The Zombies- She's Not There

My rock ensemble played our first gig on monday night at a bar in downtown Santa Fe called El Paseo. The theme that College Of Santa Fe Contemporary Music Program Rock Ensemble (long band name, eh?) is tackling this semester is the British Invasion. We played a set of 5 songs (2 of the arrangements are my own, ska punk version of Rolling Stones- Get Off Of My Cloud and a stadium rock version of Dusty Springfield's- I Only Want To Be With You) to open up for an 80s cover band. We will be hitting the studio after spring break. I am not sure how many of these we will get done. Besides Get Off Of My Cloud, our noisy, drone-y, ambient-y version of The Zombies- She's Not There ,which was definitely a group arrangement starting with some ideas from our male singer Sam, is a favorite of mine.

I look forward to showing you our version, but first let's analyze this awesome, amazing, articulate, A minor jam. The song is sort of a mix between A Natural Minor and A Melodic Minor due to one of my favorite chord changes in music (and the use of an E dominant 7 chord at the end of the pre-chorus) and the main riff. The tonic (or I in a major key or i in a minor key) chord of a key is its root and strength. Other chords are setting it up or setting up chords that are setting it up in a greater sense. The tonic chord and the dominant chord are the most important chords in a key. Changing them from major to minor and vice versa undermines the keys strength. This all might have been confusing, but I am getting to my point. What gives this song its unique sound is the use of both the standard D minor chord used in this key and D major. The main riff utilizes A minor (tonic), D major (out of key), and F major. I love to hear a chord go from its major version to its minor version and vice versa (especially using the tonic or dominant chord due to their importance in the key). The song is tense, hard, and complex due to the frequent D major (and the awkward rhythm of the chord changes). The chord change I love is at the beginning of the pre-chorus (the most complex part of the song). Both sections of the pre-chorus start with a D major to D minor change ("It's too late" and "Please don't bother"). Another great part of this song is the ripping organ solo. I hope you try to keep these things in mind when you listen to the song.

She's Not There