Understanding Never Gonna Give You Up

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Few songs have had quite the legacy of Rick Astley's debut single. When it was released in 1987, it became a #1 hit in the US, UK, and all around the world, but that initial success was nothing compared to what it would become with the rise of the internet. Over the last 15 years, the meme of Never Gonna Give You Up has refused to die, and at this point its opening tom fill may be the most recognizable drum part ever recorded, but with all that attention, it feels like the song itself has become secondary to the joke. Let's fix that.
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Doctor Mix's video: • How To Recreate "Never...
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Опубликовано:

27 апр 2023

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Комментарии : 561

@12tone Год назад

Some additional thoughts/corrections: 1) In the music video, the hi-hat sides are actually flipped, with the more prominent part on the right, but in the 2022 remaster they're the way they are in the stems. Which is weird, because the stems mostly seem more faithful to the video version, with the bongos much closer to the center, whereas in the remaster they're panned harder to the right. I dunno. The version on iTunes seems to also be the remaster, so not sure what to do with that. I'll defer to the music video as closer to the original mix, but the thing I described is what's in the stems, and the important thing is that they're different, not which one is which, so I'm just gonna choose to stop worrying about it. 2) In principle, you might also want to sort out separate drum parts that emphasize the off-beat 16ths, but there weren't any in this song so I didn't both mentioning that. 3) As you can see in the notation, the right-side hat actually does a triple-tap in bar 1, not a double-tap, but it's quiet enough that I decided to just treat it the same. Didn't seem worth getting into the distinction when functionally it doesn't seem to make any difference. 4) There's probably a lot more I could've said about some of the surprisingly jazzy chord voicings in this song, especially in the supporting parts, but I decided to focus on the percussion, groove, and looping aspects because they felt more central to my experience. I'm sure there's a whole second video's worth of analysis to be done from a more harmonic perspective if someone else wants to do it, though. 5) I feel like I was maybe a little unclear when I was talking about the vocals in the prechorus. I said he started a line on the downbeat, but I wasn't actually referring to the line I'd just played. That line starts on beat 3. It's the first line of the prechorus ("I just wanna…") that starts on beat 1.

@ccr12345productions Год назад

you forgot the link to the doctor mix video!

@g3cd Год назад

After I put on my pink wavy illuminated stars headband, I can totally relate to that, especially to point 5. 💖

@iwouldfthatsu Год назад

9:20 ish I think what you're hearing is the reverb tails of those synth guide tracks, which were probably accidentally bounced to the main mix

@theitalianbobcat 7 месяцев назад

Mike Stock has always written incredibly complex and interesting harmonies - I suggest checking out Whenever You Need Somebody from the same album. The "jazzy chords" are tuned up to 11 plus there's a key change in every section.

@gaffer2602 Год назад

0:35 I love how when he talks about the origin of the meme, he draws the Duckroll duck

@fday8432 Год назад

It definitely adds legitimacy to the claim that he was there when the deep magic was written.

@gaffer2602 Год назад

@@fday8432 Also the timing was great. Rather than just when he said it's origins, he specifically added it the moment "4chan" was said, where duck roll originated. I think Rick Roll wasn't exclusively 4chan to begin with

@axiom8073 Год назад

and they draw loss when they say meme

@ThorsShadow Год назад

@@axiom8073 *He. Our dude is a dude. If you put so much thought into using pronouns to actively use "they", you might as well use the correct pronoun instead of a more generalized they. I can totally see where you are coming from and I'm sure it's appreciated but it's just not necessary. Have an awesome day. :)

@bmac4 Год назад

@@ThorsShadow Nah their pronouns are explicitly "they/them", get outta here with your posturing and speaking for others on matters you don't know about.

@lofiworkshop Год назад

I was a 6 year old kid who unironically loved that song when it came out, and I haven't stopped. Still, never realized how much depth there was in the percussion alone.

@trail_mix24 Год назад

Same, I first heard it in Roblox in like 2007 or 2008, and I could only think this song is awesome!

@akisavolainen4918 Год назад

Despite it's meme status, the song IS a solid banger!

@craigusselman546 Год назад

Yeah I was 7 then and I enjoyed it then and I've watched in astonishment as it's grown into the anthem of trolling and Rick is such a good dude he deserves it

@skachor Год назад

The grunge era came with a huge dose of cynicism that was incompatible with 80s music, to the point where it's taken 30 years for 80s music to recover.

@StarlightNkyra 11 месяцев назад

I think I first heard it on the radio in the car, but as far as I know, I came out of the womb singing never gonna give you up.

