Here's my crack at this oft-requested favourite from Ben Folds Nation, penned when Ben was but a lad of 18, and the first song he'd ever written - according to Ben - that "didn't suck."
As Ben puts it, by the time of 'Emaline' he had stopped "aping the vernacular of other songwriters," and had begun to develop his own vernacular - one which would begin to include, on songs like this one, poetic terms such as "whine" and "stupid," and which would soon evolve into the unruly admixture of tender and profane which us fans have come to expect and adore.
This song is outrageously over-complicated, which, for me, contributes to its charm.
Peering inside, we find loose collections of jazz chords, ambiguous and changing key centres, running inner-melodies, modes, vocal lines which hit flat-fives and high falsetto notes, colliding poly-rhythms, and more.
Fortunately for us, all of these songwriting elements - not to mention Ben's unique way of putting this song across when he plays it live - make for rich workshop material. Join us below!
"Can We Play It Like Ben Folds? 'Emaline:' Deep-Dive Workshop"
[ Ссылка ]
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Yours,
-Kurt
#benfoldscover #emalinecover #pianovocalcover
