In pop music, the "D" (departure) section plays a crucial role in adding contrast and keeping listeners engaged. Typically appearing between two-thirds and three-quarters of the way through a song, it introduces shifts in vocals, lyrics, arrangement, energy, vibe, and/or emotion, helping to sustain listener interest and add heightened dimension to the song.
While the most common type of "D" section has historically been the bridge, some songs instead recycle pre-existing sections in fresh yet familiar ways. This approach provides an effective balance of interest and familiarity in place of a traditional bridge.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” masterfully employs this “bridge surrogate” technique with its atypical third pre-chorus and ensuing chorus, as illustrated in the image below.
Pre-Chorus 3 “D” Section
The inclusion of a third pre-chorus, as opposed to two, is highly atypical in Hot 100 top 10 hits. For instance, in the first three quarters of 2024, only two other songs - Taylor Swift’s “Florida!!!” and Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” - employed a third pre-chorus as a “D” section.
After two energetic and similar progressions of verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and vocal break post-chorus, the third pre-chorus in “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” provides an engaging departure from the previous song sections in the following ways:
- Arrangement & Energy Contrast: Pre-Chorus 3 features the sparsest arrangement since the intro, consisting mainly of lightly strummed acoustic guitar and Shaboozey’s lead vocal, which is devoid of the layered vocal production present in the preceding sections. These changes also result in notably lower energy and loudness.
- Vocal Delivery & Lyric Contrast: Pre-Chorus 3 introduces a new “party’s over” lyrical development not heard in the other pre-choruses. Supporting this is Shaboozey's unique shift to a more subdued vocal performance.
- Emotional & Vibe Contrast: These changes in arrangement, energy, vocals, and lyrics also result in a brief shift in vibe and emotion in the first half of the section - from jovial and excited (chorus and vocal break post-chorus) to more melancholic. However, the “party’s going to continue” lyrical development in the second half of the section shifts the vibe again, providing an effective lead-in to the ensuing jovial third chorus.
Subscribers can discover what else the pre-chorus 3 and chorus 3 “D” sections achieve by clicking here.
Not a subscriber? Click here to learn more.
Sign up to receive our free newsletter, the HSD Wire!
Empower Yourself with Cutting-Edge Tools that Give You an Edge for Success
What Industry Executives Are Saying About Hit Songs Deconstructed
"ASCAP aims to provide members with a multifaceted toolchest to augment their craft and their careers. Hit Songs Deconstructed is a cutting-edge service that can support our members' creative process with in-depth data and analysis of current songwriting techniques."
Nick Lehman
Chief Strategy & Digital Officer, ASCAP
"I find the site VERY valuable. I’m a fan."
Eric Hurt
VP, A&R Publishing / Nashville at EMPIRE
"Hit Songs Deconstructed reveals so much detail about things you might never have noticed before in hit songs, but are right in front of you. They go beyond identifying what works and explain WHY it works."
Jem Aswad
Executive Editor, Music at Variety
What Songwriters & Producers Are Saying About Hit Songs Deconstructed
"I can't stress enough how important HSD is to any serious professional hit songwriter."
Hilton Wright II
Record Producer/Songwriter, Billboard #1 RIAA Platinum & Gold winning songwriter & producer, (Drake, Mike Posner, black•𝘪𝘴𝘩)
"As a songwriter, an important part of my job is to analyze what works in successful songs. By identifying the tools that were employed in hits, writers can incorporate them into their own songs--using techniques that have proven successful--while putting their own spin and unique creative angle on them. HSD does the research for me."
Jason Blume
Songwriter w/50 million album sales
"Even though I’ve been writing professionally for over ten years, I’ve found several nuggets of gold that have improved my writing already."
Roy Stride
Hit Songwriter, Producer, Artist, One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, Scouting for Girls
"Spot on with the analysis and relevant to any composer, songwriter, or producer in the game now.”
Dr. O
Producer, Young M.A., Chris Brown, Lil Wayne
"I was blown away by the Max Martin Hits masterclass. So thorough and insightful - a great blend of theory and art."
Amy Sky
Recording Artist, Songwriter, Producer, 3x SOCAN-winning singer-songwriter
"I’m going on 40 years of working with top-level artists and you have made me understand even better all the things I’ve learned over the years working with them.
Thanks much for all you do."
Khaliq Glover
Grammy Award Winning Recording Engineer (We Are the World, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera),
What Leading Popular Music Programs Are Saying About Hit Songs Deconstructed
“I have been giving hit record analysis exercises to my students for years, but the level of depth in a single Hit Songs Deconstructed report is a full semester’s worth of information. My entire thought process as a producer, an engineer, a musician, and a songwriter are fleshed out in the pages of the HSD reports. It is such a great tool that I’m integrating it into the songwriting and music production curriculums.”
"Prince" Charles Alexander
Grammy Award winning producer, audio engineer, recording artist and professor, Music Production and Engineering, Berklee College of Music
"The depth, detail and level of care that Hit Songs Deconstructed exercises in their song analysis is something I want my students to aspire to. I am using their analysis techniques as a benchmark for them to apply when analyzing songs, their compositional analytics to keep them in tune with what’s happening now, and the quarterly trend reports to keep them up to speed with who the key industry players are. Additionally, it’s a huge time-saver when it comes to prepping for classes. I can pick any compositional variable in the database based on what I’m going to be discussing in a lecture and easily find examples of current hits."
Chris Sampson
Founding Director, Popular Music Program, USC Thornton School of Music
"Hit Songs Deconstructed is a great teaching tool and an extremely valuable resource for my songwriting students. We’ve made it an integral part of the songwriting curriculum at MTSU and I’m thrilled to say that Middle Tennessee State University is at the forefront of songwriting education as a result of this partnership."