I’ve chosen this song for two reasons: It isn’t hugely well known, and I loved it when I was thirteen. Bush were a pretty good rock band (and Gavin Rossdale is still making music) who did very well in the States but not as well in their native England.
It also has a few ideas that I think are worth stealing. They’re not unique to this song, but they are all neatly packaged up for you to hear.
In no particular order:
A simple but memorable riff – The riff at the start, in octaves rising up a C# minor scale – C# D# E F# is very simple, but combine it with first a C# minor chord then an A major chord and you get an effective, memorable little hook. (incidentally that chord progression – chord I then chord VI in the natural minor scale is used in most bush songs. It’s also used in a lot of heavy metal songs, particularly in the big, majestic ‘sing along’ parts).
A common chord progression - E B C#minor A in the chorus. That’s I V VI IV in E major
The tonality – C# minor for the verse, but the chorus is in the relative major key E major. There’s a definite contrast in mood between the two sections because of it.
The arrangement – in particular the fact that the guitars play a lot less in the first verse, giving the vocals lots of room. Also, the first chorus is quiet with no drums. We’re used to the chorus being loud all the time, but as you can hear in Machine Head, it’s often very effective to have the first version of the chorus quieter and more subdued. You can save the big singalong version till later.
So, steal away. Machinehead is a great example of how interesting a song can become with just tiny tweaks to common ideas.
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