In this week's edition of song analyzing, let's take a look at "Blood on the Leaves" by Kanye West. I'm gonna try to do this a little better than last time. I'll try to organize this and maybe have some actual outline I'm following. Also let the record show that I made it 3 weeks without bringing up Ye.
In an attempt to be more better at song talking about, I'm gonna start by talking about the music part. Obviously the song samples Nina Simone's recording of "Strange Fruit". It's a pretty odd song to use as a sample, but I think it works with the mood of the song. It also sounds real good. The song opens with just the sample and a few piano chords that sound similar to the piano in Nina Simone's recording. Kanye's vocals come in, autotuned in the way he likes - obvious but not overpowering. Parts of the Nina sample are repeated like an instrument would. The piano at this point sounds like it too is being chopped up as a sample which is kind of a jarring unnatural sound - which fits in easily with Kanye's autotuned vocals (and the whole themes of the album Yeezus). About a minute into the song the piano turns into a low synth, and the drop happens, which brings in this high energy synthesized brass and heavy drums. Parts are added and dropped throughout the song, weaving low energy parts of the song into high energy parts. The two biggest pieces that contribute to the song, besides the sample, are the synth brass that sometimes carry the song on their own, and Kanye's vocals. The brass really amps up the energy of the song and makes me wanna jump around. The sound of Ye's vocals really bring an edge to the track, and his mumble singing sounds really good in this track.
I've talked about the sound of the vocals, but I also like the content of the vocals, the lyrics. Kanye initially brings a lot of emotion to this track, the first verse is melancholic and pleading. But at the end of the first verse, with the line "So, let's get on with it" Kanye brings in an attitude that I find infectious. The beginning of the second verse is pretty high energy but, once again, by the end of the second verse his attitude has kind of calmed down, not as mellow as verse one though. Kanye does some mumble singing and the song really quiets down. But he's not done, and he quickly goes into the third verse which consist mostly of some patented Kanye mumble/yell/regular singing. This all leads into one of my favorite Kanye verses, where Kanye drops the autotune and raps over that aggressive brass and drums. And just as quickly as the high energy fourth verse started, it ends. The song ends with more Kanye mumble singing, using his voice as another instrument. All the parts of the song come together one more time and slowly are taken out until it's just Kanye and the sample and the piano, and then just the sample and piano. The song ends like it began.
I really like this song. It's a moody song. But it's the type of mood where you're like, "I'm sad but also who cares I'ma wild out" and I just love that. The different energies jive really well together and all the parts of the song feel like they fit together well both with each other and with the album as a whole.
I don't know. I feel like this was a better analysis, but what do I know and why am I even talking about music.
