Maroon 5 "Moves Like Jagger" Song Analysis

Here's a song that's #1 this week on The Ultimate Chart by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera called "Moves Like Jagger." The song is the first top 10 for the band and is included on their third studio album called Hands All Over. As in all song analysis, we'll look at the song form, the arrangement, the sound and the production.

The Song
"Moves Like Jagger" has a very simple pop form, but it's a short pop/dance song intended for radio all the way, so it fits the form completely. It looks like this:

Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus, Outro

The song has only two chords that keep repeating, but the arrangement outlines the song's sections. The intro and outro are both shortened verses with the signature line over the top.

The Arrangement
The arrangement for "Moves Like Jagger" is fairly sparse, although in the chorus there's a lot more going on that there seems. The song is really centered around the rhythm guitar and kick drum, but the catchy whistling signature line defines the intro, the end of the choruses and the outro. The 2nd verse is different from the first in that harmony vocals enter at the end of the lines during the last 8 bars, and the chorus is different from the verse in that the rest of the drum kit enters as well as a very subtle synth string sound playing the rhythm and beefing up the section.

  * The Foundation: Drums and synth bass, especially the kick drum.

  * The Pad: Harmony background vocals in the bridge.

  * The Rhythm: The infectious rhythm funk guitar.

  * The Lead: The lead vocals.

  * The Fills: The whistling signature line in the chorus and at the end of the verses.

The Sound
The sound of the record is classic dance, complete with an up front of the mix kick drum, synth bass, extra snappy snare drum, and a ton of compression to make it as loud and punchy as possible. The one thing I really like is the ambiance sound of the vocal, which sounds like both a long delay and reverb timed to the track.

The Production
"Moves Like Jagger" is top 40 dance-oriented music at it's finest. You have a memorable melody, a catchy lyric, a signature lead line, great vocal performances and an arrangement that pulls the listener in. That's pretty good production in my book.

Don't be afraid to send me your song requests!

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"Genie In A Bottle" Christina Aguilera Isolated Vocal

Today we'll take a look at the isolated vocal from Christina Aguilera's hit "Genie In A Bottle." I know that we covered the multitrack of the song recently, but looking only at the vocals reveals a few things that you probably haven't heard before.

1) The band-limited almost-subliminal vocal in the background seems to be almost a must-have on a pop vocal track anymore, and you'll find it a lot in Genie right from the beginning.

2) The vocal effect is pretty nice. It's a slightly delayed reverb combined with a medium length delay that hangs over at the end of phrases, which fills up the spaces nicely.

3) The pre-chorus harmonies switch to a longer verb and longer delay that's makes the part a bit eerie. It's a great example of using effects to set a mood.

4) The stacked harmony vocals in the chorus, on the other hand, are fairly dry. Christina sings very well with herself and all the vocals blend extremely well. As a singer, you need a sophisticated ear to do this and you can tell that she has one.

5) The ad lib vocal in the outro is mixed a bit back from the harmony vocal hook line in a lot of places, which is somewhat backwards from the norm. That strategy works well for this kind of music and certainly works here.

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"Genie In A Bottle" Christina Aguilera Multitrack

"Genie In A Bottle" was the first hit off of Christina Aquilera's first album ("Christina Aguilera") that not only held the #1 position on the top 100 for 5 weeks, but earned her a Grammy for Best Female Pop Performance. Produced by writers David Frank and Steve Kipner, the song is pure pop at its best. Here's a video featuring the various tracks from the multitrack of the song.

1) Genie In A Bottle is a good example of a manufactured track in that it's entirely programmed except for the vocals.

2) This is pop music arrangement at its finest. It's very simple yet very effective. Check out were the pad, piano and synth lines enter and exit in the chorus and interludes.

3) Christina's lead vocal is a great example of how a delay timed to the track adds ambience yet disappears when the other tracks are laid around it.

4) The background vocals are great. Christina sings well with herself (not all vocalists do) in 3 part harmony that's doubled.

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