Break It Down: “Eight-Ball, Coroner’s Pocket” by Hail the Sun

Shane Gann

Every song has a structure -- a way that the song is composed. The structure, or form, can be described as the silhouette of the song, which may look something like a mountain, with a large climax in the middle, or perhaps like waves, dynamically ebbing and flowing through the sections. Often the structure is simple, to create the maximum amount of retention from the minimum amount of listens (pop music, for example, is designed to leave you singing a song in your head after just one listen). You’ll find that most of the songs in the Rocksmith catalog follow a fairly simple approach, with a couple verses, a couple choruses, and maybe a bridge. And while this is a perfectly viable and effective way to write a song, it’s certainly not the only approach.

Which brings us to “Eight-Ball, Coroner’s Pocket.”

This unlockable track from my band Hail the Sun has a structure unlike most of the rest of our catalog. What makes it so unique? There are no repeated sections! It introduces a musical idea, plays on it for a bit, then moves on to something different, and never returns to that previous idea. What’s that? You liked that part that reminded you of a biker gang barreling down the highway? Cool, you’ll have to start the song over to hear it again. It’s not coming back.

Initially, this type of song might seem to be lacking in structure. With nothing repeating, how are you going to remember the song? That’s exactly the appeal, however: to create a memorable song. Not just a memorable chorus, or a vocal hook -- a linear song is like a journey with no checkpoints. You start somewhere, you end somewhere, and when it’s over, you look back and remember not the specific parts that you liked, but the entire journey.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s still plenty of room to create memorable parts. There are still repetitions within sections, activating short-term memories, which can easily be converted to long-term memories after a second or third listen. But it will likely take that second or third listen to get it to stick forever, and I think that’s another reason the song was written the way it is: for replay value.

Linear songwriting is not the standard technique. It’s a much more free-form approach to songwriting, without the sense of responsibility to return to the theme, or to leave room for the solo. It’s often much more difficult than writing with verses and choruses in mind, due to constantly coming up with yet another new idea, rather than returning to an old one that works. But at the end of the day, the songwriting process, like the finished song itself, is well worth the journey.

Once a Rocksmith notetracker, Shane Gann is now the guitarist for Hail the Sun.

Hail the Sun promotional photo by Michael-Rex Carbonell. All rights reserved.