Music and Composition
"Under the Bridge" is performed in 4/4 time in the key of D major, shifting to the key of E major after the introduction of the first verse. The song marks an important shift in style for Kiedis, who had spent most of his career singing rapidly due to his limited ability to reach high notes. The song begins with Frusciante playing a moderately slow intro that the guitarist said drew heavily on the 1971 David Bowie song "Andy Warhol". As Kiedis begins to sing, the guitar playing becomes more rapid until it reaches an E major seventh chord that halts the song; the silence is broken by Chad Smith's closed hi-hat and wood block struck at a moderately fast tempo. Frusciante borrowed the E major seventh chord technique from British guitarist Marc Bolan of the glam rock band T. Rex, who initially wrote it in the song "Rip Off" from the group's 1971 album Electric Warrior; Frusciante lightheartedly noted that "I ripped off a song called 'Rip Off'. I thought that was interesting."
The song continues with another verse and subsequent chorus, when the bass finally enters. After the next verse an E major seven chord again marks a break before the start of the chorus. The second chorus transitions into a different verse, where Chad Smith begins to play the drums, and Kiedis sings "Take me all the way/Yeah/Yeah-e-yeah/Oh no, no". A choir, whose presence was added to make the ending sound more epic, sings "Under the bridge downtown", in which Kiedis sings "Is where I drew some blood/I could not get enough/Forgot about my love/I gave my life away" in between. As the choir, Kiedis and drums stop, Frusciante and Flea play the outro until the song ends.
Read more about this topic: Under The Bridge
Famous quotes containing the words music and, music and/or composition:
“Good-by, my book! Like mortal eyes, imagined ones must close some day. Onegin from his knees will rise—but his creator strolls away. And yet the ear cannot right now part with the music and allow the tale to fade; the chords of fate itself continue to vibrate; and no obstruction for the sage exists where I have put The End: the shadows of my world extend beyond the skyline of the page, blue as tomorrow’s morning haze—nor does this terminate the phrase.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Not to sink under being man and wife,
But get some color and music out of life?”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Give a scientist a problem and he will probably provide a solution; historians and sociologists, by contrast, can offer only opinions. Ask a dozen chemists the composition of an organic compound such as methane, and within a short time all twelve will have come up with the same solution of CH4. Ask, however, a dozen economists or sociologists to provide policies to reduce unemployment or the level of crime and twelve widely differing opinions are likely to be offered.”
—Derek Gjertsen, British scientist, author. Science and Philosophy: Past and Present, ch. 3, Penguin (1989)