Songs which use 5-bar cycles to find transcendence

I'd say November Rain, great as the outro is, doesn't really pursue transcendence in quite the same tail-chasing way - the best thing about a 5-bar cycle is that it can give the impression of having no beginning point, it is constantly unresolving

whereas the November Rain cycle is a very standard 4-bar cycle with a very obvious start-point that adds an extra bar's widdling to really make the point

When I opened this thread I happened to be listening to Miles Davis' "Johnny Bratton (Insert 1)" from the Complete Jack Johnson Sessions, and it does exactly this. I feel like there are lots more songs I love that do this, but I'm blanking at the moment...

I kind of want to say "Gouge Away"...?

I think Gouge Away works. Frank Black's also got at least a few 5-bar cycles in his solo catalog:

Dog in the Sand
The Marsist
I Switched You
Parry the Wind High, Low (last section)

That reminded me of something similar at the end of "No. 13 Baby", but it turns out that is a 3 and a half bar repeated cycle.

it's 4/4 but has a 5-bar chord progression which is a bit awkward yeah but that's also one of the things that makes it interesting

― ufo, Thursday, 6 April 2023 23:00 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

re: Hey Ya lol