, drums, special effects and background orchestra. It resembles the sound of other alternate rock bands like: Audio Slave, Green Day, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Michael Learns to Rock. Chordal Substitution Usually substitution or substituted chords differ by a note or two. They bring variety in the song, accentuate the central emotion of the song and keep the audience interested in the song. They heavily influence the overall melody of the song and its musicality in terms of its effect on people, its effectiveness in conveying an emotion and its capability to move audiences. A sus4 is the substituted chord played. It is a derived chord form the A major chord family. In this song A sus4 brings out the exact effect as desired by the composer of the song. It is played with the intention of fitting well with the vocal track and the overall note progression of the song. Just like A sus4 various other chords like diminished, augmented, 9th s, 7th s, 12th s, 13th s etc. are used to produce specific effects. A combination of open and closed strings in the guitar especially does a great job of substitution (Monelle, 2000: 22). In the field of music theory chord substitution plays very important role. It is the advanced technique of using a chord instead of another and is often a related chord in a chord progression that is chord with same root note and construction but with a different tone, intensity, pitch or notes (Abebe, 2011: 18). It has its most diverse and intense applications in the genre of Jazz. Jazz musicians use substitutions in the originals progression to introduce variety and make the piece interesting. The substitute is a function of the original chord and has some harmony in relation to the original chord varying by a note or two (Clarke, 2010: 43). It is done mostly by musicians of an advanced level having mastery over chords and a subtle understanding of effects of application of different chords in a chord family. Therapeutic Effect For some, the positive effects of No Surprises are far reaching, especially in adverse conditions. Overall even though the song talks about pain it has evidence of positive pain management. In the broader aspect, listening to music can reduce pain from a range of painful conditions, like health conditions: osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, by up to 21% and mental condition: depression by up to 25%. There are several theories about how music positively affects perceived pain: 1. Music serves as a source of distraction 2. Music may give the listener a sense of control over his life 3. Music causes the body to release endorphins and raises dopamine levels to counter pain 4. Slow music relaxes person by slowing down their breathing and heartbeat With the transition of the globe from the industrial era into the silicon era marked with the steady rise in popularity of computer systems and its various innovative digital systems work was simplified, automated and refined by leaps and bound. To some casual listeners and scholars, Radiohead’s music is singularly satisfying and rich. A distinctive voice is portrayed in their music and something about their songs is described as a sound in their own musical language (Cheal, 1997: 15). As a state of mood, depression may be elaborated as a feeling of unhappiness, sadness, dejection, or hopelessness in equal or varying proportions, all of which can be observed in the course of the songs through the emotion and the visuals. As an attempt to graphically represent the combination of various influences and styles on Radiohead’s music, Jamie Gurnell who is a graphic designer shows the overwhelming effect Radiohead’s music could have on a scholar, amateur or listener through its resistance to definition, and also represents the results of a scientific or analytical study (Gurnell, 2011:3). Chapter 3: Discussion and Conclusion Everything that we know of today in the modern 21st century era including music and its industry worldwide has undergone a change in the last century. From slow to fast paced, from the analogue to the digital, from the manual to the automatic, from large sized and clumsy to the miniaturised and elegant, from the obscure and backward to the clear and futuristic. Popular music is everything about the new power the digital technology has given. It is about the synthesis of creative ideas over sophisticated technology. The concept of tracks, multi-track recording, and mixing, mastering and audio effects was unknown in the beginning of the last century. “No surprises” is a cross between “Let down and “Fake plastic tree”, meaning there are two schools of thoughts that can explain this song. The song does agree to the mould that the society acknowledgers and has prepared for people. The song talks of human beings as machines whose worth is measured and judged on mental status and social status at 25. For the music critic, describing a song’s adjectives and metaphors will only get one so far, it’s challenging especially without a why and some fluency in music theory. It is clearly difficult to clearly categorize Radiohead’s music at all and hard to articulate the characteristics of the technical surface-level problems (Corach and Graeme, 1997: 17). In the area of music, musicians have extensively benefitted from the ready availability of technology at hand to simply work and increase productivity. The effect – more number of albums released, bigger and more complex musical projects executed with ease, a stark change in the ‘sound’ of the music from the early 20th century to late 20th century. From being used as a tool to organise movements, address social and humanitarian issues, identify a community to usage for pure entertainment address global issues and most importantly for making a living out of music. It has been a gradual, evolutionary process for the band indeed, as it is not easy to tell at what point the music of Radiohead began its metamorphesis. In as much as foreshadowing and precedents of their later work is concerned, it can be heard on The Bends and even Pablo Honey. However, the consensus pick among fans, music scholars and critics seems to be OK Computer (Abbate, 1999: 465) as Radiohead’s paradigm-shifting moment to works of legendary status. Life has changes over the last few decades and there are things which have been taken away from lthe of societies and human beings at an individual level. Simplicity, joy in little things, generosity, forgiveness, brotherhood, love, love for peace etc. have been archived within this new generation. Factors like: consumerism, technological advancement, trafficking, drug use, terrorism, capitalism, ruthless competition have taken away the joy in living life and in experiencing consciousness and the gift of existence. References Abbate, C. (1999). Outside Ravel’s Tomb.” Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 52, No. 3: 465–530. Abebe, N. (2011). Radiohead’s The King of Limbs: What Happens When ‘Serious Listening’ Is Your Brand.” NYMAG. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/02/radioheads_king_of_limbs_ revie.html Adams, N. (2007). Pleased by Alarms and Surprises: Categorizing Radiohead’s Musical. Journal of music, 4: 62-78. Aidin, V. (2011). 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Appendix A Staff Notation of “No Surprises, (Helium Kidd, 2012) Appendix B Progression for “No Surprises”, (Ultimate Guitar.com, 2012, p.1) DBm A heart that’s full up like a landfill, Em A job that slowly kills you, AAsus4D (*play intro for D) Bruises that won’t heal. D You look so tired, unhappy, Bm Bring down the Government, EmAAsus4D * They don’t, they don’t speak for us. D Ill takes a quiet life, Bm A handshake of carbon monoxide, Chorus: EmAAsus4 With no alarms and no surprises EmAAsus4 No alarms and no surprises EmAAsus4 No alarms and no surprises D * D * Silence...... Silence Bridge: D This is my final fit Bm My final bellyache Chorus: EmAAsus4 With no alarms and no surprises EmAAsus4 No alarms and no surprises EmAAsus4 No alarms and no surprises D * Appendix C Musical Texture Texture:  The musical composition is what describes the texture. The different additional layers used create the term texture in music. In musical terms texture can ne elaborate or smooth. Texture means the complexity of a musical composition. It signifies the number of layers involved in the sound output. Different layers of different instrument or groups of instruments create a musical pattern or tapestry. A texture can be simple or detailed and is described with the following technical terms: 1. Monophonic: here the melody is a single line. 2. Biphonic:  two simultaneous melodies 3. Heterophonic:  one or two elaborate melodies 4. Homophonic: one melody with accompaniments 5. Polyphonic: contains many voices and harmonies Read More