I bring up this topic because it seems like every time I’m in the car with my mother, Skynyrd’s Free Bird comes on the radio (it’s Kansas…).
And always, towards the end, when the guitars are all wailin’ to the point that a cat could be getting tortured in the studio and you’d never know the difference, my mother can’t take it, and makes me change the station.
After awhile, I learned to anticipate these this in advance, and whenever I heard the coo-ey, melodic opening strains of Free Bird, I’d change the station.
Trouble is, she never recognizes the beginning of the song as The Song She Hates, and so wonders WHY I’m changing the station when this happens.
By the time the song nears its end, she recognizes it (and the station gets changed), but by then she’s already had to suffer (and is complaining bitterly about having been a victim of Musical Bait-and-Switch).
Happens every time.
Anyway, point is, what other songs can you think of with more than one key melody/rhythm?
Two more off the top of my head:
Layla–Eric Clapton Band on the Run–Wings
Oh, and the Blood, Sweat, and Tears version of God Bless the Child.
Also, there’s the very odd ending to Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry.” I still don’t understand just how that hard, fast part got tacked onto the end of what was otherwise a soft ballad…
Ditto if you count Your Move and All Good People, by Yes, as one song (which is how they’re usually played on the radio), or Boston’s Foreplay/Long Time.
I was about to do “Thick as a Brick”, myself.
Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”
“Songs From the Wood” and “Heavy Horses” by Jethro Tull
“Age of Aquarius” and “Where’s the Sunshine?” by The Fifthe Dimension, since they’re usually played together
Battery – Metallica
Hero of the Day – Metallica
Young Lust – Metallica
Grand Wazoo (Several songs on this album) – Mother’s of Invention
Hello Goodbye – Beatles
A Day in the Life – Beatles
Live and Let Die – Wings (McCartney)
Dream On – Aerosmith
The Court of the Crimson King (Several songs on this album) – King Crimson
Welcome to the Jungle – Guns & Roses
Iron Man – Black Sabbath
Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd
Everything – Lifehouse
Giving In – Adema
Waffle – SevenDust
Vampirella – Inkubus Sukkubus
When I Am Queen – Jack Off Jill
In My Dreams I Can Fly – Evergreen Terrace