@bonecanoe86 Год назад

Rickrolling is the king of memes. A reminder that 2007 was SIXTEEN YEARS AGO and the meme has never gone away. Also, Rick Astley is a super awesome and wholesome guy and deserves everything in the world.

@myri_the_weirdo Год назад

Rickroll can now be drunk by European standard

@UnknowinglyDerpy Год назад

He made the best out of the situation too since he technically "retired" decades before and eventually used Never gonna give you up as a springboard to restart his carrer

@ChaosPootato Год назад

Rick rolling is never gonna giv- get old

@d4r4butler74 Год назад

I can remember being RickRolled in the '90s. Of course I also remember when this song first came out.

@oldmanfran5523 Год назад

For me it's a reminder that 1987 was 36 years ago

@tylerdickerson5783 Год назад

"... I was a little too contrarian to have my own Myspace page" is such a specific and relatable phrase about a moment in time.

@Packbat Год назад

I feel so embarrassed about having heard "Never Gonna Give You Up" so many times and never focusing on the drums. Definitely gonna fix that next time I listen.

@bonecanoe86 Год назад

I appreciate that you are analyzing this song the same way SAW wrote it; building the analysis from bottom up rather than digging in from the top.

@jordanwardan7588 Год назад

SAW didn't listen to the melody and transcribed what they heard, in real time, as the stem of the song they have yet to write or perform played in the background. so it's really unlikely or impossible they wrote the song using musical analysis frameworks like"music theory"

@bored_person Год назад

@@jordanwardan7588 that doesn't make any sense. they wrote the melody, how can they transcribe a melody that didn't exist until they wrote it?

@brumd Год назад

My teen years were in the 80s, and SAW was 'the enemy': I hated this song passionately back in the day. But over the years I could put this in different perspective. If there is one good thing that this meme brought, is that put Rick Astley back in the spotlights. His music still doesn't resonate a lot with me, but I truly enjoy him talking in interviews. He's a super nice guy. His success is well deserved.

@mikeciul8599 Год назад

Me too! I went from hating Stock, Aiken, and Waterman because I saw them as engineers of bland corporate pop, to loving and respecting their dedication to the craft of songwriting. Having learned my lesson, I've been a fan of Max Martin since I first heard of him...

@DeGuerre Год назад

I'm clearly as old as you are, and while I agree with everything you said, part of me still thinks it's unfortunate that this is the song that we remembered. I liked Rick Astley much more once he wasn't doing SAW any more. I still love "Cry for Help", and not just because of the better haircut.

@mortenwintherolsson3237 Год назад

@@mikeciul8599 Amen; "Hit Me Baby" is a much better composition than most people think - take away Spear acting naughty in the video and the vocals being lamently overproduced, falling victim to the demands of the era in which it was released, and try to feel the song itself - and you start to realize that it not only "works" in so many styles and variations (Travis did a sort of stripped down version that really highlights this), but the melody is also slightly enigmatic, sounding upbeat and dancable despite being written in a C minor scale - with enough variation in the basic progression to keep you intrigued, but still repetitious enough to make you forcibly sing along, or at the very least hum a bit and tap your feet. Pure genious - and that was just a stepping stone to greater things for Max! Lennon/McCartney were equally great songwriters, but frankly they wouldn't have been without each other, and only a few others come close (nod to Prince 😅).

@daliinhiscoffin2493 Год назад

tbh I'm curious which Kylie, Bananarama and Dead or Alive songs they produced, I was born in the late 90s but the 80s were all I listened to during my teenage years but none of those artists really stuck honestly...

@DeGuerre Год назад

@@daliinhiscoffin2493 "You Spin Me Round" was their first hit. Note that they didn't write that one, they only produced it. For Kylie, they did her first four albums, including "The Loco-Motion", "I Should Be So Lucky", "Got to be Certain", "Hand on Your Heart", "Better the Devil You Know"... everything from that era. For Bananarama, they produced the "True Confessions" and "Wow" albums, most notably their cover of "Venus" and "Love in the First Degree". You're on RU-vid. Look up "This is the Chorus" by Morris Minor and the Majors (with a cameo from Jon Deacon of Queen). This song was a parody of SAW, and anything you recognise there was a SAW song.

@unfire Год назад

This is the song I play in my head to clear out LITERALLY any other song stuck in my head. I'll always love this song. Works like a charm too.

@DeGuerre Год назад

"One Vision" by Queen does it for me.

@jessehammer123 Год назад

For my dad, it’s Pearl Jam’s “Black”. I use “Paint it, Black” by The Rolling Stones.

@matthewcox7985 11 месяцев назад

The Top Predator of Earworms.

