Weekly Billboard Theory — Bad At Love
“Hey! This song has a chromatic part in it! You’ll probably say that it’s a good song because it does something out of the ordinary, right?” Wrong! This song is a stinker! Let’s not waste any time!
Halsey
Key: C Major / A Minor
Tempo: 122 BPM
I’m going talk about the interesting stuff first because it’s not all bad. The form is simple (that’s fine) and the melody is largely pentatonic (that’s also fine). If you play music or actively listen or have been reading these posts all year then it might seem obvious as to the chromatic part that I had mentioned above. If you do/have not, no sweat! In the chorus, Halsey sings a note at 0:48 that doesn’t quite fit in the scale. Previously, we’ve talked about accidentals that serve a harmonic function. This means that the altered notes change the chords or the scale of the song. However, this is not the case for “Bad At Love.” The altered pitch during the chorus serves only the melody as there are no changes to the chords sounding throughout the entirety of the song. We call this a blue note.
Above you can see where that blue note falls into the scale. Now, this is where the labeling gets a little tricky as there is an actual blues scale that we see quite often in rock, jazz and blues (duh). We commonly think of it as a minor pentatonic scale with an added blue note which makes it the “hexatonic” blues scale that you’ll find on that Wikipedia article. This is where it gets a little tricky with defining the key of “Bad At Love”. If we’re thinking that the blue note falls in line with a a traditional blues scale then we would be in A minor. HOWEVER. We never have an A minor chord. It’s not impossible for a song to not have the tonic chord but it’s pretty uncommon. On the other hand, the chord progression of the song consists of IV-V-IV-V-I if we’re thinking of C major. This is a pretty understandable, albeit bland, progression. I’m inclined to just claim this song as living in C major because that blue note only occurs every so often in the chorus. Did I just make a mountain out of a molehill? Yes, absolutely. BUT I wanted to show explain how things can often be open to interpretation and how to work through analyzing aspects of pop music.
“Woah, I thought you said this wasn’t a good song! It seems like you would love it with all this theory jargon!” FAKE NEWS. In the words of Shania Twain, one blue note in a song, “don’t impress me much.” I find this song pretty unremarkable and I’m chalking up its popularity to a dang Jeep (?!) commercial. I’d be lying if I said that I knew any of Halsey’s work other than this and “Closer.” In the closing of last week’s writeup, I had called Halsey a “bootleg Ellie Goulding” and I still kinda stand by this. I realize that they are completely different brands but if you’re listening to their vocal qualities it’s hard for me to think that Halsey would exist in a lane that Ellie didn’t pave.
Look above at that bassline. It’s nice to be able to notate something in under a minute but let me tell you how boring that is to listen to. No syncopation. No space. No change throughout the verse or chorus. I like to think that I’m not an elitist but I honestly have a hard time grasping how people can stay interested with a song that utilizes this. Let me give a little background so I don’t seem like a snob. I love slow and simple music. I always have and probably always will. So why does that stuff get a pass while I’m agonizing over this terrible bassline? Well, when a guitar is strummed or a piano key is pressed there is a natural decay to the instrument. A whole note doesn’t remain at full volume and this creates some interest. Synthesizers don’t have to do this. And that can be a good thing! However, if you’re going to to do slow and simple with no decay ever it will get old fast. Also, while I’m on the topic of synthesizers. The ones used as the main riff of this song? Garbage.
The synths aren’t the only questionable production choice of “Bad At Love”. I touched on this concept during my writeup of Gaga’s “Million Reasons”. Guess what. I thought it was a poor production choice then and I’m sticking to my guns. Can’t figure it out? I’m talking about the lack of breathing used in the melody of the song. It’s particularly rough throughout “Bad At Love” because it’s obvious that Halsey’s singing was planted back in during the chorus. Still not sure what I mean? As the chorus repeats at 0:51, Halsey should need to take a breath. I can’t blame her! It’s a long passage leading up to it, she’s human and there’s really no space for her to take a breath as she repeats the chorus with “You Ain’t The On”. There’s three routes to go about this. 1. Change the melody leading up to the chorus so that you can sneak a breath in. 2. Take a huge breath and do your best to get through this section but that will probably compromise her the quality of her performance. 3. Paste a recording of a different take in so that we guarantee a strong, but unnatural, performance. Me personally? I would never take the third option. Ever. It’s jarring that Halsey takes these huge breaths during the verses and then just magically doesn’t need any help when she’s belting the chorus. How does she perform this live? With a backing track, absolutely. Which is fine! But this is in the studio. You’re a professional. Do it professionally. Let me clarify, it’s probably not her fault! It’s the producers. But holy cow, this is such an amateur move when producing and it makes me feel like this.
All I wanted for Christmas was to get to write about “All I Want For Christmas Is You” but here I am and here we are. Lot of familiar faces at the top and it looks like we have a new song from some hit makers that I’ve already written about. Migos, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B collaborated to make “Motorsport”. Does it compare to their other hits from the year? See ya next week for the answer!
