One of my absolute, number one requirements in music is that I like to be surprised. Some people relish and relax in the predictable – to them, it’s comfy like a warm blanket. Not me. Surprise me with the unexpected and I’m putty in your hands. A few months ago I bought a book called Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation, by David Huron – this subject fascinates me so much and I wanted to try to figure out why I crave the unexpected so much. (I’ll keep you posted as to the answer when I finish the book…)
Ever since I first heard Man of Constant Sorrow in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, it catapulted to and still is one of my top ten favourite songs. Dan Tyminski adapted and updated this old, dusty tune for the movie, gave it a shiny coat of polish, and turned it into a CMA and Grammy award-winning song. It’s been covered by many since then, and I didn’t think any version could top Dan Tyminski’s as my all-time favourite version.
I was wrong.
When I first listened to Geoff Castellucci’s version, I could have sworn his was at a much faster tempo than Dan’s, but upon closer inspection, both versions are at 99-ish bpm. I sat with this info for a good long while, and puzzled and puzzled till my puzzler was sore, trying to figure out why I got this impression.
Let’s first look at the beat of Dan’s version – my favourite performance of his 
is this one with Alison Krauss and Union Station. Dan T’s is backbeat. Even though there is a strong upright bass presence on the downbeat, the fact that the upright bass keeps the typical I-V pattern, combined with the ‘chk’ of the guitar and fiddle on the ‘and’ of each beat, creates a strong backbeat feel, the quintessential hallmark of bluegrass music.
Contrast this with Geoff’s version – 
his arrangement has a driving beat, no backbeat, 4 on the floor. Changing the beat in this manner, combined with the dirty, nasty guitar sound gives this a more country-rock genre feel and propels the song more…I think this is why it felt faster to me.
Dan’s song is in the key of F, but Geoff has chosen to drop this half a step to the key of E. I’m not sure of Geoff’s reason for this, but my ears and soul definitely prefer the key of E. You know how some songs just…hit the pleasure center of your brain just a wee bit better? Some songs just work better in certain keys. The keys of C, G, and F are the most common, “easy” keys to play in so if you are like me and really are jazzed by the unexpected, the fact that Geoff did this song in E just adds an extra bit of spiciness to it.
Most versions of this song start with a bit of an instrumental intro, but Geoff’s song gets right to the punch, blowing you back in your seat with a forceful vocal intro. Geoff always likes to start his songs with either a solo vocal line or a solo vocal line with one instrument keeping the tonal center. In this instance, though, the guitar is strumming the fifth (unexpected!), but the strumming is palm muted, providing both the note and a bit of a percussive feel. At the end of the line
At the end of this verse is the
On the line
Okay. Up until now, instrumentation has been quite simple and calm…background vocals have been simple hums…but now things are ramping up. Immediately after the second verse, guitars have come in strong…
Now, I know what you’re thinking: this whole song so far has been rife with G naturals – it is a bluesy song, after all. And you’re absolutely right. It’s the fact that this verse started off with an E major chord followed so closely by that minor third that gives us that unexpected (!) tingle up the spine. Adding to this, however, is the fact that, when this device is used in other songs, you expect the major third to follow closely behind, but Geoff withholds that expected move from us and instead we are given an
Now, now, now, take me to the water
Let me wash my sin away
Well, I been travelin’ down this road
And how my soul has gone astray
I can feel it like a bullet
No matter where I tread
All my days I have been runnin’
From these ghosts within my head
…and sonically. We are keeping to the same I-IV-V chord progression, but instead of 2 measures on the I chord, 1 measure on the IV, and 1 measure on the V that we’ve heard throughout the verses of the song, we are now taking our time, spending 4 measures on the I, 2 measures on the IV, and 2 measures on the V. The bridge starts with an instrumental low E ringing throughout (with a delightful synth ‘ping’ of a high E at
Immediately we are pulled back down. After such excitement of that third verse and the bridge, we need a moment to catch our breath. Drums drop out, guitar quietens down, background vocals are calm. In the line
All instruments, all BGVs, all the energy is on full tilt as we head into this last verse. How is Geoff going to make this last verse interesting and unique, you may be wondering…? Take a listen for a bit, see if you can pinpoint it. I’ll wait.