@NinjaBartender 7 месяцев назад

My friend uses ‘500 Miles’ by The Proclaimers

@pauledwards5266 Год назад

In the book "PWL From the Factory Floor", producer Phil Harding says Stock Aitken and Waterman would make songs by using two other songs they called "plots". One song they would model the groove on and the other the harmony. They would then write a new melody over the top. Apparently "Never Gonna Give You Up" uses the bass/drums groove from Colonel Abrams "Trapped" and the chords are based on songs by Alexander O'Neal.

@Kylora2112 Год назад

Kylie Minogue's "Look My Way" is basically a karaoke version of The Whispers' "Rock Steady." So That checks out.

@pauledwards5266 Год назад

@@Kylora2112 Another couple of Kylie ones - "Word is Out" uses the groove from Guy's "New Jack City" "What Do I Have to Do?" uses the groove from Together's "Hardcore Uproar"

@teagancombest6049 Год назад

Holy shit it is Trapped. The boards of Canada remix of that song rules btw.

@innertuber4049 11 месяцев назад

Could that explain the weird echoey vocals?

@cynthmcgpoet 11 месяцев назад

He's actually using that song as an encore in his current retro tours, and the crowd goes mad for his completely nonironic performance. I was working for a vendor at a local auditorium, and it was magical. Seriously.

@doodlebobbeh8836 Год назад

Never clicked on a 12tone video so fast

@Lucawiouh Год назад

SAME

@Genesis_Hana Год назад

Ong this was what i was waiting for

@doodlebobbeh8836 Год назад

@@Genesis_Hana this is the quality content I subscribed for 🤌

@jaredbaratta8589 Год назад

You were clickrolled.

@isaachiggs1925 Год назад

🎵Never clicked on one-that-fast Never gonna let-you-down🎵

@emilyfield1928 Год назад

9:25 I would guess this might be a tape pre-echo kinda thing. When magnetic tape is stored, occasionally it can bleed through the layers of the tape itself during storage, leading to pre-echoes. I believe there is a similar effect in Tools "The Pot", right at the start. It is not an uncommon occurance, though it is rarely audible, since it's usually quite low in level. However it might be accentuated here due to compression added to the drums during mixing.

@POKker1996 Год назад

This ^^^^ However I believe it's called print-through on tape. Now as to why it's on the drums' track.. is a bit puzzling. The cymbals were likely an overdub AFTER the Astley's vocal take, and the twotracks somehow overlapped in storage and caused a print through. That or the magnetic field on that first chorus of the vocal track was strong enough to print through to the track above. If so it might have printed through to the same vocal track at the same point in the song, and other tracks too maybe. That would explain why it's even more audible in the full mix.

@jrevillug Год назад

I was thinking of print through too. It's also possible that one of the tape machines wasn't aligned quite right and the backing vocal track actually got recorded slightly overlapping the drums.

@CoingamerFL Год назад

Maybe this happens at the start of Television Rules The Nation by Daft Punk where you can hear the riff when it's just the isolated drums???

@POKker1996 Год назад

@@CoingamerFL Likely. The album was recorded on an eight-track tape machine so print-through could definitely have occurred!

@billymillions Год назад

Print through is a thing, which is why a good studio will always store their tapes "tails out", so that any print through comes as a following echo, as opposed to a 'pre-echo'. Even the multi-track masters are stored tails out. This also allows for what some may call 'play winding' and getting even, smooth wraps on the reels, reducing (and hopefully eliminating) any damage to the edges of the tape, as well as any tracking/alignment issues.

@wyattstevens8574 Год назад

Astley's other top hit, "Together Forever," has some very similar themes as this one: the verse of each sounds like the chorus of the other!

@amrys_argent Год назад

I propose we all start sending "Together Forever" to each other as a fresh take on the Rick Roll.

@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Год назад

He also has a song that's the complete opposite: "Giving Up on Love".

@wyattstevens8574 Год назад

If Cory analyzed that, it would probably make for an interesting video, because what else would he need to analyze?

@matthewcox7985 11 месяцев назад

That makes them easier to do a medley and mashup!

@wyattstevens8574 11 месяцев назад

@@matthewcox7985 Such a medley exists (but with the latter transposed down half a step, as it's in D by default) and sounds great!

