12.1: Verse-Chorus Form

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12.1 Verse-Chorus Form

The Verse-Chorus form is arguably the most common musical form of present day popular music and is probably familiar to most readers of this text. In Verse-Chorus form, the chorus contains the “hook”—the memorable refrain—while the verse typically contains less memorable melodic material. A clear example can be found in the 1985 song “We Are the World.”

Table 12.1.1. Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, “We Are The World” (1985)

0:00–0:26	Introduction, 6 bars

0:26–0:53	Verse 1, 8 bars
0:53–1:18	Verse 2, 8 bars
1:18–1:49	Chorus, 9 bars

1:49–2:14	Verse 3, 8 bars
2:14–2:41	Chorus, 8 bars

2:41–3:08	Bridge, 8 bars

3:08–3:35	Chorus, 8 bars
3:35–4:02	Chorus, 8 bars ending with key change
4:02–end	Chorus, 7 times in F major with fade out

Common additions to the Verse-Chorus form, beside the bridge, are the pre-chorus and post-chorus.

Table 12.1.2. Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991)

0:00–0:25	Introduction, 12 bars
0:25–0:42	Verse 1, 8 bars
0:42–0:58	Pre-chorus, 8 bars
0:58–1:23	Chorus, 12 bars
1:23–1:31	Post-chorus, 4 bars

1:31–1:39	Interlude, 4 bars
1:39–1:56	Verse 2, 8 bars
1:56–2:12	Pre-chorus, 8 bars
2:12–2:37	Chorus, 12 bars
2:37–2:45	Post-chorus, 4 bars

2:45–3:02	Guitar solo, 8 bars

3:02–3:10	Interlude, 4 bars
3:10–3:26	Verse 3, 8 bars
3:26–3:42	Pre-chorus, 8 bars
3:42–4:37	Chorus, 21 bars

It is worth noting that there may disagreement about labeling sections in a form. One person may call a section a “pre-chorus,” another may call it a “first chorus,” while another may call it “verse part b.” There is ambiguity in naming sections and disagreement is to be expected.

There are “simple” and “contrasting” verse-chorus forms. A simple verse-chorusform has the same harmonic progression for the verse and chorus (e.g., “All About That Bass”). The chord progressions for the verse and chorus are different in a contrasting verse-chorus form like “We Are the World.”