Deconstructing Famous Songs Without a Chorus

Musician David Bennett quite informatively deconstructed several famous songs that have no traditional chorus within their structures.

It’s hard to imagine how a song could get by without a chorus. If the chorus is the focus of the song, the most exciting and rewarding part, why would a song ever not feature one? Well there are various reasons why.

Bennett explains how a song can exist without a song and goes through the various song structures, including AABA (32-Bar) structure and Strophic form, that makes these songs work so well. Examples of these songs include “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Seven Nation Army”, several songs by The Beatles (“Make You Feel My Love”, “Happiness is a Warm Gun”), and “Jesus of Suburbia” by Green Day.

It’s easy to assume that any given song will feature a chorus, and that we will hear that chorus three, four or maybe five times during the song’s duration. But a chorus is certainly not an essential element to a song and many songs do go without. So how do chorus-less songs manage without the focus and energy of a chorus and can avoiding a chorus actually have advantages?