Utopia is back together for a reunion tour this Spring (2018), so there’s no better time to revisit one of their great songs. I think this era of Utopia pretty much invented “Progressive Pop” and this song is a great example of their songcraft and musical skills. See you on the road to Utopia! (And don’t forget to share this podcast with friends, leave comments on iTunes, etc. It really helps!)
“The Road To Utopia” (Utopia) Copyright 1980 Fiction Music/Utopia (BMI)
Tom Petty always knew how to write an anthem, and this is one of his best. A rallying cry for anyone who’s been rejected or on the losing side of love.
“Even The Losers” (Tom Petty) Copyright 1979 Alamo Music Corp (ASCAP)
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello and thanks for joining me for another episode of I’m in Love with That Song, the podcast where we explore a different song each episode. This time, we’re listening to “Even The Losers” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
My name is Brad Page, and on this podcast, I pick a favorite song of mine and really look at the little details and moments that make it a great song. I don’t focus on music theory or technical musician-y stuff. This is a podcast for anyone who’s a music fan—at least, I hope so. So, on this episode, we’ll be listening to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Even the Losers.”
“Even the Losers” is the third track on the third album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers called Damn the Torpedoes. The album was recorded throughout 1978 and ’79 and released in October of ’79. This album turned out to be their big breakthrough album, and it’s certainly one of my all-time favorite records. The album was produced by Jimmy Iovine and engineered by Shelly Yakus.
The Heartbreakers are: Tom Petty on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Mike Campbell on lead guitar; Benmont Tench on piano, organ, and backing vocals; Ron Blair on bass; and Stan Lynch on drums and backing vocals.
“Even the Losers” was written by Tom Petty, and the song structure is pretty straightforward. You’ve got an intro, verse, chorus, and a bridge. What’s interesting is that there’s no third verse in this song. Most songs do have at least three verses, but here, Petty foregoes a third verse and goes straight into an extended chorus at the end. But when the song starts, it begins with a completely separate piece of music that was edited in.
That voice there? That’s the voice of Mike Campbell’s wife, Marcy. Campbell was recording some demos at home and the washing machine was making a lot of noise. So when Mike yelled at Marcy to turn it off, she replied, “It’s just the normal noises in here.” I think she was annoyed by the whole thing. The tape recorder was still running, so the conversation was captured on tape, and later when Tom Petty heard it, he thought they should take that clip and edit it into this song. So let’s go back and pick it up from that point.
On this intro, you’ve got an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar playing the same parts, doubled. And that’s a technique that works great because while the electric guitar adds some grit, the acoustic guitar gives the notes some clarity. So you end up with a part that has some bite to it, yet the notes still really pop. That shaker actually works great on this song. And listen to how the bass and the kick drum are really locked in together. There’s a lot of reverb on the drums, but they’re still very crisp and punchy.
In this second verse, you can really hear that combination of pent-up anger and hurt in Petty’s voice. He was so good at conveying that feeling. Mike Campbell starts adding these little guitar fills. Like every word you said was meant to be, no, it couldn’t have been that easy to forget about me.
The organ part on the chorus really helps to build the emotion. Now we come to the guitar solo, and this is a classic Mike Campbell guitar solo. According to Campbell, the idea behind it was, “What would Chuck Berry do?” Now, Chuck was known for playing two notes at once in his guitar solos, and so Campbell builds this whole solo around playing two notes constantly through the entire part. It’s not a particularly flashy solo, but it fits the song perfectly.
There’s a term that musicians often use: “serve the song.” And it means to play a part that’s in service of the song rather than to yourself or your ego. It’s all about playing what makes the song better, not what makes you look good. Mike Campbell is easily in my top three guitar players of all time because he’s always playing in service of the song. He never overplays, he doesn’t underplay—it’s just the right notes at the right time. I love this guy.
Now we’re at the bridge and the band dials it back just a bit. Check out the organ part. They break for dramatic effect; the drummer keeps the beat going on the ride cymbal, and then the organ builds it back up. I love the sound of the drums here. It’s great how he sings “little bit of pride” like he’s barely holding onto any pride at all, and then finds the strength to defiantly sing “they get lucky sometimes.” Tom Petty calls us to our feet as the drums drive us into the final guitar solo.
“Even the Losers,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This song is a real rock and roll anthem because it speaks to longing and pain and loneliness, and yet offers an element of hope and a rallying cry for all of us loners, which is what every great rock and roll anthem does one way or another. Petty wrote the lyrics based on a painful experience from his youth: in love with a girl who just wasn’t going to love him back. The first girl that broke his heart—source material for a million great songs.
All of the lyrics that are really specific, like smoking cigarettes on the roof and throwing rocks into the water by the overpass—those things really happened to Tom Petty. It’s always interesting to me when a song includes lyrics that are really specific and yet somehow make the song more universal.
Well, thanks for listening to one of my favorite songs with me. And before we go, I want to mention two resources that I used for a little research on this song. One is the book called Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes—great book. And the other is an episode of Classic Albums that focused on Damn the Torpedoes. That’s available on DVD. If you’re a Tom Petty fan, I recommend checking both of those out.
