Rina Sawayama's second album Hold the Girl has received mixed reviews, but IMO there are some hidden gems. And one of them, Forgiveness, is a really great example of music mirroring the lyrics. Lyrically, the song is about the long, complex journey of forgiving people who have harmed you in the past. The chorus concludes with much of the accompaniment dropping out, as she sings:
Forgiveness is a winding road
But here's the cool part: This sense of being on a "winding road," of "running in circles," and things "flip[ping] so fast," is mirrored in the song's chord progression. It's almost a very normally sounding pop song, but there's a constant tendency to wander off into different modes. It a bit jarring, in a good way.
Take the verse (key is D):
(Dmaj7) Just when I thought I'd weathered the storm
(C) rain starts to pour, those same old tears back on
(Em) my face... no
(Gm7) escape
On each line, the 7th degree switches between C and C#, giving this sort of unsettled sense of rocking back and forth. And of course the minor iv chord, present throughout the song, is a bit funky.
Another example is in the chorus. It starts feeling more settled, but that minor/mixolydian feel sneaks in! Note the chord difference between "mind" and "signs." Also listen for the awkward G# in the lead-out.
(D) I'm... losing my
(A) mind... Sometimes I
(Em) blame you, sometimes I don't... Sometimes it
(Gm) flips so fast, I don't know (A)
(D) I'm... looking for
(C) signs... for some kind of
(Em) highway to letting it go, but... For-
(Gm) -givеness is a winding road
The best example though is the bridge. It not only keeps this rocking/back and forth sense, it completely changes the measure structure from 6 beats to 4. Most of it is a repeating ♭VI-VII-I pattern, though orders and inversions are swapped around. But it then ends in a very unsettled place, on the line:
(G) Wondering if (F#m7♭5) I went the wrong...
(Em7) ...way... but I ain't lost
Anyway, I thought it was a cool song, and a great example of music/chords mirroring a song's lyrics/meaning. Would love to hear other thoughts/analyses from all you smart people!
Reference:
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