Did you pick it out? This entire last verse is all major! No blues progression, no minor thirds. One of those tasty little tricks that you can’t quite put your finger on at first, other than to notice that it’s different, and interesting, and unexpected, and exciting because of that. There’s that bend again on the word
A reader of my blogs asked me the other day, “I’d love to know what it is you’re hearing…I’m curious what it is that moves you!” I had to think about that for a minute. I find the way I listen to music kind of hard to explain sometimes. I have such extreme emotional responses…what IS it that moved me about this song?
For Geoff’s arrangements in particular, it’s just…his choices to incorporate the unexpected. To take the road less travelled. His choices invariably include or lead to the particular chords/progressions/other embellishments that speak to me. In Man of Constant Sorrow, it’s the third verse, those minor thirds and augmented chords and how he’s married a few elements to the bridge that he wrote. He’s given me the sweet anticipation of the unexpected, and then made good on his promise, and I’m putty in his hands.
It’s like…say you love chocolate, raspberries, and meringue, and your favourite baker always manages to put just the right amount of each one of those ingredients in a dish, in such a way, that sets your taste buds into waves of exquisite pleasure, ways perhaps you never thought were possible. Too much chocolate, and the dish would be overpowered by it. But the baker knew just how much chocolate, and what kind of chocolate, goes perfectly with the raspberries and meringue.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Are you a comfy-blanket kind of music listener, or an I-love-the-unexpected kind of music listener? Let me know in the comments below! 🔽
This is awesome! I love this song a lot, I think Geoff really made it his own, as he always does. It is super interesting to read all the little tricks he uses to do exactly that. You write it so eloquently, and it’s a joy to read, as per usual! 🙂
Great write-up Angie, just the thing I needed to fill a lunch break. I love getting to compare and contrast what you hear with what I hear! Thanks for doing this, keep it up!
Angie, this is the first time I’ve read your blog and it’s fascinating. Also, I think I only understood every third word. I’ve been singing for decades and can read music, but have not music theory understanding at all.
For the most part, I’m a comfy blanket fan EXCEPT when it comes to Geoff and Voiceplay. Even when they are doing something soothing, the clash notes are amazing! Sound of Silence and I Can’t Make You Love Me are examples.
I look forward to reading more of your work!
I loved the writing stye and the layout. I also appreciated the small graphics on the side that helped visualize what you were saying without being in the way of the information. That was also just fun to read, I personally found your writing style concise and engaging
This is thought-provoking and a pleasure to read, thank you Angie! I always appreciate the song more when I understand some of the inner workings of it.
I’ve been thinking a fair bit about warm blanket vs unexpected. Although I will listen to a favorite song repeatedly, within a song I definitely need variation. Maybe that’s from years of being reminded by directors to make the music interesting by bringing out anything new or different in a repeated section. I’ve probably heard some variation of that instruction nearly every rehearsal for the past 25ish years. So when I’m listening to something and I hear the next verse in a song repeated exactly the same way, it’s just not interesting at all to me. That’s one reason I love Geoff’s music, there’s always something new and/or unexpected around each bend!
Even for people like me who have no idea about music theory, you explain it so well that I can follow you. I love your very lively way of writing. You make me enjoy Geoff’s arrangement even more! Thanks a lot for this!
This is a wonderful, thoughtful analysis. I learned a lot. I haven’t looked back much, but I was thinking that, in general, there don’t seem to be a lot of flats in the bass note compilations. I wonder if the natural B is easier to reach down to than a B flat and that dictated the change to E?
Thank you for your kind comment! I think with regard to the bass compilations, they have just chosen to denote the notes as sharps rather than flats. I know Geoff, for example, can easily hit a B flat (and A flat!) but in compilations, those could be referred to instead as A# and G#. So I’m not really sure why the key was changed, although in my singing experience, for some baffling reason, songs do sound different in different keys and maybe there was something about this key that appealed more to Geoff.