In the following essay I will attempt to make an analysis of two pieces of music from two different eras written by two different people. An artist called Randy Newman writes one of the pieces. The title of the song is "Mama Told Me Not To Come". The second song is written and performed by an artist called Kathryn Williams entitled "Fell Down Fast". In order to make the analysis I will look at the instrumentation, arrangement and the structure of the songs as well as possible social factors that may have influenced the artists. .
Randy Newman was not widely recognised until 1977 when he released the single "Short People" into the charts, which actually reached, number two. However he had been writing for some years before this success. This success marked the Turning point in Newman's career as an artist and from here on he has written music for many films including Maverick, James and The Giant Peach and Toy Story plus more. His credits include nominations for 12 academy awards one of those nominations was for "Mama Told Me Not To Come". .
When originally released, the song "Mama Told Me Not To Come" Was not a huge hit. When it was released by "Three Dog Night" in 1970 it was a smash. Since then its popularity has continued and many artists have actually covered it. .
Perhaps it was the structure of the song that made the song so appealing to his fans and admirers.
Below are the parts that make the structure of Newmans "Mama Told Me Not To Come".
4 Bar Intro .
8 Bar Verse (Vocals).
8 Bar Chorus (Vocals).
8 bar Verse (Vocals).
8 Bar Chorus (Vocals).
4 Bar Bridge.
8 Bar Verse(Vocals).
10 Bar Chorus (Vocals for 8 Bars Only).
Verse Fading Away.
The structure of this song can be described as typical for the 1970's time period in which it was written. The verse, chorus, verse, choruses structure was a popular structure for the time. .
As you can see from the above this song has a typical arrangement of allot of chart songs in the late 60's and 70's.
