that's the way i like it (1975)
kc & the sunshine band. disco, Hialeah FL USA.
key: C minor
mode: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
melody: S l t d r m
form: intro-verse-chorus-interlude
meter: duple
English function names: tonic subdominant
Tagg (modified): home counterpoise (away)
Riemann: t s
Scale degrees: i iv
Chords: Cm7 Fm7intro/verse/interlude
Fm7
|:/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / :|
chorus
Cm7
|:/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / :|I grew up hearing this song on AM radio. I happily sang along with its catchy chorus — as I'm sure those born in the 90s sang along with So Fresh So Clean's hook — and had, of course, no idea what the song was about. As an adult, it's painfully clear, although it actually isn't nearly as explicit as many of today's hits are.1 And here we are at one of the recurring themes of this blog, lyrical appropriateness for children. We are taken in by the vibe of the thing, not the letter.2 The song gets played in the background, piping through the overhead speakers at supermarkets. It's the childhood soundtrack to going to the beach in the summer as much as it is a raunchy anthem for queers at Studio 54. This a funny thing about pop & rock music: the lyrics do and do not matter.3
And in the same way, the harmonies do and do not matter. It doesn't matter how complex the song is structurally. How the ingredients are put together and performed is of far more importance to a piece of music's efficacy. If you are not interested in shaking your groove thang, this song is not for you, and will not work as music, no matter how many chords there are. If you are, then it should work quite nicely.
It may look like we have a shuttle, as it alternates evenly between the two chords, but each harmony is in play for longer than what could be considered the "extended present," which theorist Philip Tagg, who coined both shuttle and extended present, considers essential to qualify as a shuttle. Instead, we have two harmonic poles. Each harmony is in play long enough that it creates its own center of gravity, if you will. That is, it could be argued that this is not in the key of C minor, that it simply explores two tonic centers. No matter which harmony is in play, however, C is the pitch that is the resting tone in the melodic material (uh-huh, uh-huh). Only the end of the phrase in the verses ends on F. But what's fascinating to me and my ears, is that even though the harmony is also based around F, the F in the melody does not sound like a resting tone — it does not sound like the melody can end there. It has to go back to the chorus and back to C.
other versions:
Dead or Alive, Sophisticated Boom Boom, Sony. B minor. Your 80s guilty-pleasure. Also, the harmonies are now tonic, mediant (III), and subdominant and all changes happen within the verse.
There seems to be a five minute version that gets a titch more explicit, but still…
Any fans of The Castle here?
If we ignore the lyrics, we have a nice six-pitch gamut (also ignoring the jump in register of the ooo-ooo-ooos) that is great for beginners of all ages to learn by ear.