White Windmill (白色風車) - Lyrics, Harmonic and Functional Analysis
The song that I'm going to do is White Windmill (白色風車). It's the 9th track in his Still Fantasy album.
Translation/pinyin/lyrics by Ho@multistars.com
白色风车
Bai se feng che
Composer: Jay Chou (周杰倫) (周杰伦)
Lyricist: Jay Chou (周杰倫) (周杰伦)
白色的风車
bai se de feng che
安静的转着
an jing de zhuan zhe
真实的感觉
zhen shi de gan jue
梦境般遥远
meng jing ban yao yuan
甜甜的海水
tian tian de hai shui
复杂的眼泪
fu za de yan lei
fu za de yan lei
看你傻笑着
kan ni sha xiao zhe
握住我的手
wo zhu wo de shou
wo zhu wo de shou
梦希望没有尽头
meng xi wang mei you jin tou
meng xi wang mei you jin tou
我们走到这就好
wo men zou dao zhe jiu hao
wo men zou dao zhe jiu hao
因爲我不想太快走完这幸福
yin wei wo bu xiang tai kuai zou wan zhe xing fu
yin wei wo bu xiang tai kuai zou wan zhe xing fu
很可惜没有祝福
hen ke xi mei you zhu fu
hen ke xi mei you zhu fu
当爱你并不孤独
dang ai ni bing bu gu du
dang ai ni bing bu gu du
不会再让你哭
bu hui zai rang ni ku
bu hui zai rang ni ku
我背你走到最後
wo bei ni zou dao zui hou
wo bei ni zou dao zui hou
能不能不要回头
neng bu neng bu yao hui tou
neng bu neng bu yao hui tou
你紧紧的抱住我
ni jin jin de bao zhu wo
ni jin jin de bao zhu wo
说你不需要承诺
shuo ni bu xu yao cheng nuo
shuo ni bu xu yao cheng nuo
你说我若一个人会比较自由
ni shuo wo ruo yi ge ren hui bi jiao zi you
ni shuo wo ruo yi ge ren hui bi jiao zi you
我不懂你说什麽
wo bu dong ni shuo shen me
wo bu dong ni shuo shen me
反正不会松手
fan zheng bu hui song shou
我背你走到最後
wo bei ni zou dao zui hou
wo bei ni zou dao zui hou
能不能别想太多
neng bu neng bie xiang tai duo
neng bu neng bie xiang tai duo
会不会手牵着手
hui bu hui shou qian zhe shou
hui bu hui shou qian zhe shou
晚一点才到尽头
wan yi dian cai dao jin tou
wan yi dian cai dao jin tou
你说不该再相见只爲了瞬间
ni shuo bu gai zai xiang jian zhi wei le shun jian
谢谢你让我听见
xie xie ni rang wo ting jian
因爲我在等待永远
yin wei wo zai deng dai yong yuan
The piece started out in F major. As usual, it starts out with a dominant chord (chord I) to chord vii in bar 8. I think that from bar 1 to 10, it's an expansion of the dominant chord due to frequent use of tonic chords. After which at bar 11, it's a chord V. At bar 22, there's a change in key signature to when the song goes into the chorus at "我背你走到最後...". It then proceeds from chord I - I6 - I6/4 - ii6/4 - iii - V - I6 - I6/4 - vi6/4 - I6/4 - V - I - vi - vi6/5 - iv - V7 - V - I6/5 - iio7 - ii4/2 - V7 - I.
As expected, it goes from a tonic to a dominant and after which it returns to tonic at the end.
First 3 pages
Start of chorus
Atom Feed (xml)
7 comments:
Great to finally see your analytical postings, Meihui. Anyone wants to respond?
To listen to the song, you may go to http://www.1ting.com/player/c2/player_124663.html. Enjoy!
Hi Mei Hui!
I love the introduction. The sound of the warm chords just melt my heart. In your analysis, you indicated it is just a chord I throughout. However, I feel there is more to it.
This is what I feel it should be, for just the first 4 bars.
In F maj:
I -- vi7 -- IV (sort of) -- iv (mixture harmony with c# enharmonic to Db) -- I
I can't really say that the chord in b.3 is a chord IV totally, because of many other non-harmonic notes. Nonetheless, it's still identifyable as a chord IV. I guess this is common among pop chords, especially when you get guitar chords that read Cadd2, C6 or C9 for example. You can still guess the basic harmony, but all those extra notes make it sound warmer. On the other hand, it does not sound bad if you omit the extra notes.
The descending third baseline can also be heard in these opening bars, that's why it sounds so nice.
Hello Mei Hui!
Think i'll start listening to more chinese songs after this! =P
I've got a slightly different suggestion compared to Jeanette's for the intro bars. And since this is a pop song, I would rather just use pop chords instead of roman numeral representation. Here goes:
F
Dmin7
Gmin7(add 4)/Bb
C7 -ish (cos of the C#)
B.3 had some minor sounding quality so I didnt think of Bb chord like Jeanette suggested. Instead I heard Gmin7 with an added 4th in 1st inversion.
As for b.4, it sounded somewhat C7 plus a C# at the end of the phrase.
Using the functional analysis for the intro, it would be
T-PD-D
Thanks!
Hi Jean and Joyce,
Thanks for responding! I think the idea of stating the theme before going into the introduction makes the song nicer and that it has become the trademark of most Chinese songs. I could not figure out the extra notes and I thought that these notes makes the chords nicer! It sounds warmer and fuller.
Hmm... I guess pop songs are much harder in the sense that it's not as easy as classical songs where we can figure out the chords easily. I agree with Joyce that the chord in B.3 sounds minor-ish.
The C# in B.4 was one of the things that I cannot figure out too. I am not sure what it is for, but definitely it made the intro much nicer and that it anticipates the song before going into the singing part.
Hi!
Oh ya! I could hear the chord in b.3 as Gm7(add4)/Bb. However, I still think that the next one is a iv or Bbm (mixture harmony). Therefore, my functional analysis will be different from Joyce; the whole introduction would be a T exp.
Well done, girls. Very glad to see that you are all putting on your thinking cap, trying to figure the "logic" of the chord progressions and the "extra" notes. I'm not going to reveal my interpretation just yet, instead please thinki of the following issues:
i. does the basic progression following classical principles?
ii. why is it that the 3rd bar have been heard as a Bb and a Gm chord? Can both be possible or only one can be correct? Why?
iii. can classical concepts of non-harmonic tones be used to explain the "extra" notes here?
iv. how does the functional perspective shed light on this 4-chord progression?
Hiya!
Regarding point 2, I think the chord in b.3 can be heard both as a Bb or a Gm. This is because these 2 chords have 2 notes in common. Bb has Bb, D, F and Gm has G, Bb, D. There seems to be lots of overlapping i.e. it can either be this or that...
I think that no matter how you interpret them, both create good, strong progressions as explained below
F -- Dm7 -- Bb
Based on roots in descending thirds
F -- Dm7 -- Gm
Roots in descending thirds followed by circle of 5ths
Yep, so this is what I think, hope it makes sense. :)
Whoa! The other points to think about are quite mind-boggling eh?
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