SONG STUDY: Smooth by Rob Thomas and Santana
Kicking off this months pop song study with the song “Smooth” (1999) with artists Rob Thomas and Santana in collaboration.
Awards: 3 Grammy’s - Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
Genre: Latin Rock
Songwriter Shur wrote the lyric first and then Rob Thomas dumped most of the lyric and wrote his own lyrics before Santana heard it. Both writers get writer’s credit however! Structure is in typical pop form. The lyric inspiration is about Robs wife.
SONG STRUCTURE:
🎶 V1: two sections in verse. Same melody in both sections, with different lyrics. Lyric is about a woman who seems to stay cool even when it’s hot outside.
🎶 PC: 4 lines. The Pre-Chorus is so strong, it sounds almost like it could be the chorus idea. Lot’s of energy that matches the strong Chorus coming up.
🎶 C1: title is used in the middle of the chorus, not at the beginning or ending as is usually seen in pop Choruses.
🎶 V2: two sections. Same as V1. Lyric is about what would happen if this woman left him.
🎶 PC: exactly the same as PC1
🎶 C2: same as C1
🎶 Bridge: Santana’s brilliant guitar solo
🎶 Chorus Out : 2x with a variation on the Chorus theme
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Lisa M. Arreguin is a songwriter, recording artist, a mentor for artists and a speaker. She holds a master’s degree in psychology from Cal State Los Angeles and has founded several companies including Love and Laughter Music Group (LLC) and Living Crazybrave. She is the author of “The Crazybrave Songwriter: A Spiritual Guide to Creative Songwriting” and runs e-courses focusing on the growth of musicians and creative artists. Lisa has written hundreds of songs, recorded her own album and has had many song placements on TV and in film.