July 18, 2013

The Lost Art of the Way-Too-Long Song Intro

I listen to the radio on my drive to and from work, and usually I find myself singing along with the oldies.

It's what I was raised on, and I generally just like the music more.

One thing I've noticed is that I get impatient when the songs have overly-long intros.
Feels like the song should start after the standard 8 beats, but it doesn't get going until way later.
Anybody else ever notice that?

Maybe our modern culture just can't wait for the actual song to get going, but I don't think we see it much in current pop music.

Here are two prime culprits from the oldies station:

Jet Airliner, by Steve Miller Band
You expect lyrics at 8 seconds, right? Nope, no soup for you until after the minute mark.

Dream Weaver, by Gary Wright
Lyrics at only 32 seconds in, but it feels like an eternity of twinkling chimes.

Can you guys think of any recent songs with me that employ the way-too-long intro?
Maybe they're more prevalent than I think, and I'm just not catching the new ones.

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