@projectz975 Год назад

theres a chance the vocal in the intro might just be tape bleed. at this time they may have still been using an analog tape machine to record, in which case adjacent tracks on the tape might bleed into each other unless their playback heads were tuned perfectly. Erasing sound on digital formats is just like deleting any other computer file, its totally gone without a trace, but with analog recording its more like erasing pencil marks on paper, it always leaves an impression behind just a spitball of course! i wasn't there and i have no clue what machine they tracked to or what their track layout looked like

@nataliealliepage7155 Год назад

80s synthpop is one of the few genres that is often criticized for seemingly opposite reasons. Very few people who personally dislike metal music would say it's too soft and gentle for them, nor would anyone criticize Skrillex's take on second-wave dubstep for being too organic. But 80s music has been simultaneously criticized for being powerful and wimpy, harsh and inoffensively banal, emotional and emotionless, cheesy and alienating, etc. Synthesizers are a relatively recent invention, one that can't be classified into any of the four traditional sections of the orchestra (though I personally consider them to be a form of percussion instrument). The idea of a synth playing back strings that could fool a casual listener was incredibly novel at the time, though such a feat is mundane today with everyone carrying around string samples on their iPhone's garageband, whether they're interested or not. I'm someone who is a huge fan of 1980s music, who got to know it as a form of retro/oldies music that was quite tame compared to the mainstream pop of my adolescence. It's probably my favorite genre of pop. But it's interesting to think about it from the perspective of a musician who grew up in the era - it gives me a whole new appreciation for it. In 1981, a computer that could play back a string stab could cost as much as a house. In 1998, such a sound was standard on most sampling keyboards, and in 2005, if your computer randomly played a string stab, chances are something was wrong with it;)

@irgendwieanders2121 Год назад

Bump

@NegativeReferral Год назад

@@irgendwieanders2121 thank you

@irgendwieanders2121 Год назад

@@NegativeReferral You're welcome

@NeonBeeCat 11 месяцев назад

Now I want to make a rave song with the Windows XP error sound. Thanks!

@NegativeReferral 11 месяцев назад

@@NeonBeeCat I’m curious to hear it if you put it online! Even kids who shared low-end computers with their families in the 2000s were still downright spoiled with this modern technology.

@Goobel Год назад

I was wondering when you’d make this video. Now I know you’re never gonna let us down.

@RoninCatholic Год назад

I have unironically loved this song ever since the first time I stopped and listened to any of the lyrics. This is _my_ love song, this is how _I_ feel in a relationship, and being a meme used for trolling only adds to my personal attachment to it.

@kilo3989 10 месяцев назад

I've had this song on my wedding playlist before, and requested it at others. Memes aside, it's a bop and has a powerful message. I'm with ya there!

@Steveofthejungle8 Год назад

I’ve never been happier to be RickRolled

@SameAsAnyOtherStranger Год назад

The best Rickroll ever. Was That Time Foster's Home Rick Roll'd EVERYONE when Rick Astley himself appeared on the Thanksgiving Day parade float doing the vocals for "Never Gonna Give You Up." Foster's held an extra dimensional significance for me at the time.

@lysanamcmillan7972 Год назад

I caught it live (so to speak) and I nearly fell apart laughing. Then I realized this meant the hosts had to explain Rickrolling while being there to soothe the Silent Generation with a pair of older Boomers and I laughed harder. They did not disappoint. A Millennial intern probably got told to find them 20 seconds of copy online to give the hosts something to say about it. Ah, Regis Philbin. You did "confused as fuck but the show must go on" like a pro.

@ExWifeHaver287 Год назад

8:38 I’ve always heard that part, but I just thought I was imagining it. Fascinating.

@hokage102364 Год назад

I always heard it, but never thought anything of it lmao.

@Ve55el Год назад

...earphone bleed in the studio?

@davidmckean955 Год назад

@@Ve55el probably tape bleed, I'm betting the boosted up the levels of the drums in the final mix to the point where you can just hear it

@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Год назад

Yeah, in hindsight, I was definitely aware of that the whole time. I just never clocked that it was, like, an actual part of the production.

@kaitlyn__L Год назад

I always heard it too, but just thought it was deliberate to preemptively and subtly build up to the chorus and themes lol. Other comments say it’s probably print-through on the master tapes in which case it’d be a total accident! Though I still think it works in the way I interpreted it, even if not intentionally done!

@Feasco Год назад

I was not under the impression that Rick rolling ever stopped being a thing

@onbearfeet Год назад

My sister-in-law sent me a video of her kids getting rickrolled by a circus performer just last week. (And I suppose, by extension, she rickrolled me.) It's definitely still a thing.

@computernaut 11 месяцев назад

Fun fact, the mismatch between Rick's appearance and voice was actually something that made him stand out to the producers of the song, and probably the reason he was chosen to sing this one.

