Songs that are "rooms with many doors"

A phrase Martin Carr of The Boo Radleys used many years ago to describe his songwriting; he said he was too stubborn and bloody-minded to write a straight forward verse-chorus-verse-chorus song, and found himself inserting odd segments into songs, so that each one became "a room with many doors" and you didn't know which one it would go through next. "Joel" from Wake Up! is a good example of what he meant; it has all sorts of odd phases and sections rather than a typical structure.

Can you think of any others by anyone else?

So far the obvious ones I can think of are:

Happiness Is A Warm Gun by The Beatles
Karma Police by Radiohead
Man Without Friends by Siobhon Donnaghy

I imagine Super Furry Animals might supply us with some. There are probably loads of prog examples but I'm less fussed about them.

ooh boy

this thread is me-bait

You're the only person I tagged in the same note I put on Facebook.

They don't necessarily have to be really long and proggy, Luis. In fact, shorter, poppy variations on this theme will probably be more appreciated. I wanna make a playlist.

I'm not thinking long and proggy! Best Boo Radleys example of this is probably "Get On The Bus" or maybe "Four Saints" btw

"Band on the Run"?

Girls Aloud - Biology.

'sowing the seeds of love'

^ reppin for the mondeo in 09

The Homosexuals seemed to approach a lot of songs this way. "Total Drop," "Astral Glamour," and "Vociferous Slam" are around two minutes each and while they are packed with hooks, they are not presented in traditional pop structures.

in truth, I think it is hard for me to write a song that is not this

I actually don't know where to start with this one, such is the multitude of riches.

three 6 mafia "triple six clubhouse"

XTC - Season Cycle?

The entire Skeletal Lamping record by Of Montreal

Fingertips: They Might Be Giants

'william, it was really nothing'

OK.

Beck - "Diamond Bollocks" keeps itself to 6 kaleidoscopic minutes, goes to about 7 different places, is completely unpredictable, and most crucially of all is awesome as hell

songs like this basically annoy me but that smiths one is really good because it's like 2 mins long.

7 is actually a gross understatement

in truth, I think it is hard for me to write a song that is not this

― Dominique, Sunday, March 22, 2009 3:07 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

cosign

Girls Aloud's "The Promise" is like this, and actually maybe crazily odd-structured...each of its four 'verses' (well, the bits between the choruses) is a different part: it goes A-B-C-B-D-B-E-B, I think.

The Beta Band - "The Beta Band Rap"

or "Monolith" if you're willing to sacrifice brevity for actually being a good song

or "Eclipse", maybe

The Blood Brothers - "Cecilia And The Silhouette Saloon"

(yes I am going through my iTunes alphabetically)

o boy

most of the pas/cal album except all of the songs are horrible.

'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' was first thing that leapt to mind. 'Good Vibrations' works too.

yes and i think Heroes and Villains even more so.

Califone - "Black Metal Valentine" (also my favourite song of theirs, truly sublime in the purest sense)

Cardiacs - ... (I have a choice of about 50 songs here...maybe MAYBE I'll side "Dog-Like Sparky", or "Dirty Boy", or "The Duck And Roger The Horse", or "Buds And Spawn", or "RES" or "In A City Lining" or or or or...)

The Electric Soft Parade - "The American Adventure" (again, kaleidoscopic, whisks you through many possible hooks and resolutions before finally hitting pop gold, although it IS 7 minutes long)

The Fiery Furnaces - jeeeez, er..."Chris Michaels" then (pretty damn definitive as these things go IMO)

The Flaming Lips - "The Spark That Bled"

Guillemots - "Sao Paolo" (11 minute running-time notwithstanding)

queen - bohemian rhapsody
ted nugent - wango tango
teena marie - square biz

Ooh, here's a good one: Julian Cope - "Know (Cut My Friend Down)", only 3:20 in length!

I wrote a list of my favourite "Bohemian Rhapsodies" when I was at high school; I think I've already listed a few of them.

able tasmans 'school is no good for you'

My Radiohead choice is "2+2=5", obv. :-D

belle & sebastian 'your cover's blown'

Am I allowed to mention Koenjihyakkei or are they too prog?

Late Of The Pier - er, I'd like to say "The Enemy Are The Future" but "Broken" and "Bathroom Gurgle" are more concise, more obviously-lurching-between-sections examples.

Mansun - any track off "Six" tbh but especially "Six", "Shotgun", "Cancer" and "Being A Girl"

(this is important to me)

The Mars Volta - d/q for being too prog in traditional sense

Massive Attack - "Group Four"

Melt-Banana - something, haven't worked it out yet

Mercury Rev - please please please can I pick "Meth Of A Rockette's Kick"? Oh goody, cheers!

