Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
Okay, so what is a chorus?

The way we look at it, it's actually a "refrain", or a section of a song that repeats--usually the same lyrics--and contains the gist of the song. The word chorus is more specifically "a refrain in which others, such as audience members, join a soloist in a song" (Wikipedia), but hey, meanings change.

For me, sometimes a few words repeated at the end of each verse function in the same way as a chorus, like Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue".

When people say that folks like to sing along to the chorus...well, that's the real deal. "Bye bye Miss American Pie..."

Sorry, just random thoughts.


Well, I guess it's a good question, Mark. I read somewhere (forget where) that a refrain was the last line of a verse that was common to all other verses. Like "It's all over now, Baby Blue".

A chorus was (I think) defined as several lines, usually with a different melody from the verses, that followed every verse - like in American Pie.

Obviously those aren't universal definitions - and in fact there is probably some overlap between them anyway - like in Only the Good Die Young. Is that a refrain or a chorus? smile

Ah - it's probably arguing how many Angels are on the head of a pin - beats grading papers for me though smile

Love your new avatar, Mark grin

Scott



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