Hi Al,

Very smooth music indeed. You certainly have a flair for skilful arranging.

I'm curious, when you arranged this, did you try the sequence "V1, Chorus, V2, Chorus, Instrumental, Chorus"? I found myself wondering if maybe the instrumental would sound even more satisfying after a second chorus.

I'll explain my thinking ...

A number of years ago, Steve Seskin (7 number one records) introduced me to what he called the "rule of two". It's more a principle than a rule but what it says is that after a sequence has been presented twice, it's good to vary things.

The verse-chorus system can be considered a single system. A second verse-chorus system then completes the set of two. Steve said that after a statement and its repetition, music and lyric patterns are firmly cemented in a listener's mind. This creates familiarity and makes the listener feel comfortable. Now when some variation comes along it stands out much more significantly in contrast. It also means that when the listener is returned to the last chorus (i.e. familiar territory), there's a very strong sense of having reached home base and it makes the last chorus feel even stronger.

Steve had a theory that it was because of the "rule of two" that the AABA form has proven to be such a strong song form. He said that it's the classic "statement, repetition, contrast, original statement" form.

Sorry if I'm boring you. I appreciate that given your extremely high level of musical expertise, the "rule of two" approach that I've outlined above (whether or not you've heard of it) is most likely something that you've already considered with this arrangement and discarded because it doesn't work the way you want it to.

The reason I put all this into words was because your song provided a great opportunity to pass on some information about a songwriting technique to other forum members who might not have heard of this principle. I thought that they might find it interesting.

Overall, I found this song a very laid back and easy listen.

All the best,
Noel

P.S. One of the most interesting things about the "rule of two" is that after I became aware of it, I started hearing it everywhere! It comes in many different shapes and forms from lyrics to melodic motifs. It's also found as systems within systems. The Beatles were big users of it.

For example, verse 1 of Hard Day's Night

[STATEMENT] It's been a hard day's night
And I'd been working like a dog

[REPETITION] It's been a hard day's night
I should be sleeping like a log

[VARIATION] But when I get home to you
I find the things that you do
Will make me feel alright


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