Download Instrumental    Why this little piece of music works is beyond me – but it does.  It’s four verses, a guitar solo, and three more verses.  No chorus – no bridge.  What kind of song is that?  That’s called a HIT song, Dave.  Take your elitist attitude somewhere else.  Music doesn’t always have to fit into your personal comfort zone ( I now consider myself properly chastised).

“Give me one reason to stay here/and I’ll turn right back around”.  So begins the first of seven verses.  Tracy Chapman wrote this song in the 80’s, but waited until 1995 to record it.  It’s a bluesy folk ballad, reminiscent of a 1960’s music genre in San Francisco – the “flower child” era.  But there’s nothing remotely childish about the subject matter.  It’s a very adult relationship slowly turning sour – “I don’t want to leave you lonely, you got to make me change my mind”.  Sounds like she’s on her way out the door, doesn’t it?  According to Pink, it’s like a woman might say, “The way you passed me the butter this morning, I feel we’re gonna be over soon and we need to talk”.  And he says, “I just passed the freakin’ butter – what are you talking about?”  Love is complicated and sometimes gets ugly – that’s what this piece is all about.  We’ve all been there at some time in our lives… and it wasn’t ‘purty’.

“Give Me One More Reason” builds beautifully.  You’ll sing the first 8 bars with only a blues guitar as accompaniment.  Then drums and bass kick in – followed by piano and organ joining the fun in the third verse.  Chapman’s vocals are a little tricky though.  Her emotional inflections on the melody might be a bit hard to follow, but a little work on your part will be well worth the effort.

Come to find out, you don’t really need a chorus (or a bridge) on this one.  What do I know?