Mew!! Perfect. "Am I Wry? No"

The Monsoon Bassoon - maybe "Wise Guy", maybe "Blue Junction

Mr. Bungle - "Violenza Domestica"? "Goodbye Sober Day"? Too much choice here. Probably "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz"

omg My Computer - "All I Ever Really Wanted Was A Good Time" !!!!!!!!!!

the letter M's pretty good for this shit and I didn't even get round to Muse or Meshuggah

"A Dreamer Who Is Too Weak to Face Up To" is as good a Melt-Banana choice as any for this.

I suspect a lot of these songs are multiple unfinished songs cobbled together.

McCartney's got a pile of these:
"You Never Give Me Your Money"
"Golden Slumbers/The End"
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
"Live and Let Die"
"Band on the Run" (mentioned above)
"Picasso's Last Words"
"Junior's Farm" (maybe)
"Goodnight Tonight"
"The Pound Is Sinking"
(Some of these admit to being 2 songs, but it feels like there are 4 or 5 song bits buried in each of them)

Fleetwood Mac - "The Chain"
XTC - "The Wheel and the Maypole"
Pink Floyd - "Jugband Blues"
Buffalo Springfield - "Broken Arrow"
Brian Wilson - "Rio Grande"
The Who - "Who Are You"
The Roches - "My Sick Mind"
Rickie Lee Jones - "Traces of the Western Slope"
Rickie Lee Jones - "Gravity"
Nick Lowe - "Nutted By Reality"
Sloan - "The Good in Everyone"
Sloan - "Fading Into Obscurity"
Belle & Sebastian - "Step Into My Office Baby"

Really you just want this:

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d709/d677/d744/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

i have a creeping suspicion this could be my least favourite type of song

The Moody Blues - House of Four Doors (duhhhh)

Hmm. Examples of this kinda die away after M, at least on MY iTunes. Until SFA. In truth, you can't really beat those Boo Radleys examples for songs that fulfil Nick's criteria exactly. My examples are generally a teeny bit too long. Apparently Architecture In Helsinki are a bit micro-proggy inna pop style but they're also a bit cutesy/happy-clappy, whereas Boo Radleys actually made their songs into miniature labyrinths, full of not just surprise but wonder, fear and incomprehension.

SFA - probably "Receptacle For The Respectable"

Talk Talk - "Taphead" (haaahahahahahaha)

The The - "Out Of The Blue (Into The Fire" (more in terms of lyrical narrative than music...this song passes through many phases of emotional tone in only 5 minutes, and the music itself develops unpredictably)

Thighpaulsandra - "Lycraland" (this song passes through an absolute wealth of musical territory, in an almost entirely abstract fashion; it's also completely brilliant, and I'm willing to overlook the near-16-minute runtime because you simply gotta hear it, and the album it's on, much of which has similarly vaulting ambitions)

Ulver - "The Truth" (four minutes, utter carnage)

Volcano! - "Easy Does It"

Wilco - "Poor Places" (I REALLY fucken dig this song, and it's perfect for this thread)

Working For A Nuclear Free City - "Nancy Adam Susan" or maybe "England" (it's amazing how many of my very favourite songs are cropping up as candidates here!)

XTC - "The Wheel..." otm ^^^ with ya buddy

Youthmovies - "Magic Diamond" (I think this might be their best track - its narrative never doubles back but keeps on burrowing down, down, deep into something totally unexpected and utterly magical)

65DOS - "Music Is Music As Devices Are Kisses Is Everything"

ok I'm done, sorry for ruining yr thread Southall

and yeh Noodle, "A Dreamer..." is a good choice, even if the previous track (which isn't, granted, so breakneck) is like one of the highlights of all music ever

Roger Waters - Just about anything off of Pros & Cons of Hitchhiking (and a few from The Final Cut too)
Sonic Youth - "Swimsuit Issue"
Sonic Youth - "Bone"
Talking Heads - "Artists Only"
Velvet Underground - "I'm Sticking With You"
Billy Joel - "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
Electric Light Orchestra - "Fire on High"
Electric Light Orchestra - "Standing in the Rain"
Electric Light Orchestra - "Mr. Blue Sky"
Electric Light Orchestra - "Loser Gone Wild"
Laurie Anderson - "Sharkey's Day"
The B-52's - Rock Lobster

i have a creeping suspicion this could be my least favourite type of song

Too often they sound like what they are--unrelated bits slapped together--but when they miraculously work, they're great.

I think many of my examples flow organically between sections, rather than bolt *completely* unrelated sections *right* next to each other. But I don't think that contravenes the conditions of this thread.

