One thing that always impresses me with music is fine musicianship, whether that’s a particularly talented performer or the cleverness of the song.
The National’s Fake Empire, on their 2007 album Boxer, is doubly impressive as it’s a very clever song performed by talented musicians.
I’m a bit rusty on my musical theory – in fact it’s never really been my strong point – but it sounds like there’s some time signature trickery going on with this song. It appears to start in one time signature, then change to another as the song progresses.
Are there any musical geniuses out there that’d like to help pick this apart? I’d love to work out the definitive answer someday.
Whatever the musical structure, it’s still a superb song by a very talented band. Watch this unofficial video to check it out.
Stellar track … and has been my favorite band for some time – I’m looking forward to their album which should come out this year (England, and Vanderlylle Cry are two tracks that I’ve heard live that should make it on there)
re: time signature, I’m no genius but another website mentions “DID THEY JUST PULL THE MOST AMAZING TIME SIGNATURE CHANGE OF ALL TIME?? The 4/4 to 3/4 change as the drums come in blows me away every time, and rightfully so”
interesting analysis of the song: http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2009/02/11/the-national-fake-empire/
Hi Stefan,
I’m looking forward to the new album too. Haven’t heard anything that’s supposed to be on it yet, but will check those two tracks out
I think it’s a bit more complex than 4/4 to 3/4, but I can see how it can be interpreted that way.
Nice analysis on that web page, thanks for the link!
It’s a metric modulation. They do go from 4/4 to 3/4, but not in the same tempo. Basically, they start in a 4/4 (either fast or slow, can’t tell, depends how you subdivide it, but probably the slower one) and it’s just that up to 1:17 (in the video above) where the snare joins, overlaying a triplet over the whole bar.
So from 1:17- 1:31 while the piano and guitars are playing some version of 4 beats in the bar, the snare is playing some version of three. The point where it changes is where the snare beat stays the same, but it becomes clear to the listener that it has become the division of the new time signature (3/4), especially as the piano joins here in 3/4. So instead of being an overlayed rhythm, 3 is now the dominant beat and everyone else joins the new time signature (where it feels like it kicks in at 1:45).
The real beauty of this shift is its subtlety. You don’t know it’s happening until it has happened. I think they achieved this by have so many overlapping rhythms in the first part of the song, so the real beat isn’t super clear, though it’s perfectly rhythmic. Also, when the snare enters, the triplet is TOTALLY even. This is important. Often, when people play those, they play it more like 1.5, 1.5, 1 than 1.33, 1.33, 1.33. If you’re doing a metric modulation, it’s crucial to make that subdivision totally even, because it’s going to become the beat (in this case, the rock solid 1, 2, 3, of the rest of the song). Another cool thing is that the period between 1:17 and 1:31 is sort of limbo– it’s not clear who is dominant in the beat. And even when 3 kicks in at 1:33, it doesn’t really land with everyone until 1:45. These 30 seconds or so give you that sort of shape-shifting feeling that makes the payoff of the next verse more satisfying.
At any rate, hope this sheds some light. It’s something I’d been wondering about for awhile too– glad I sat down and figured it out!
Lis
Hey Lis – thanks for taking the time to compose such a detailed analysis. Looks good to me on first read – I’ll listen with your interpretation later