@TracksWithDax 3 месяца назад

I always loved his look of a high school sophomore awkwardly dancing in ill-fitting clothes while having a smooth, rich voice

@kylebower8167 Год назад

Hearing that opening drum fill still makes me clench up. The internet has irreparably damaged me

@brumd Год назад

On the topic why Rick's voice might be in the intro: Rick Astley had a job in the SAW studio, so he didn't have to be called in. So, maybe that is why it was recorded in a different order than their usual workflow. #2cents

@Ve55el Год назад

16:00 Dude! Thats the key center! Db! Just cuz we don't hear it much doesn't mean it isnt there....thats what makes the chord sequence in the begining so cool...it totally wants to come back to Db but it never does!

@andrewleach1667 Год назад

Yep! Get Lucky is another example that does this.

@trptmbalmer Год назад

Exactly! This thing isn't in Bbm, it's in Db! (Always has been.) The chord sequence is a soft-landing ii-V-iii-vi with the minor vi performing one of the roles it does best: hinting at, but not fully spelling out, the tonic chord. In fact, I would probably just have analyzed it as a Db6 chord because at the end of the line, the vocals AND the horn lick both end on Db.

@MaggaraMarine Год назад

I personally hear it in Bbm. There are also many elements that suggest Bbm as the key (like the vocal phrases always beginning on Bb, and the verse bass riff being pretty much just a Bb pedal point). But I can also hear some "Db majorness" in some parts. But to my ears, Bbm is the main tonic. That's how I hear the song. If you only listen to the chords, I can definitely see a strong argument for Db major (and the horn stabs do also create quite a strong Db sound). But still, overall, my ears are drawn towards Bbm.

@Ve55el Год назад

@@MaggaraMarine For sure...I'm just pushing that instead of Bbm being a minor i chord...its actually just a iv chord...but played in such a way as to sound like the i chord...fascinating song innit?!

@mn6334 Год назад

This would have been the best April Fools Day video.

@RockandRollWoman Год назад

Palimpsest: "a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain." Or a tape with traces of a prior recording.

@amandacapsicum686 Год назад

My theory as to why they added percussion with chorus vocals buried in them: it is on purpose. It is musical foreshadowing. In more modern electronic dance/pop music, it is quite common to take a sonic element from the drop, bury it in reverb, then reverse it and use it as a riser, building the listener up to the climax of the song. This could be an early incarnation of that. The listener hears the chorus at the beginning without knowing it, so when the chorus kicks in in an unocculted form, they are subconsciously primed to feel satisfied.

@kaitlyn__L Год назад

That’s how I always interpreted it too! Other comments suggest it’s likely to be “print through”, where storing the tape tightly wound rubs the magnetisation from neighbouring sections, in which case it was just a fortuitous accident. Though pre-echo anywhere else might not have worked as well! I wonder if other modern techniques are influenced by other such studio mistakes :D

@bowel_movement Год назад

By the way, I was instantly hyped when this popped up in my feed. As fun as the meme is, I've always admired this song, the production and Rick Astley's vocal performance are so amazing

@mbosskdawg-vlogsandgames2979 Год назад

Hey 12tone. I love these deconstructions. Can you do one for Viva La Vida? I would love to know all the theory that goes into that song as it's one of my favorites.

@joshc5613 Год назад

great suggestion, I love the strings on that song!

@benjaminsagan5861 Год назад

I love that your drawing for the word "distracting" is a squirrel. 😂 It's worth it to check out Reeve Carney singing a cover version of this song -- which, I agree, rules.

@mademedothis424 Год назад

I am partial for the slightly deep cut of She-Ra's Entrapta for "put it apart and pull it back together", myself.

@elinolasco1019 Год назад

“For those of you too old to understand or…too young to remember”😭 That line hit different. Our generation is the best of both worlds

@maitele Год назад

It's gonna be super interesting to see what "it" will be for the next generation. I, for one, plan to be Cool Zoomer. Too dumb to get it, but able to laugh all the same...

@elinolasco1019 Год назад

@@maitele Yes!! I went back to college to finish my dreams of being an educator and that’s also my goal!

@Wraithknight2 Год назад

I want to give this comment all of the likes. Born 1980!

@Look_Dad_Old_Tunes Год назад

For me, in the 80s, the issue with SAW was that they ended up flogging their formula to death. (See "I'd Rather Jack" by The Reynolds Girls). It's a shame Astley couldn't pull a Kylie and reinvent himself; but then there would be no meme.

@watchthetim Год назад

I love that you really break down the music. This is the second video I've watched and I love your analytics. I love analyzing lyrics in songs and now with your videos you can take my analytics to a whole new level. Thank you for your hard work.

