ANALYSIS
'Perfect Circle' follows a straightforward verse-chorus (3x) path. The song keeps fairly consistent intensity dynamics throughout, and thus relies on other methods to distinguish the two sections. The verses consist of a punchy, honky tonk piano accompanying the vocals, with a highly syncopated (borderline arrhythmic) bass line coming in partway. The eclectic mix of sounds, combined with the bizzare chord changes (F,D,F,G) leaves the song somewhat unsteady until it collapses into the chorus, where the chord changes are much more regular. The drums that enter at the chorus slow down the pace of the song by being in halftime, and the highly reverb'd guitar that also joins in washes out the sound, making the chorus dreamy, and with the repetitive melody, chant-like. The two sections essentially act as a long-form tension and release, which gives the song it's shape.
The melody of the verse seems to be based around D, hitting both the major (F#) and minor (f) third, along with the G. The root shifts to C in the chorus, with a repetative ascending-descending figure. During the first chorus, the melody stays in a similar range, but the second and third choruses are marked by repeated leaps up to C, which in my opinion is the most notable and memorable aspect of the melody. The lyric of the song remains vague and mysterious, choosing to present an array of ideas and imagery instead of any tangible narrative.
RESYNTHESIS
One of the most striking differences between 'Perfect Circle' and my song is that my song somehow ended up with about 4 distinct sections instead of 2. Other than that, I tried to incorporate as much of the above discussion as I could. Here's a list of some of the ideas I did keep:
-Bizzare Chord Change in Verse
-Rhythmic slowdown in Chorus from verse
-Similar Ascending-descending melodic figure in chorus
-Repeated leaps to same note in Chorus#2/Bridge (or whatever you want to call it)
-Minimal intensity dynamics (or 'attempts to rely on the ideas used in 'Perfect Circle' to achieve variety')
-Lyric?*
*So I didn't exactly write similar lyrics (mine is generally more narrative, though still a bit vague). However, I had gotten caught up on the 'Heaven Assumed' phrase repeated in one of the choruses of perfect circle. I chose to rely on the double meaning of 'assumed', and I called upon the notion from my childhood where I 'assumed' heaven was a place, much like I 'assumed' Santa Claus was a real dude until I was informed otherwise. This song is about the first time I realized heaven wasn't an assumption, it was a belief, and possibly one that I couldn't subscribe to. (SPOILER ALERT: I'm now an atheist.)
