Song Analysis

Africa – Toto

Toto – Africa (Lyrics) – Bing video

Africa’s structure is interesting because it goes Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1 & 2, Verse 2, Instrumental Solo, Chorus 3 & 4, Outro.

all of that is pretty standard and a strong order but if you zoom in you see little things like how Verse one repeats four times but Verse one only does three rounds. The Chorus is extremely chromatic only having two notes in it (I bless the rains down in A)(frica). It consists of Section A and Section B in the intro

Section A consists of on beat and syncopated rhythms while Section B revolves more around ostinatos and regular quavers. They’re both played on synths and there call and response. The verses have slow harmonic rhythm and are mainly conjunct

The instruments is a synth piano and from there it’s all layered in, including bass, snare, hi-hat, congas, cowbell, shaker, and a makeshift walking stick with Pepsi bottlecaps attached.

93 BPM and its in 4/4

Toto used a rare and iconic Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer to give the song a more delicate and soft approach

I chose this song because it was the first song I studied in GCSE it helped me listen to music in a different way because my teacher would make us when listening to any song, analyse it and pick out any different techniques we could which helped with my exam a lot.

Interesting Literature. (2023). The Curious meaning of Toto’s Africa – Interesting Literature. [Online]. Interesting Literature. Last Updated: 2023. Available at: https://interestingliterature.com/2023/04/toto-africa-meaning/ [Accessed 5 November 2023].

When you Love Someone – James TW

James TW – When You Love Someone (Official Video) – YouTube

The songs main instrument is the acoustic guitar which features a repetitive rhythm but its slowly joined by a piano, electric guitar, bass and a percussion shaker.

126 BPM which is a pretty uncommon tempo and it’s in 4/4

Intro, Verse 1 & 2, Pre Chorus, Chorus, Verse 3, Pre chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Verse 4 & 5

I couldn’t find any production techniques on the internet that James uses but I know that he uses very unique strumming techniques.

This song resonates with me a lot, I relate to it on an incredibly deep level, so much so actually that the first time I heard it I cried and just thinking about the lyrics would make me tear up. I’ve never heard another song that I haven’t written that can fit on my wave length so perfectly and because of that its been one of my favourite songs for years now, that and it is also just in general a beautiful song.

Wikipedia. (2023). James TW – Wikipedia. [Online]. Wikipedia. Last Updated: 2023. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_TW [Accessed 6 November 2023].

Somewhere only we know – Keane

Keane – Somewhere Only We Know (Official Music Video) – YouTube

The piano is the most prominent instrument in the song due to its harmonic and rhythmic role in the song, there is also some synths and percussion in there

172 BPM, and like usual its in 4/4

Intro, Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Bridge

This song found me at the perfect time, its not often that a song finds you exactly when you need it so it definitely holds a lot of memories, it came to me during a big turning point in my life

At the time it was unusual to have a piano as the lead instrument and no guitars, so they put in the bass parts on a laptop and suddenly everything fell into place.

The Guardien. (2023). Keane: how we made Somewhere Only we Know. [Online]. The Guardien. Last Updated: 2023. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/sep/17/how-we-made-keane-somewhere-only-we-know-tom-chaplin [Accessed 6 November 2023].