@timmy18135 Год назад

Hey 12tone. I love these deconstructions. Can you do one for Take on Me? I would love to know all the theory that goes into that song as it's one of my favorites.

@rmdodsonbills Год назад

Okay, haven't even seen a full second of the video yet. But, I always enjoy the breakdowns of my favorite songs from back when I was a youngster and I'm looking forward to learning why there are deeper reasons why this song has stuck with me so long. Thanks 12 Tone!

@Jack-je1zt Год назад

I strongly approve of abstract loss being a logograph for the concept of a meme!

@st4r64 Год назад

Unironically love this song.

@JMSRENFORCER98 Год назад

I’d love to see you analyse a joy division or new order song where Peter Hook plays the Bass guitar as the lead instrument.

@zbr76 Год назад

I second this entirely! Now that you mention it, I'm surprised 12tone HASN'T done any Joy Division or New Order.

@becklanda.3642 Год назад

@@zbr76 especially Blue Monday, i feel like there’s a lot of interesting instrumental bits that 12tone would have a joyous time dissecting

@Aaezil Год назад

So something that happens on tape machines is adjacent tracks can bleed into each other, resulting in a quiet "ghost" of an adjacent track to be audible.

@MuriKakari 11 месяцев назад

Love your channel. Just found it- the algorithm kindly recommended your analysis of London Calling and I am hooked.

@AnthonyP73 Год назад

This song was so ubiquitous, my local TV affiliate used the opening bars for its interstitial station IDs between shows.

@EdotJdotOriginal 7 месяцев назад

What station was this?

@JulianDoe Год назад

The songwriting craft and catchy melody have taught me the importance of simplicity and the power of a memorable hook. As a result, it influenced my own songwriting style and helped me to develop my own unique voice and sound as a musician. Overall, "Never Gonna Give You Up" has played a significant role in shaping my musical journey

@dbert1024 Год назад

I’d love to see you cover Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet. It’d be fascinating to analyze how a song can be so identifiable with calmness, relaxation, and the beach.

@matthewcox7985 11 месяцев назад

Something I'd throw in for a mention: Buffett throws in a rhythmic trick in quite a few of his songs, notably "Changes in Latitudes." Listen to the end of the chorus and track beat 1.

@fluidstatic5564 Год назад

"At this point it's been so much of a meme-" *draws Loss* Well played, sir, well played.

@libmananchannel Год назад

Hello ” 12tone ”! Thank you for showing us such a wonderful video! I feel so happy! I'm looking forward to your next work! Have a nice day!

@SarahMaeBea Год назад

Wonderful video. Your point at the end about developing a really solid groove that doesn't stale is a really great one. I'm working on a video game, thinking about the music and how to make sure it's not maddening to listen to on loop. This whole video is a great lesson on how to make loops interesting. I should probably check out more SAW.

@pratitghosh5973 Год назад

Now we get Rick Rolled... With an analysis

@klaxoncow Год назад

The thing that's always amused me with this song is that the backing vocals constantly contradict Rick Astley. He's singing "never going to give you up" and the backing vocals sing "give you up!". Never going let you down ("let you down!"). Indeed, even with Rick's vocals, the rhythmic emphasis is on the negative. The "never" is de-emphasised in "never going run around and desert you". This lead me to come up with a parody version of the song called "Always going to give you up". Swap every "never" for "always". That's it. (Well, I also like to negate it all, for additional amusement. So, in fact, "we're strangers to love... you would get this from any other guy". Just flip the meaning with a choice word drop or "not" thrown in there.) But suddenly it stops contradicting itself and is weirdly more cohesive, despite being comically negative and preaching the completely wrong moral message. Go on. Put the song on, and sing along, doing the "never -> always" switcheroo. You'll see what I mean. The song weirdly becomes lyrically consistent, as if it's really supposed to be a happy ode to betrayal and infidelity. Sing it, ladies: "give you up! Let you down!" Emphasis on "run around and desert you". Make you cry. Say goodbye. (And I do believe this underlying contradiction also helps with the meme - as you are being let down, and made to cry. Subconsciously, I feel your brain is picking up the contradiction and juxtaposition. So while superficially sounding happy and positive, there's a betrayal going on. You've been let down by being meme'd. Also reminds me of that Charles and Eddy song. You know, "would I lie to you, baby? Would I lie to you?"... and then he enthusiastically says "oh, yeah!". What? Are you guys openly admitting that you're lying all along? That you are going to lie to her? That some songs, due to the rhythmic structure, end up putting the emphasis on exactly the wrong lyrics at the wrong time, creating this underlying "wrongness" to it all.)

