Latest / Barracuda Breakdowns / 41 - Reach Out I'll Be There (Four Tops)

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41 - Reach Out I'll Be There (Four Tops) · Barracuda Breakdowns

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: This song, Reach Out, I'll Be There from the Four Tops, is one of my favorite songs that I've broken down this year.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it might just be my favorite Motown song ever, especially after exploring what's what's really going on here.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much cool stuff to dive into.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's so creative, and I feel like it's so different than other Motown songs.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of it is because of the chords and what's just what's happening in the harmony.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's like pretty outlandish.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the arrangement is awesome.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like they have the piccolo and the flute going on.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: It makes it very eerie.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: And Levi Stubbs and the vocals is like really pushing it.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we'll talk about all this, but so we're starting an E flat minor, and it starts with an E flat with a sus four.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so this is E flat minor.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now when you replace the minor third, that's the s that's the note that's making it sad.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Here is this note.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: When you substitute that with the fourth instead of the third, you get this sound.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds like dire, right?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Especially when you go down to the third.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds really sad, and the flutes are playing that, right?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like and then So we're playing the five chord now.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it sounds kind of Spanish-y when you go from the minor one E flat minor to B flat.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Look at that.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds Spanish-y, like kind of medieval with those flutes.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's like a really what a vibe that's going on here.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And the percussion that's going on, something going on in the like the left ear or something like that.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's like really sick.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the bass.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like what the hell?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: James Jameson is like the god of bass, like the Motown bass, and he will influence like everybody.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: He's a huge deal in the bass world.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: The movement, like what he does, if you just listen to the bass in this song, it's fantastic.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's just cruising all over the place, but doing some really smart decisions.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So again, with the bass in the second half of this riff, check it out, watch.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then you hear like Levi Stubbs in one ear go like clipping on one ear.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's so cool.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then so we're doing this minor one to dominant five, right?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then we go to we go to the relative major key, okay?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of E flat minor, every minor key has a relative major, okay?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Every major key has a relative minor.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: In this case, we're in E flat minor, and then we move to G flat major.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's like what the verse is, right?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: But we start in the two chord, we go when you feel.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Look at these chords.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Such a nice, oh, like such a nice color.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: We're essentially hinting at a two-five one.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing two quick one to five, and then when it goes dollin', that's when we hit the tonic.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's like the key of the song, the relative major G flat.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I I just love the contrast of like right?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's like kind of Spanish-y, and then we go like very like Motown, starting like the 2-5-1, like starting on the minor two chord.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Levi Stubbs, I read that they wanted to have like a Bob Dylan-esque vocal delivery, just kind of like yelling it, right?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like Bob Dylan was really big in like the mid-60s.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is from 1966.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: So he's like, When you feel lost and about to give up, to give up.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Good enough, stay good enough.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh man, like the the harmonies that the the four tops are singing.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they're not harmonies, they're background vocals, but they're all in unison, so it's like beautiful, like just one melody, but beautiful texture.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like Levi Stubbs is yelling at right?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now if you feel that you can't go wrong, because all of your hope is gone, and your life is filled with much confusion because the happiness is just an happiness is just an illusion.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can watch this, Darlene Rachel! Come on, girl! Like, okay, so we're this is so cool.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is hard to break down like just like this in this way because there's like so much happening.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's like Darlin Rachel.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we hit the one chord, it's like the home, like reach out.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is it.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, girl.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, come on, girl, reach out out for me.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then we go, look at this.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: We go to B flat major.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is the five chord of the relative minor.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we what we were in in the intro.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: This chord, we go to that chord, okay?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like, darling, reach out, come on, girl, reach out out for me.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Then we go, reach out, reach out for me.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's what Levi Stubbs is singing, but then the vocal the harmonies, like the background harmonies, going, Reach out.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Look at this F diminished.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like, look at this.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's so gorgeous, and then everything stops.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's like quo, and it's just tambourine.