Only Skin - Joanna Newsom

pretty things - defecting grey

i remembered another thread along similarish lines

Layla and other songs that just change into something else almost unrelated

like shitloads of zappa songs? at least the ones on the two i have - absolutely free and freak out

This is great, thanks for the tip! There's a bit of Sparks in there, too.

Hmmm, no Laura Nyro in here? Un-beleeeev-able!

A lot of the suggestions upthread are wtf

where can I hear pretty + nice

Spotify

Surprised not to see this mentioned yet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Wr8J8faGA

"Thunderstruck" by AC/DC

"Black Water" by The Doobie Brothers ......

"la villa strangiato"

Chad & Jeremy - Painted Dayglow Smile

it probably doesn't have enough doors for you douchebags but this is my thread so deal with it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUD20Tg-6s8

u - Kendrick Lamar
Hood Politics - Kendrick Lamar
Institutionalized - Kendrick Lamar

Family - Voyage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tG2Kc6dHbo

it's like a bizarro radio edit of one of those long Comus suites

Chad & Jeremy - Painted Dayglow Smile

You have no idea how pleased I am to see a Chad and Jeremy mention. They are seriously one of my favorite 60's groups.

those two songs were very lovely!

xpost - I've been listening to Of Cabbages and Kings and The Ark a lot lately. they made some of the most convincing post-Sgt-Pepper's pop I've heard (w/r/t their grasp of pre-rock melodies and the way their psych songs aren't too over-the-top oddball like a lot of Pepper pastiches) & those two albums remind me a lot of Curt Boettcher's productions from the same era.

Family used the 'rooms with many doors' trick a lot, actually (3 X Time, The Chase, From Past Archives, Peace of Mind). maybe they were the progenitors of %microprog% (to use an imago coinage)

%<3%

will check out more by both artists for sure

The Ark rules. I've always thought that if that was their only album, they'd be a lot more revered than they are.

yeah, it seems like a lot of people view C&G as bandwagon hoppers/dilettantes because they started off as such a square, conventional folk-pop act. but 'A Summer Song' is still a great song, and a lot of more respected lite-psych acts had similar career arcs.

%¯\(^o^)/¯% (xpost)

the examples in this thread and the recent poll make me want to hear more stuff by the Boo Radleys, who I'm not really familiar with at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro3eVIFzN5g

Hooray, ILM has finally got round to discovering Family... after 15 years!

Talking of Chad & Jeremy, did anyone else used to enjoy this sitcom Jeremy was in?

So many rooms with so many doors, even more windows;; the damn ceiling gets peeled off towards the end:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLxPwdcuat4

Feel like Boards of Canada should get a mention in here. . .

most if not all of song cycle by van dyke parks

thinking feller union local 282's "cup of dreams" surely opens and closes and reopens a couple of doors in a room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QmYp4XDUY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY1sBXjl0s8

songs that are 'apses with many chapels':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MO3WzA5aq4

How about ISB ? Koeeaddi There

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNKk-Itin64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENw6co2BUc4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obs9_APqt_o

that mirrors song is great! they sound like a long-lost paisley underground band from the wrong era and hometown. I'll have to check out one of those posthumous comps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-3N7TBrfOA

i.e. when will you diphsits realize that Laura Nyro is the soul-progge schnizzle?

Another early example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeybxuS7tY

I was just listening the the Eli album this morning, and thinking of this very thread.

most of these aren't really rooms with many doors. they're more like railroad apartments. a bunch of rooms in a row.

Dancing about architecture.

are throwing muses too obvious for this thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxJeQf42c6c

Joni Mitchell's output from 1975-1979

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO-90E9aPvM

I feel this kind of trait is definitely more psyche than prog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9VbJmbtMW8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH9atqqkUuY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUMj8Otywoc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfgjlBR--uA

do The Boswell sisters qualify as jazz age micro-prog? they were famous for their labyrinthine re-arrangements of jazz standards and contemporary hits, with lots of unexpected segues and key changes and tempo shifts. ex. 'It's the Girl':

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

(cf. Lee Morse's pleasant but utterly conventional version from the same year)

you're a scholar

this is great, reminds me of nothing so much as the bonzo dog doo-dah band. would be keen to hear more

Gotta be some Blur and Kate Bush examples too.

― Sickamous Mouthall (Scik Mouthy), Monday, March 23, 2009 3:53 AM (eight years ago)

'All We Ever Look For' has exactly 3 doors http://www2b.abc.net.au/tmb/BoardFiles/164/Emoticons/sunglasses.gif

Hop Along - Not Abel

Grateful Dead - “St. Stephen”

(there are variable criteria being used in this thread; but to me that song literally sounds like you’re hanging out / wandering in & out of a room with multiple doors)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0Zu2B_kak

This isn't very good but they certainly cram a lot into 3'15". There's even a drum solo!

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