Up and running!

Hmmm. You might be right. I do hear that, and I hear it at 2:15 and 2:20 when he goes for notes that are above his natural break between chest and head voice (and once again near the end). Just a guess here, but I think it sounds like his "morning" voice. When you first get up in the morning, your head/sinuses tend to be sorta clogged up with goop from lying down for so long, and your vocal cords are coated as well. After several hours walking around and talking things clear and drain, and further vocal warm ups help the process.

If this was an "early morning" for Adam (even if it was 2 pm), he probably was not feeling the resonance in his head voice. So, when he shifts into it for the light rather than power notes, it lacks the ring. Or, he may have opted for the falsetto instead.

Good catch.

I definitely agree with you that he ATTACKED the song on Leno. Very sharp in tone and articulation (ergo the spitting of the consonants). Declarative? Assertive? At the beginning, when he is singing about how cold he can be, the delivery is cold as well.

The Ellen version did start a lot more gently and tenderly. Not condemning his coldness, but admitting it. For me, this version is more of a love song and the Leno one was more of a desperation song.

If I was imagining the situation, it was like Leno's version was after a big blow up between lovers. His partner complains about not being appreciated and says, "If you are so fucking unhappy, why don't you just leave?" Adam's reaction, meant to reassure and declare his love is still tinged with the adrenalin from the fight. "Okay, so I don't always dote on you. Okay, sometimes I'M BUSY. Maybe that seems cold. Okay? Yeah. I get that! But, I never said I wanted to leave! If I wanted to leave, you stupid FCK, I wouldn't been long gone! I'm here to stay! Get that? I LOVE YOU!"

Ellen's version was a little like hours or a day after the fight is over and they have made up. The anger is gone, the panic is gone. He is now reflecting on what his partner said and not taking it as an attack. A bit contrite, he approaches his lover calmly and admits he can be obnoxious. As the song progresses he declares his love.... "I don't want to be anywhere with anyone but you."

Two different interpretations, and, like you said, both valid. I, personally, like the warmer version on Ellen more than the brittle version on Leno. But, the ending chorus on Leno cannot be topped. It soars and shouts from rooftops.

IMO. YMMV.

Thank you for the compliment. I was only speculating or interpreting the different interpretations. That is the fun thing about good art. It makes you think and make connections with your own experiences.

As for middle 8, here's the music history/theory lesson. A very common song structure is the 32 bar song. ???? The rhythm of a song is separated into bars or measures. ?????

Okay, let me try again. When you are dancing a waltz, you feel the rhythm as ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three. Each group of 3 is a bar. Most pop music has 4 beats per bar - ONE two three four, ONE, two three four.

GOT MY boots on, got the
RIGHT 'mount of leather and I'm
DOING me up with the
BLACK color liner

NOT the first time, its
NOT the worst crime, your
SOUL will be oh
KAY.

Can you feel the stronger beat or pulse on the ONE, two, three, four? A common, simple song structure was to have 8 bars (groups of beats) as a basic musical line (referred to as the A section), then that 8 bars repeated again with perhaps just a slight variation of melody (a second A section). Then you would have 8 bars (groups of beats) with a different melody (the B section), and then, finally you would repeat basically the same melody as the first 8 bars of the song (back to the A section). Total? 32 bars. The "middle 8" refers to the third group of 8 bars that has a different melody line. This structure is referred to as AABA.

First 8 bars (A section):
DECK the halls with
BALLS of holly
FA LA la la laaa la
LA la laaa

second 8 bars (A section)
TIS the season
TO be jolly
FA LA la la laa la
LA la laaa

third 8 bars (B section)
DON we now our
GAY apparel
FA LA la, fa la la
LA la laaa

fourth 8 bars (A section)
TROLL the ancient
YULE time treasure
FA LA la la laaaa la
LA la laaa

Most modern music does not follow that very simple formula any more. It is more often verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge (new melody unrelated to the previous verse or chorus), chorus, chorus. BTIKM follows this pattern. But the label "middle 8" has stuck. Because the underlying structure is still the same. You have [verse, chorus - A section], [verse, chorus- A section], bridge (B section), [chorus, chorus- variation of A section]. Still AABA. Just in a more complex way.

Um, clear as mud???

Phew, a little quieter day for daily news. So I had time to check out this thread, too - and it seems to be just what I had wished for: a discussion of performance and all it's ingredients. These are the things I strongly relate to - the prerequisite being there has to be a good voice to begin with. I am not so thrilled about radio-pop in general and I find it mostly sterile with some tricks in the band/background sounds. On the contrary, I get a kick of live performances because they are real and the interpretations get to my emotions much more directly and strongly which I find enjoyable. I was drawn to the fandom only after I found the acoustic promo presentations and the Glam Nation Tour's powerful, more rock and more showy versions of the same songs even though I loved his voice already, but had heard just the radio hits.

I was also excited to read that Cassie had the same background stories in mind that I had when I tried to blurt out my feelings about Leno and Ellen performances. Actually my post, when reading it again, is lacking the explanation of the situations behind the interpretations I had in mind and is a bit cut short on Ellen performance.



I wrote only that I cannot forget the drama on Leno. Well, the drama of the song is ever-present in every performance, that's basically built in the song, but in Leno I was very touched with the feeling of uncertainty what comes to the result of this outburst for the relationship. It was a stringent necessity to get the message out, it was difficult but he got it out, was ecclectic about that - that was all he could do, still hesitant of the repercussions but hoping for the best, trying to trust that his lover really knows him, understands him, and it is all for the best.

As for Ellen perfomance, it was more like story-telling of something that had happened, when he had the guts to confess his faults and emphasize his unwavering love nonetheless. And in singing, he already knows that the result was what he hoped for, the understanding, because his partner really knows him to the bone and believes what was said after he got it out. It didn't sound as urgent, only more calm, not panicky in the least, beautiful though. The calmness after the fight situation resulted in vocals that sounded more resonating and more colourful in tones.

I trust you understand what I am aiming at even through the language barrier and I am glad there is a place to share these feelings because not many of my friends want to hear or to try to understand any of this. Although I am going to convert one or two most responsive ones!

PS I do enjoy singing myself, too, and when I get my voice working it feels so good. I do have an ok resonating voice, but unfortunately, my skills are limited and most of the time I have to try to get the good feelings out of listening to better singers - and sometimes sing along all by myself.