Alarmingly, this record has been doing the rounds for a Very Long Time Indeed without actually getting a review here. I first heard it on November 17 last year, about two months after it had first been served to rock radio. Then it crossed over to pop radio in the US, and finally emerged on pap radio in the UK in the early part of June, just ahead of a commercial single release. If it wasn't for that darned Nickelback, Linkin Park, and Ashanti, they would have a decent crack at being the US #1 record for the year. Maybe they still do.
So, what is this record of which so much has been spoken? A guitar ballad, with a croaky baritone vocal intoning a message of support and pursuit to the other half. The formula is simple, the execution only slightly more complex.
Why has it been such a massive worldwide hit? The time signature is a constant 4/4, working at exactly 120 beats per minute. This is known to be slightly faster than the resting human heartbeat, yet not so fast that it's going to tire out the listener.
The construction of the song is also quite remarkable. Start with an acoustic guitar, add percussion at bar 8, then head into the chorus at bar 21 and crank up the volume accordingly. Bring more instruments into the mix, add a crescendo to repeat chorus at bar 46. Have the middle eight at bars 55-64, then return to the verse-chorus to fade. Yep, it's the same Eight Bar Blues that Status Quo has been jamming for the past (er) more years than we care to remember.
The follow up single, Adrienne
has already been and gone at US rock radio, and doesn't look likely to make it at pop. Could this be because it's got to be have a more complex structure than this breakthrough hit? You decide.
The album Carmino Palmero
has been on release for all or some of the year.