Week 2: Cadence-- "Why does it always rain on me?"

Travis -- "Why does it always rain on me?"

              This song follows the structure of a Half Cadence in the first phrase, to a Perfect Authentic Cadence in the second phrase. This is easily distinguishable merely by the ear-- the first phrase of vocals ends on a V chord, and it feels incomplete. In fact, if the song ended right after that chord, it would have left most people feeling uneasy and the song seeming unresolved. That's why, in the second phrase, there is cadence that is built off of the root, leaving the listener of a much more stable and relaxed environment. This second cadence, a Perfect Authentic Cadence, to be specific, resolves the tension created in the first phrase. 

It was difficult, however, to find a song that followed this open/closed Cadence structure. 

For one thing, most songs that I would have liked to talk about were too complex harmonically, and simply did not follow such a basic structure. Many of those songs actually included many "Open" phrases, before only resolving the tension with closure in the chorus, if at all. 

In fact, almost every Alternative rock song that I explored from the past 5 years followed some other structure, or in the very least did not begin with an open chord cadence (Imperfect Authentic/ Half Cadence), followed immediately by a closed chord cadence (Perfect Authentic Cadence) in the next phrase. 

To finally find the song I chose, I had to travel back to 1999, when Travis released this song from the album "The Man Who." The 15 year age of this song may have been one reason that it contained this simple structure, as most other songs from today did not yield such good results. Another potential explanation could be the genre difference, as this song is considered Soft Rock, and only other music I searched through was Modern Alt. Rock. 

Regardless of the reasons why this structure has become seemingly less common, it is certainly an essential tool for songwriters in delivering good hooks in their music, and for capturing the eager ears of listeners who simply want the previous open phrase to be resolved!

E