Musical Analysis #2: That's All... I guess

That's All by Genesis




This song was written by Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, and Tony Banks and preformed by Genesis. This song appears in their album "Genesis" from 1983 and released originally in the UK. This song became a top song in both the US and UK pretty quickly after its release. 

I personally like this song because of how it sounds. A discussion from Conor Fynes from Progarchives talks about how this is a great song to listen to because of the "piano riffs" but it's not really that great of a song in comparison to previous music. I think that this is because it's not meant to be like previous music, the song That's All is supposed to be the marked from Prog to Pop music. It feels like a song that goes through mood swings. I think that this is because it really is bout going through something like mood swings... some say that it's about a love you, hate you relationship. A few discussion posts from Songfacts.com bring some interesting opinions. One commenter stating "It has to be about addiction" and another saying "... a person with narcissistic personality disorder." I never thought about it being about addiction but I can certainly see how it could be interpreted that way. Americansongwriter suggests that this song follows a story about a relationship but it isn't specific in the way of whether or not the relationship is with another person, drugs, or something else. 

Harmony: There's kind of a lot going on in this song when it comes to the harmony, there's a shift between E minor and B minor until the chorus which then shifts into G Major. This shift to G Major helps bring a warmer chord progression to back up the chorus. When we get to the bridge of the song a Cmaj9 chord is tossed in there and I think that it helps add to the emotion of the song. This song is full of simple chords that have been manipulated and organized with a few fancy chords scattered around to make this song sound special. 

Melody: This song begins with what feels like a bluesy hook that portrays a frustration from the point of view of the song. The chorus switches to a major pentatonic melody using the same scale as "Amazing Grace". As we transition into the bridge there's a mood shift as noted by the chord change and the noticeable dissonant note. Specifically on the the word "is" and "than" and "there's" of the bridge. A G is played to transition smoothly back into the chorus. 

Rhythm: This song is almost country-like with its 2/4 time signature and the tempo of 88 bpm. It's fairly different compared to the trap music I've been listening to lately... nonetheless it has a nice bouncy feeling to it to keep my interest. 

Instrumentation: There are 9 instruments in this song: e-piano, synth, organ, bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drums, lead vocals, and backing vocals. The drums provide a nice back bone to the song while the bass keeps consistency through quarter notes in the background and the keys help add to the strength of the melody. 

Structure: The structure of this song seems pretty simple, the change occurs with the harmony more than the form of the song. Something unique about this song is the repetition of the bridge, most songs tend to have the bridge once but That's All uses it twice. Each time that they reuse a chorus or verse, there's a subtle change in tone or mood to mix it up. 




Comments

  1. Mandy RaadOctober 16, 2024 at 2:17 PM

    This is such a well-rounded analysis! I love how you dove into the various elements of That's All—from harmony to rhythm, and even the instrumentation. Your point about the shift from prog rock to pop is spot on; it really captures how Genesis was evolving during this time. You clearly put a lot of thought into this! Awesome!

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