I love bridges! And I'm not just talking about the Verrazano or Todd. They're both great, but this blog celebrates a song's bridge. Some folks call it the "middle eight," whether or not it happens in the middle or if it lasts eight bars.
The bridge is a way for the song to provide additional information, musically, lyrically, or ideally, both. Sometimes the new info is an "exclamation point" to what we have already heard. Other times, it's a dramatic plot twist at the end of the song's second act. Those are some of my favorites.
For the purpose of this blog and playlist*, I am defining "bridge" as a third part of a song that only happens once and is followed by one or two of the previous musical parts. For example, Verse > Chorus > Verse > BRIDGE > Verse > Chorus. An Intro does not count as a "part." Additionally, the music/chord progression and lyrics must be recognizably different than in the previous parts.
"A playlist?" you ask. While I have always been a fan of bridges, the deep-dive obsession began a few years ago when my friend and songwriting partner of thirty-plus years, Matt Schwartzer, and I started nerding out about this most magical part of a song. A playlist has been kept, and at the time of this first blog entry, we have over 600 qualifying songs. Not every song is a classic in everyone's book, so only our favorite song bridges will be discussed.
There are endless amazing songs that do not have qualifying bridges, and there's nothing wrong with that. And there are many genres that won't get much coverage. It will mostly be pop and pop-adjacent songs, but we are always open to suggestions!
We're starting this off with me and Schwazrtzer, but other contributors might join us along the way. I won't be posting links to songs. You should use your own favorite music streamer or video provider.
But enough of this baloney - let me take you to the bridges! - MJK
The bridge is a way for the song to provide additional information, musically, lyrically, or ideally, both. Sometimes the new info is an "exclamation point" to what we have already heard. Other times, it's a dramatic plot twist at the end of the song's second act. Those are some of my favorites.
For the purpose of this blog and playlist*, I am defining "bridge" as a third part of a song that only happens once and is followed by one or two of the previous musical parts. For example, Verse > Chorus > Verse > BRIDGE > Verse > Chorus. An Intro does not count as a "part." Additionally, the music/chord progression and lyrics must be recognizably different than in the previous parts.
"A playlist?" you ask. While I have always been a fan of bridges, the deep-dive obsession began a few years ago when my friend and songwriting partner of thirty-plus years, Matt Schwartzer, and I started nerding out about this most magical part of a song. A playlist has been kept, and at the time of this first blog entry, we have over 600 qualifying songs. Not every song is a classic in everyone's book, so only our favorite song bridges will be discussed.
There are endless amazing songs that do not have qualifying bridges, and there's nothing wrong with that. And there are many genres that won't get much coverage. It will mostly be pop and pop-adjacent songs, but we are always open to suggestions!
We're starting this off with me and Schwazrtzer, but other contributors might join us along the way. I won't be posting links to songs. You should use your own favorite music streamer or video provider.
But enough of this baloney - let me take you to the bridges! - MJK
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