“So Much Trouble” (by Matt Pond PA) has surprisingly little in the way of chorus…-age, for what's otherwise a very straightforwardly upbeat, cheery pop song. I just noticed that recently.
Maybe it's because it's so generally singalong-able throughout that you don't notice the choruslessness. And there's extensive bridge…-iness, which sounds rather like a chorus in most songs would (“I don't think I want to think about it”—that bit); but it definitely approximates the tune of a verse, with a little bit more tension and less resolution in the voice.
(Hey, let's assume the guy singing is actually called Matt Pond, whether or not this is really the case. You can never properly tell with ostensibly-eponymous bands.)
… So it's not a chorus. The chorus starts “You're in so much trouble; you can't hide in your covers”—it even has the title in it. (Yeah, I know, but lyrics almost always sound silly taken out of the music.) And that bit only occurs once, right at the start (well, after the first verse).
Then there are four—count 'em: four—bridge-like bits: they alternate between the bit I called the bridge earlier (and shall continue to so call); and another bit (with the words “We don't want to make mistakes”) to which I could dryly refer as “the second bridge”, but shall instead dub “the tunnel”. Not only does this make for a pleasing automotive-architecture–based pun, it's also kind of apt: bridges and tunnels are often one and the same thing, appear together and complement each other.
I digress. In the middle of the two bridge-and-tunnel pairs there's an instrumental break, where the song slows to a dawdle. It's as if Matt Pond and his merry posse of accompaniment-ists (collectively known as “PA”) have been sauntering along in an autumnal park and gradually and pensively come to a halt while they decide which way to go next. (Maybe Matt Pond just has a personal assistant to help him with all the music?)
Anyhow, they end up deciding to carry on in the same direction, but have somehow returned to where they were a full minute ago. (Maybe they were going in circles?) This time, however, they have a few extra deep, reassuring guitar tones as companions, and the journey's a lot more familiar—despite not being a verse or a chorus.
It soon transpires that the verse was just the other side of a hedge all along (metaphor becoming tenuous, I know), and it's back sooner than expected, with a couple of extra drum flourishes for effect. There's even a glimmer of hope for the chorus, as this new verse borrows some of its lyrics.
Another contemplative pause later (will this song ever gain any momentum?), the bridge returns in full swing; by now it's grown up into a chorus in its own right. Nonetheless, it soon gives way to the chorus-proper, the first half of which—only—repeats satisfyingly.
Loath to satiate, though, the song ends on a minor note. It's as if they want you to play it again.
If you download one song this week, make it So Much Trouble—it's like a wistful stroll through an autumnal park (with a personal assistant).
(How do you follow that? Try “Don't Falter” by Mint Royale & Lauren Laverne.)
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