• 5:22
  unknown: Ha! Be there.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, like again, this is really hard to break down because there's so much happening.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like that tambourine space is like absurd.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what other song does that for that long?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, I think it's like six beats real quick, just popping in to announce that the breakdown room is now live.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's my new private community that I'm super pumped about.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be going live twice a month to do song breakdowns.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'll have exclusive tutorials and behind-the-scenes content that's only gonna be available inside the private community.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Members can suggest songs, vote on songs, and they can also share their music with each other and give each other respectful and encouraging feedback on their songs.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm super excited about this thing I'm working on, so definitely check it out.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hit the link below, or just go to school.com slash dambaracuda.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And school is spelled S K-O-O-L.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: So school.com slash Dambarracuda.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you inside.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a cool texture, everything stops, but the tension.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Reach out, reach out.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: We're like crossing a threshold harmonically too, musically, lyrically too.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Reach out.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Ha! The insane chord, right?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean we did the F dimish, but we go back to this watch.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is the five chord, the leading chord.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh B that and we go to E flat, which is the first the first chord of the beginning of the song, right?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: The but when they do that, they play E flat major, which is the parallel major of E flat minor.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we're in G, we're in G flat major slash E flat minor, but they go to E flat major.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like I'll be there.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then it goes with a love that will shelter you.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like they go to the they go to E flat minor, like, oh man, I'm like, I'm so excited because there's so much to say here.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Five chord, uh be there, parallel major, and then they go to the parallel minor with a love that will shelter you.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Back to the five chord, stays there.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be there again.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: With a love that will see you through.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so all that is happening in the harmony, but we haven't even talked about James Jameson in this moment, right?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like rewind a little bit after the verse.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Darling, reach out.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So when it does this, like the tonic chord, come on, girl, reach out for me, right?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh James Jamerson is playing the third.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, and then he goes, like, and then he arrives on the root note.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: But listen again, listen to his bass.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: In that moment, he's playing the major third.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's first inversion when you play the third and the bottom.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Really nice.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, girl, reach on out for me.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then it goes, reach out, reach out for me.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: It was like what the heck is that during that pause with the tambourine, like it's tambourine and bass.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like reach out.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: And to continue on with James Jameson's genius, so it goes to B flat, I'll be there.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now when it does that parallel major, James Jameson still plays B flat there.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: So he's doing second inversion, the fifth of E flat major is on the bottom.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So he's like, he's like staying there, right?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I'll be there, and he stays there.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll be there.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: With a love that will shelter you, right?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be there.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Stays there.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I can't get enough of that.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's such a nice touch, it's so subtle.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like maybe only musicians will like really hear it, but like I feel like you feel it.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like he stays there.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be there.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: And he goes, When you feel lost and about to give up.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like I love that.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a whole other world.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the Motown world, right?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like the R and B chord, like the minor two.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I just love this moment.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like such a great contrast.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like over here it's like it's like medieval, kind of Spanish-y and like super dark, going from and the flutes, like it sounds like sinister, right?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then it like opens up with your best just ain't good enough.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Just ain't good enough.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: You're grown cold, has grown cold, and you're drifting out all on your own.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: All on your own.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Again.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Darling, reach out, come on girl.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's playing like the major third in the bottom.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Come on girl, reach out for me.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Reach out, reach out for me.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Oh be there.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I can't get enough of that, man.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it's like what a color change.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's the intro piccolo flute riff.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: With a love that will see you through to love and comfort you.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Even just like the sound of the chords, right?
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Starting from the intro, we got Everything opens up, right?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love duh.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you go from the fourth to the root, do-do.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Just a good enough.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: One more time.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Darling reach out.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Tonic, that's the key of that's the relative mage, right?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's the key of the song.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then Reacher be there.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll be there.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: To love and cherish you.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: I just love like the wall of vocals.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: With the flute.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like the arrangement is so awesome.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then the contrast is incredible.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any like let me know in the comments like are there famous covers of this song?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I feel like the song needs like a modern version of it.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't need it, but it'd be like really cool.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing will ever top like the original.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's so vibey.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like I love the sound of the room and like the harmonies, the background vocals.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a gem.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you dug that.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: I know I got a little heady there with the theory.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like very cool stuff going on harmonically in this song to create like so much color.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's so powerful and it like supports the vocal and the lyric like so beautifully.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Reach out, I'll be there.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like shelter you.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for the love and the support.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Really appreciate you tuning in.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: See you in the next episode.