“More Than a Feeling”
From Boston’s 1976 self-titled debut album is a staple of classic rock in the verse-chorus form The verses evoke a sad nostalgic longing, while the chorus conveys joyful escapism with a bittersweet end. The composer and lyricist, Tom Scholz, depicts this shifting dichotomy by assigning a different tonal center, timbre, texture, and range to the verse and chorus respectively.The verses consist of a repeated two-bar progression I-VI-IV in D major with a descending bass line. There is some ambiguity to the tonal center during the introduction the bass line in the guitar part seems to indicate D major but the guitar melody emphasises G through repetition and metric placement, However, the strong IV to I motion at the turn-around of every repeat of the progression reinforces D as the tonal center. In addition, the D major chords take up more time metrically than the G major chords.The melody in the lead vocal during the verse further solidifies D major through its repetitive use of A Verse. Although this evidence supports D major as the tonal center, the verses “sound” less major than the chorus because there are no authentic cadences. In fact, the only time an A major chord makes an appearance in this song is during the modulation at the end of the choruses back to the verse which will be discussed below, and during the guitar solo at the bridge. In this regard, it may be more accurate to assign D Mixolydian as the tonal palate for the verses because the expected leading-tone for D major is conspicuously absent.
The Song
"More Than A Feeling" uses a slightly different form than the normal rock or pop song of the era in that the B sections are instrumental as they transition into the choruses. The form looks like this: intro, verse, B section, chorus, intro, verse, B section, chorus, bridge/solo,
intro, verse (with an extra 9 bars), chorus, outro
The intros are just the verses minus the vocals, and the outro is a chorus minus the vocals. More Than A Feeling by Boston is in the key of G. It should be played at a tempo of 111.
The bridge is where the solo occurs and is almost like a different song with a completely different set of chords and feel. During the last verse, the song takes a left turn with an added 9 bars that build to the B section guitar line. The lyrics are pretty good in that they tell a story and are cadenced well. They roll off the lips with no trouble and the rhymes never seem forced.
The Arrangement
The arrangement of "More Than A Feeling" is pretty classic in that it breathes with intensity pretty much where you expect it to, except for one place. The intro is just doubled 12 string guitars, followed by another acoustic guitar doubling the bass when the vocals enter, and the drums playing a side stick snare. The B section is unexpected in that it's a Les Paul/Marshall lead line that fades into feedback and reverb into the chorus, which has both double big electric guitars, handclaps adding motion and harmony vocal answers. The second verse is pretty much the same as the first except the acoustic guitar doubling the bass is augmented with a clean electric guitar as well. The 2nd chorus is identical to the first.
The bridge is interesting in that it's a written guitar solo over a new set of chord changes, which leads into the 3rd verse, where it gets interesting in that the drums drop out and the intensity lowers. This is brilliant in that there's a new 9 bar part that's tacked on to the verse where the drums and lead guitar enter and help it build to the peak of the song with the lead vocal and guitar wailing on the same reverbed note.
The last chorus is identical to the first two, but unlike many other songs, just plays once. The vocal exits but the rest of the instruments remain on the fadeout.
Here are the arrangement elements:
* The Foundation: bass and drums
* The Rhythm: acoustic 12 string guitars in verse, claps in the chorus
* The Pad: none
*The Lead: lead vocals, lead guitar in B section and solo
* The Fills: lead guitar in 9 bar 3rd verse build, vocal answers in chorus
The Production
The production of this song (by John Boylan and Scholz) was state-of-the-art back in 1976 and is still hot even by today's standards. The use of doubling (the 12 string in the intro and verses, and electric guitars in the chorus), the unexpected peak of the song at the end of the 3rd verse, the intensity swings during the song are all things that continue to keep the listener's attention glued. There are lots of little things as well. Listen to the way the song fades in on the intro. Listen to the way that the drums play along with the guitar during the 2nd intro. Listen to the way that the drum fills are slightly boosted. Listen to Delp's high vocal double the lead guitar at the end of the 3rd verse when the song really peaks. Listen to the drum and clap patterns during the choruses and how they move the song. Notice the clean electric guitars at the end of each chorus as the tension releases. This is a very well thought-out song in just about all aspects.