This cracked me right up.

Indie-tastic!

I *love* these categories, but the ones needing actual knowledge of music theory and/or structure may need some handholding. Could I tell you what part of any song is the bridge, without guessing? No. Unless it's the live version of "Sunkeneyed Girl," where he says "this song doesn't have a bridge."

Could I tell you what part of any song is the bridge, without guessing?

A bridge is the part in the middle of the song, maybe two-thirds of the way through, that doesn't sound like the verse or the chorus.

A typical pop song is structured something like V-C-V-C-B-V-C. This is also known as ABACAB (Holy Genesis, Batman!).

What Jon said. Ray Charles said a good song is all about the middle 8. He broke that rule himself often, but a great bridge is pure transcendence.

This is also known as ABACAB (Holy Genesis, Batman!).

Wow. Is that really what that album title was about?

Is that really what that album title was about?

Yes. And it's also the specific chord progression of the song as well.

Neato.

Okay, I'm in. What was Corwood's first category, "dramatic entrance"? I was trying to rip the rest of my CDs to my hard drive last night and noticed that the first track on George Russell's The African Game is "Event I: Organic Life on Earth Begins". That's a pretty goddamned dramatic entrance! I took it as a sign, so I'm in.

One of the greatest bridges, and one that's useful here since JB points it out, is in "Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine". Catfish Collins's guitar gives a HELL YEAH! to the boss's query, "Can I take 'em to the bridge?" It's no coincidence that Zep's "has anybody seen the bridge?" schtick is on "The Crunge," their JB tribute.

Erin, this site may help you. (And this one may be even easier to use.) A lot of the tabs have headings for verse/chorus/bridge. Pick some songs you know and look at where the bridge happens. It will almost certainly be a case of something you already recognize that you just didn't know the name for. And once you have the basic idea it's easy to pick it out when you hear it. If my untrained ear can identify it yours can, too. Some bridges (just where they begin):

• "A Hard's Day Night": "When I home ev'rything seems to be right"
• "California" (Joni Mitchell): "Oh it gets so lonely"
• "Into the Mystic" (Van Morrison): "When that foghorn blows"
• "19th Nervous Breakdown" (the Stones; this is a particular fave): "Oh, who's to blame"
• "Alex Chilton" (the Replacements): "I never travel far"
• "Billie Jean" (Michael Jackson): "People always told me be careful what you do"
• "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)" (Arlen/Mercer; Sinatra's version is definitive): "You'd never know it but buddy, I'm a kind of poet"
• "The Way You Look Tonight" (Kern/Fields, introduced by Fred Astaire, as was the previous song): "With each word your tenderness grows"

That should get you started. And yes, I know I'm stuck in the past, but there's lots of good stuff there.

I just sent "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" to buffistarawk. There may be other bridges I like more, but I can't think of one with a greater disparity between my affection for the bridge and my somewhat neutral feeling toward the rest of the song. And there's some bonus trivia with the email which should be of special interest to the New Yorkers and engineering fans in the crowd.

msbelle is crazy busy at work and cannot take part. She regrets this and will bribe participants for burns of said mixes or just mixes of stuff she'd like. She also regrets that she has not sent the Corwood family a copy of the Jesse Isaac show - technical difficulties, but is seeking help.