An examination of one of the greatest Pop songs of all-time.


 

There is a British guitarist who has a YouTube channel, on which he examines all kinds of music. He calls his channel Wings Of Pegasus, and in the video below he breaks down the construction of what I consider to be as good a song as I have ever heard, right up there with "God Only Knows".

The song he plays and discusses is the live version of "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted", performed by Joan Osborne with The Funk Brothers. If you like this version, the original by Jimmy Ruffin is also available for viewing on YouTube, and is at least as good a version as Joan’s.

 

 

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Below is the Jimmy Ruffin original. The song was written by the Motown team of William Weatherspoon, Paul Riser, and James Dean. The chord progressions of the song are almost as majestic and glorious anything J.S. Bach composed, and the bass playing by James Jamerson evidence of why Paul McCartney cites James as a huge influence on his playing.

Listen for how James "pedals" on a single note as the other instruments move through the chord changes, creating a musical sound I love: the inversion (also employed by Brian Wilson in "God Only Knows"). He plays a note that is contained within each chord played, but not the tonic (root note of the chord). That creates a musical tension, tension released only when the chord progression moves to a chord not containing that note, requiring James to follow suit. Simple, but oh so satisfyin’!

 

 

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