Well, I’m looking forward to doing this again next time on I’m in Love with That Song. You can email me at lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com or look for I’m in Love with That Song on Facebook.
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Let’s start things off with one of my favorite McCartney songs – a tune most people haven’t heard but should’ve been a big hit. This song has everything I love about McCartney– a terrific lead vocal, great bass part, an arrangement that keeps evolving and cool production. Enjoy!
“Daytime Nighttime Suffering” (Paul McCartney) Copyright 1978 MPL Communications Inc
TRANSCRIPT:
Hi and welcome to the I’m in love with that song podcast. This time we’ll be listening to “Daytime Nighttime Suffering” by Paul McCartney and Wings. My name is Brad Page and I thank you for joining me on this journey as we explore some of my favorite songs.
Now, it’s not about music theory or technical applications; it’s about those songs that we love. What is it about them that moves us? So, what I’d like to do is to really listen to these songs and uncover the individual elements that come together to ultimately make the sum more than just the parts.
So, let’s start with one of my favorite songs by Paul McCartney called “Daytime Nighttime Suffering”.
This song was released by Wings in March of 1979. It was the B-side to the “Goodnight Tonight” single. Now, to me, it’s criminal that this song was relegated to a B-side, because I think it’s one of the best things that McCartney has ever done. It was recorded in January of ’79 during sessions for the Back to the Egg album. It’s 3 minutes and 21 seconds long, and I’ve broken it down into four parts, plus an intro and the ending.
The song opens with a single strum from one electric guitar, immediately followed by backing vocals recorded in stereo. The guitar is panned to the center of the stereo image and you can hear some tremolo or vibrato effect on the guitar.
Those harmony vocals are textbook Wings. That classic blend of Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine that are really the most consistent and definitive feature of Wings. That intro is a variation on what I’ll refer to as part one of the song, the “what does she get” part with a little deviation at the end.
You can hear that vibrato on the guitar as the bass comes in.
The lead vocal will ride in over some backing vocals.
Then kick drum and symbols lead us into part one.
Okay. The band is all in now. You’ve got drums, bass, some organ, and guitars playing just some accent parts. I’m kind of surprised because this song is always sounded so full to me. I never realized how simple the orchestration is. Let’s go back and pick it up from the beginning of that verse.
There are those guitar accents.
I like his phrasing here.
Let’s back it up a bit and listen to how Paul suddenly changes the syncopation on the bass to play on the offbeats just for like one measure.
Did you see what I mean? It’s just all about the little touches. I think it’s cool. Let’s pick it up from the same spot again.
This is part two, the disco part.
Still just bass, drums, guitar, and organ.
And we’re back to part one again.
Wait, there’s some low growly sound in the background there. Let’s go back and listen to that. Did you hear that?
I don’t know. The organ maybe or possibly a synthesizer? Anyway, let’s keep going.
Now, we’ve come to the third part of the song. And there’s at least two things I think are cool about this section: First, check out how the percussion instruments pan back and forth from left to right. That’s kind of a cool effect. And then second, listen to how the backing vocals echo the lead vocal, even to the point where when Paul changes his inflections on the lead vocal, the backing vocals actually mimic or offer a complementary inflection.
I love those two inflections there.
Now, did you hear that sound in there? I’ll go back and play it again.
Apparently, that’s the sound of Paul and Linda’s son, James, who was just a baby at the time, crying in the studio. I don’t know if it was accidental or intentional, but there it is. I’ll let the song play through so you can hear it again.
And check out the bass guitar here, too.
The organ gets more prominent here as well.
And here’s a great little bass part.
This vocal break– it’s short, but let me break it down before we play through it. Recorded all in stereo. First, you’ve got the low bass part that’s panned hard left and hard right. The staccato vocals, not really sure what else to call them, but that part that’s kind of in the middle that is slightly panned a bit. And then the higher vocal part, which is actually following the main melody, “the what does she get?” melody riding on top.
Now, this part, which I’ll refer to as part four, it just comes out of nowhere. There’s no hint of anything else like this in the rest of the song, and it brings something completely new to the tune.
This lead vocal is awesome.
Now check out how the backing vocals are going to harmonize with the lead vocal here.
The song slows down.
And they wrap it up as the bass walks down, the organ holds a note.
And there are those classic Wings harmonies. So, there you have it.
“Daytime Nighttime Suffering” by Wings. One of my all-time favorite pop songs. Now, what is the song about? Well, I’ve heard that it’s about the challenges of being a mother, but I don’t really hear any specific references to parenthood in this song other than the crying baby guest appearance. But clearly, it is about the struggles of women in general, whether it’s about relationships or their career or parent. Parenthood. As usual, McCartney songs can be a little vague lyrically. To my knowledge, McCartney has never played the song live, although I guess he’s referenced it a few times as being one of his favorite songs. Regardless, it’s one of my favorite songs, and it’s been a blast to dig into it with you here on I’m in love with that song. Thank you so much for sitting in with me, and we’ll do it again next time on the podcast. You can reach me via email at love that songongodcast@gmail.com or look for the podcast on Facebook. Thanks for joining me on this episode for Wings “Daytime Nighttime Suffering”.
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