@Xenro66 Год назад

0:57 The PTSD flashbacks this gave me is insane

@stefan1024 10 месяцев назад

Brilliant video, thank you! ❤

@DeGuerre Год назад

I was a teenager in the 80s. We HATED the hit factory of SAW. It was the antithesis of everything that we liked in music. Look up "This Is The Chorus" by Morris Minor and the Majors to see a popular parody at the time. I am glad that Rick Astley made it; whatever you think of SAW, his voice was and is incredible.

@rookiebeotch Год назад

The issue with Never Gonna Give You Up is that for so many people, there are so many reasons why they want to hate the song, but the song is so good they can't. Being rickrolled is my favorite way that I get tricked into something. I can't even dislike being fooled.

@LettucingMaster Год назад

This video is absolutely amazing to watch. Every spin is so smooth and effortless, and it's clear that this chip has been spinning for years to achieve such a level of skill. The spins are so fluent and elegant, and every spin is executed with such perfect form. The song makes the spinning experience even more amazing, and it perfectly compliments the choreography. This chip is clearly an expert and a master of his craft, and he should be admired by all. He's truly an inspiring performance, and I'm so impressed and grateful for this content. It's truly spectacular to watch, my friend. Every spin is so beautifully executed and perfect, and it's clear that this chip has been practicing for many years to achieve such a level of skill. His spins are so effortless and graceful, and the music goes perfectly with the choreography. This chip is truly a maestro, and his skill should be admired by all. I'm so blown away by this

@amandathunderclaw8969 Год назад

My choir actually uses an a cappella arrangement of Never Gonna Give You Up every year as a song option for the Valentine’s Day serenades we sell. It is consistently one of our best sellers, since if you give a bunch of high schoolers the chance to rickroll their friends for a few bucks, they usually take it

@masonmorris7521 Год назад

I have been waiting for this day and its finally here Im am so happy

@FretboardToAsh Год назад

Most elaborate Rickroll I've seen in a while. Well done sir.

@Veecy Год назад

Approaching Never Gonna Give You Up as an actual song is a fun exercise. Though I've heard it described as "the most '80s' song ever written," what makes it awesome is the 70s disco influences - that's the reason I unironically really like the song

@josephwest124 Год назад

At the 20 minute mark when talking about the incongruity of Astley's looks and voice, I don't recall who it was but there was a comedian back in the day who really hit the mark: "A big, Black voice in the body of Howdy Doody." Like I say, I don't remember the comedian but I DO remember the joke.

@martysue3704 11 месяцев назад

9:17 A Crosscode reference? In MY 12tone video?! It's more likely than you think! Excellent taste, my good man.

@nileprimewastaken Год назад

I think a rush song would be pretty cool although i understand if the video would get too long

@seicobass Год назад

12Tone drawing loss is a fucking flashbang

@kup42 Год назад

Thank you for the video

@SamTheTriangle Год назад

This was well-needed.

@Firespike33 Год назад

9:14 I love that "mixed real low" = Lea from CrossCode

@pringlescan81 Год назад

I always loved the strings and horns. Didn’t realize the beat was going hard all this time.

@AmorSciendi Год назад

I just wrote an essay about the lyrics of this song as an example for my class. Can't wait to incorporate some if this into it

@alarcon99 Год назад

The idea that we could live in a world where there are those too young to know what a rickroll is made me feel crypt-keeper old and now I have to go and make a will.

@GorgoReptilicus Год назад

Thank you for this wonderful analysis. I loved the song when it came out and only saw the video much later on, but saw the media reaction to his appearance vs voice. Still the song was and is still amazing

@Yorie1234 Год назад

0:57 I knew what video I clicked, it is clearly labeled what it is, yet somehow my subconsciousness felt like I had been tricked.

@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Год назад

It's a Pavlovian response at this point.

@punkboyblue Год назад

This is the most elaborate Rick roll I have ever seen

@timseguine2 Год назад

Glad you finally decided to do an analysis of Robo's Theme from Chrono Trigger.

