Audiences are never satisfied. Even when a new band comes along and cranks out a legendary yet simple rock riff, adds a searing, sexual innuendo-laced vocal, piles it high with attitude and glues it all together with a hypnotizing drum pattern, audiences get their fix and say, "I need more to fill my appetite. Give me more."
The Stones were in a common, yet potentially detrimental position. How do you follow up a massive hit like "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)?" They proved their genius by writing one of the best sophomore singles ever: "Get off of My Cloud." The icing on this cake was the mere fact that the song is partially in response to all the people who wondered if they'd be one-hit wonders. The song reached #1 on the charts.
The real point of this blog entry, however, is not to state something that has been known for over 40 years. As you'll come to expect - or shall I say, as you'll come not to expect - this entry has more to do about something trivial, that I will undoubtedly mushroom into something bigger, that will most likely lack a useful purpose in the end.
I want to point out something that's been bothering me for as long as I've known this song. Even before I became a drummer, I sensed that this catchy little ditty felt awkward in parts. I could never really explain it but then again, I never really bothered to analyze it.
But first, let me explain something else. After I started taking lessons for the drums, I noticed something about myself through the hours and hours I spent transcribing drum patterns onto the homemade printed music paper in my teenage bedroom: I have some level of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
I grew frustrated at drummers who interrupted patterns that were normally static for most of the song. Some songs have a fairly simple beat. The drummer is basically keeping time by playing a repeated one to four measure pattern that is occasionally altered with a purposeful fill or drum break. However, I kept running into songs where this pattern would be changed out of nowhere and then continues as if it didn't happen. I couldn't figure out if it was done on purpose for some artistic reason I wasn't aware of at the time. Maybe they were mistakes. Maybe it was just my inexperience. Maybe the drums were more about "feeling" the song and improvising than actually performing an intentional part. I didn't know. Sometimes, when I covered these particular songs on stage, I would "correct" the "mistake" (as if anyone but me would even notice). And if I made a mistake like this while recording, I would immediately stop, probably curse, and have another take at it.
Back to the song of interest. "Cloud" has a very simple, yet memorable two-bar drum pattern. So catchy, The Stones decided to start the song off with it. The structure of the song is also simple. It's basically Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus with a short instrumental intro to each verse and a double last chorus.Just to state the obvious: Charlie Watts is inarguably an excellent drummer. He's so deep in the pocket he's covered with lint. His restraint as well as his moments of flair are just a few things many young percussionist could learn a lot from.
On this track, he plays a repetitive drum fill that pretty much defines the song. It's just as hypnotic and danceable as "Satisfaction." Well done. It appears that this pattern occurs during all intros (initial intro and verse intros) as well as the verses. The choruses are a straight-forward, no frills (er, or no fills?), pound the beat type of pattern. Notice I say the verse pattern appears to sustain all intros and verses. Remember the points in the song where years earlier I felt awkward? I could now fully explain why I felt so...so...well, unsatisfied. Charlie drops the drum fill in two spots. Let's explore.
Point 1: Last measure of the second verse. No fill. Well, that's not too bad, even though it kind of irks me that the fill was present going into the first chorus but now absent. If anything, I would have left it out the first time and then put it in the second time to create a surprise variation. I'll let this one pass, but....
Point 2: Third verse, second measure (listen from 1:46 at the start of the intro to the third verse). WTF?! No fill here?? There's absolutely no way this could possibly have a point. Okay, so he made a mistake. Richards even admits that the record was "rushed" in order to get the follow up single out as quickly as possible. Or maybe it was intentional? I'd be the only moron on this Earth that would ask him that question if I ever had only ten seconds of his time.
Of course, I've come to realize that songs aren't about perfection. Songs are about a mood. Songs give feelings a voice. Songs reflect life and life isn't perfect. They convey a message - a message that will still come across if you use incorrect grammar. Sometimes, it's just about the groove. Why go back and fix a few loose ends if the take is indescribably magic? There are times in life that are memorable despite the fact that you may have had zits on your face or had uncombed hair or said something stupid. Our flaws should be celebrated because of their reality. Save the special effects for Hollywood. Keep the airbrushed models in the glamor mags. Leave the heavy makeup for the clowns. If you are seriously hung up on a few missed snare drum hits, then you're missing the point.
I could leave this entry at that, and it would have a nice ending. But that's not me. Charlie once bumped shoulders with me or shall I say someone exactly like me. In fact, 10 seconds of the conversation were dedicated to the frustration laid out above. After a brief smile, as if he'd been waiting four decades for a single soul to notice, Charlie chuckled and simply responded with, "Listen to the lyrics...you'll get it."What did that mean? I knew what the song is about. Was he just making a quip to get off of his back about something so stupid? Damn English people! Then, I looked a little closer and felt a little humbled. The lyrics during and after Point 2 where he omits the drum fill say, "It was so very quiet and peaceful." Charlie had apparently word painted me without me even knowing it! Bastard.
~ robert
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