Alternating different verses, no Chorus; what do you call it?

[lowrider]

What do you call it when a song has no chorus, but it has two different alternating verses? Like in Feeling Good Again by Robert Earl Keen;



It' like a verse and chorus, but the chorus keeps changing.

[SongwriterFan]

I call it good songwriting!

Here's one of mine that does that:.



And here's one by Jason Eady:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_OPjuUi1Ec

[JonPR]

I'd just call it A-B.

[Charlie Bernstein]

I don't hear ABABAB. I hear a ballad with matching verses — to be exact, short intro/verses/solo/verse/long outro.

The verses are all eight lines (four couplets/sixteen bars) with two instrumental bars between each verse. The solo and long outro might be throwing you off.

But to answer your question, I don't know of another name for an ABABAB arrangement.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by lowrider

What do you call it when a song has no chorus, but it has two different alternating verses?

Hi lowrider

I call it a good song to play between others with a more typical form…keeps the music from being boring (both to me as player and to the listeners).

[fantex]

I believe it’s called a refrain when REK ends each verse with the line “feels so good, feelin’ good again.”

Another slightly different but similar style from REK is “I Wonder Where My Baby is Tonight?”

I like and have written songs with no chorus … but there stills needs to be something for the listener to grab on to.

[lowrider]

I sing it all the time and I never thought of it as just three verses with solos in between. I've always thought of it as Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, except that the chorus keeps changing.

The chords change and the rhythm changes between the A verses and the B verses. It's a wonderful song and a lot of fun to sing.

[fazool]

my band picked up a song that has an intro then starts with a chorus, then the first verse. Every time we talk about it, I get screwed up....


We will be rehearsing and say "let's run through from the second verse..." and Ill start on the chorus.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by lowrider

I sing it all the time and I never thought of it as just three verses with solos in between. I've always thought of it as Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, except that the chorus keeps changing.

The chords change and the rhythm changes between the A verses and the B verses. It's a wonderful song and a lot of fun to sing.

It's a great song I do not know if there is a specific name for the structure. I would call it a Verse and refrain type song. Which Keen does very well (another great verse and refrain type by him is "The Road Goes On Forever" )

The song has 3 Verses, with the repeating single lyrical refrain as the last line of the verses. Then the last 2 sections of the third verse is repeated again at the end and then the outro is the same as the intro.
The instrumentals between the verses are either 1 or 2 passes of the intro (see chart below)

The on that video the song is in G major --Verses have 3 different chord progression sections
Here it is

[mr. beaumont]

How nerdy do you want to get here? Did I hear "very?" COOL!

It's called a strophic form. Very common in folk music. This one has an ABC inner structure, or really an AABC inner structure, with the A sections being the first two lines of the verse, then the "setup," is the B and then the C is the "tag line," which stays the same in each verse.

I think of "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" as a prime example (in that one the A inner form has two different endings, also common)

Great tune.

[lowrider]

Thank you everyone. Mr Beaumont, you nailed it!

It really is great song, and a fun song to do with a group.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by lowrider

I sing it all the time and I never thought of it as just three verses with solos in between. I've always thought of it as Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, except that the chorus keeps changing.

The chords change and the rhythm changes between the A verses and the B verses. It's a wonderful song and a lot of fun to sing.

There are songs whose chorus words change with every verse ("My Oklahoma Home" comes to mind). When you get to the chorus part, it just sounds like it's going to be a chorus, even though the words are different. It's a natural break where another singer would join in.