True to form for Song Talk Radio, the day before Valentine’s Day seemed a good day to talk about break-up songs. So Phil brought “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)” by Jim Croce, Neel chose “One More Minute” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, Bruce performed a new original tune “I Don’t Love You Anymore”, and Vanessa selected “White Blank Page” by the band Mumford & Sons. We talked about:

* conflict in break up songs

* break up song experts – The Smiths, Jann Arden, Morrissey

* “Operator” chord progression – I, III, IV, V (Nashville numbering system), finger-picking, guitar riff

* “One More Minute” – original song in a doo-wop style, one idea repeated getting more extreme, a bridge might have helped

* “I Don’t Love You…” – Key of E, lyric tune-up to bring clarity, needs a bridge?, Neel finds the word “hating” too harsh

* “White Blank Page” – maximum drama through arrangement, a religious song?, abstract songs let the listener interpret

* remembering phone numbers in the age of the cell phone

Listen to the whole show

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Operator-Jim-Croce-Lyrics

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