@kilo3989 10 месяцев назад

So this is the third of your videos I've watched in a row, and I'm just now realizing that the Shrek "S" signals that you're talking about layers. And I'm realizing that these little pictograms you're making aren't unique, there's a consistent pattern to them--a pattern that makes sense if you think about it enough, but sometimes requires a leap of word-association. Like how in my sheet music, when I need to remember that a part is going faster, I draw a lil' plate of spaghetti (pasta - fasta - faster!!) What a fun little connection! I'd love to see a video of you explaining your pictographic notation sometime 😁

@auxilia5024 Год назад

your videos always make me want to listen to the song that you talk about, so damn you, you have made me WANT to get rickrolled

@stephenehlers Год назад

@12tone Great video! I was hoping you would go into the horn section more, I know its only a small part in the middle the verse but I feel like its perfect in the way it sets up the listener for the chorus. I really had it strike me how much of a difference it makes to the overall feel of the song when i was playing around with the midi track and found without the horns the verse dragged on a bit. I even brought the levels up on it and it just feels so good. G#4, G#5 F4, F5 D#4, D#5 C#4, C#5 A#3, A#4

@SilverWoman-pu1ft Год назад

Wow I've never noticed the vocals in the chorus during the intro until now. I'd guess the reason they were there is when they used the samples they did record them physically, or maybe did something similar, and when they did it astley started singing. A similar thing is with buddy holy if you listen to the isolated drum stem, you can hear rivers coumo singing, as I guess he was singing while the drums were being recorded

@shaofu424 Год назад

this was interesting a lot more going on than i ever realized good work be safe, be happy, work hard peace \m/

@BasistenJoel Год назад

I go to music school and I’m a multi-instrumentalist focused on bass and piano. We were going to play this song for a concert and i got the bass but it was almost impossible to play on a normal electric bass. Mind you i’m a very experienced bassist and can play very well. When i got the sheet music for the bassline on this song it was one of the hardest basslines i’ve ever played. Took a few days to learn which is quite unusual for me.

@AndreScarantoCardoso Год назад

The video is over and I'm still laughing with the joke analysis from 20:04 to 20:50 i think it's the first time someone manages to explain a joke in a way that a funnier than the joke itself

@99solutionsit10 Год назад

I love music from '70 & '80, when writers and producers were real pro taking pride of their creations. That's why each detail among so many finds itself in the right place, all together building arhitectural harmony and character of the song.

@thethingthatshouldnotbe3035 Год назад

Is that THE Warren Huart? Really cool to see that he‘s supporting you!

@gabrielmalta1962 Год назад

I love how your illustrations go right to left because you're left-handed

@camerondodge2070 Год назад

I still can't unhear this song as a synth-pop "Smells Like Teen Spirit" thanks to the Foo Fighters and the internet. It has irrevocably changed the song for me.

@eliasmg9144 Год назад

Finally, the video we were all waiting for

@shawnholbrook7278 Год назад

Thankyou! I always liked this song. 💖😎👏

@alexandralillywhite5997 Год назад

12 and a half minutes on the drums. I definitely feel like you've takeb rickrolling to a new level

@CrumpleZone Год назад

Fantasic! This also means you should have the background (pre-napster, insider trading -> oinks oink palace era) to give the genius Pinback a long-overdue treatment.

@iamsushi1056 11 месяцев назад

I never noticed until you isolated just the drum track how much that feels like a lambada

@BlackTomorrowMusic Год назад

I've actually made a point to do more rickrolling this year. So the fact that you decided to do this video now is just icing on the cake. And yes, I actually like the song.

@robabiera733 Год назад

You haven't heard reverb until you've listened to the Moody Blues. Now there's something to analyze!

@pivocopii8254 5 месяцев назад

Damn let's take a moment to appreciate this dude's work!

@andrewie4 Год назад

This is the type of song tat is not heard today epic solid song of the 80s. Love it man

@achijatheizzetbard Год назад

This is my new rickrolling target thank you so much!

@DC_Prox Год назад

The podcast Song Exploder did a great episode on this song, I highly recommend it.

@ChangoFrett Год назад

It's possible you got the stems from a remaster. Old tape used to "bleed" it's magnetism into the rolled layers underneath it. There's an old Zeppelin track that this happened to, I think. Upon remastering it, the tape had been in storage long enough that it has imprinted what was on an above layer of tape to the layer below it, which resulted in this phenomenon where the vocals are present a few beats before they should actually be heard at a much reduced volume, like the echo of a ghost predicting the future.

@adog3129 Год назад

shocked that this didn't open with the video

@djjava303 Год назад

Regarding the 925 question, I wonder if that might be related to using a shared reverb send with the vocal that was bounced down with the stem. that would result in the vocal audio being faint. There is always a chance that the loop was loaded into a sampler and retriggered for a separate section of this song

@pdonettes Год назад

I still love that song.

@blujay4797 Год назад

As a las vegas resident, we've seen a huge influx of people moving from california for several years. Its very noticeable, and with the addition of NHL, NFL, MLB, and F1 Racing teams moved to the city, it feels like we are exploding with growth