Endless Rain - X Japan

Original scores:

page1


page2


page3


page4


I have retyped it into Sibelius.
If you have sibelius2005:
Endless Rain Sibelius 2005 file
or you prefer pdf file:
Endless Rain PDF file

Videos:

Endless Rain X JAPAN


X Japan - Endless Rain - Live 1991 (With Orchestra)


Discography (from X JAPAN website):
X Japan were one of the first visual bands in Japan and also one of the most popular. They started in the mid-80's with the union of school friends Yoshiki (drums and piano) and Toshi (lead vocals). After that the joined with a couple other guys and formed the band X.

(from Wikipedia - X Japan):
X Japan (エックス ジャパン, Ekkusu Japan?) is a Japanese band founded in 1982 by Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama and Yoshiki Hayashi.[1] Originally named X (エックス), the group achieved its breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second album Blue Blood. They started out as a power/speed metal band and later gravitated towards a progressive sound, at all times retaining an emphasis on ballads. After three more albums, X Japan disbanded in 1997.

X Japan's music developed in the wake of the success of American and British glam and heavy metal bands and is characterized by hard-driving speed and thrash compositions (e.g. "Kurenai", "Silent Jealousy"), as well as emotional ballads (e.g. "Endless Rain", "Forever Love"). Many of the group's songs make heavy use of piano-driven, orchestrated passages, particularly longer tracks such as the ten and a half minute "Tears" and the twenty-nine minute "Art of Life".

Pop Music Analysis 1

Endless Rain -- Lyrics & Music by YOSHIKI


(http://sites.google.com/site/angchinmay/Home/29thaugbloggingassignmentp1.JPG)


(http://sites.google.com/site/angchinmay/Home/29thaugbloggingassignmentp2.JPG)


Section A of the piece above is analyzed.

(Bar number 1 count from figure "A")


Phrase structure analysis - (in blue)

There are basically 3 sentences, 3 "short short long" phrases, where the first two are ended with imperfect cadences and the last one ended with perfect candence.

The second sentence (bar5-8) is a similar repetition of the first one (bar1-4).

Note that the 3rd sentence (bar9-13) has a "1+1+3" asymmetrical structure, because the composer extend the tonic chord which cause a "pulling" effect to the audience.


Harmonic phrase analysis - (Roman numerals in pink & harmonic function in orange)

Interesting things to note...

Bar 2 : As first I thought it is a chord V with a tonic pedal. However in term of harmonic function, it seems to be a tonic function.

Bar 3 : The quaver before bar 3 is a viio, we can see this as a passing chord to a tonic substitute vi7.

Bar 3-4 : Note that there is a chord progression of vi7-IV-ii6, a descending by 3rds, which is very common in pop music.

Bar 9 : The beginning of the phrase is a chord IV, where the chord before is V. To me, the chord IV here sounds more like a tonic function than a pre-dominant function, and the chord V at 3rd beat sounds like a tonic expansion.

Bar 10 : We have a chord III (raised 3rd) at the 3rd beat, which can be seen as a tonic substitute. ~it sounds good! =)


*I have encountered problem typing superscript and subscript. If you cannot understand the chords in bold. These are the corrections:
viio <-- superscript (o)
vi7 <-- subscript (7)
ii6 <-- superscript (6)



Thank you for reading. ^^



Warmest regards,
Chin May