You can feel the energy on that stage, right? I don't know if it's the deep red lighting, the super-subtle smoke effect, or the magnetic sensuality of the two background signers. But these cats are sizzling from the get-go. SIZZLING, I tell you.
I will say I think I'm pre-disposed to like this song because of the tempo. A quick metronome check tells me it's right around 135 bpm. Which checks out – I saw a clip once from the lesser-known Zac Efron movie We Are Your Friends that told me that's just about the most agreeable tempo to dance to. (Have yet to meet anyone who's actually seen the movie.)
Two other songs come to mind that hang their hat on this beat and tempo: Make it Rain by Fat Joe and Diva by Beyonce. The first was just about all I listened to for basically my entire middle school experience (can you say "suburban white boy who just discovered Lil Wayne"?), and the second is in my top 10 songs all-time. Coincidentally "We" is in my top 5, and in all seriousness, I really do think one major connecting thread between the three is the pure, uncomplicated aspirational feeling they're meant to evoke in the listener. Who doesn't want to feel uber-confident in their own skin, or have enough money to make it rain in the strip club (sorry mom), or be so connected to their partner that the very boundary between "you" and "me" starts to disappear?
Ok – so we have a tried-and-true tempo, and then we have a gorgeous drum beat bringing it to life. It's a classic bass-snare-hihat setup, but with a few small adjustments that turn this iconic hiphop beat:
Into the slightly toned-down:
Finally, we add the icing on top: Accent those two bass drum hits in the middle by pairing each with a nice crisp "ksh" on the hihat. And voila! That's our relaxed, funky, soulful, simple drum beat.
Which brings us to the drummer actually playing it in this performance. Everything from his outfit to his focus to his super-clean technique just oozes cool. And really that's true of everybody on the stage (hello background singers).
But there's something deeper going on as well, isn't there? Something that draws you into the "coolness" of the performance instead of leaving you on the outside; something that helps us connect to the feeling Mac is describing.
"We" sound better than "you" or "me"
I absolutely LOVE when rappers and singers rap and sing behind the beat. Some great songs that feature this technique prominently include: Hittin by Jessie Reyez, Say It Again by H.E.R., and The Season by Anderson .Paak.
For an example in this song, check out 1:09-1:12 – "I tried to call you, have us a discussion." If Mac were rapping on the beat, the syllables CALL and disCUSSion would land squarely on the 2 and 4, respectively. Instead, they're just a hair behind where they "should" be. Except It's not a mistake, it's intentional – a way to make the lyrics pop out a little more to the listener while still feeling conversational, and also a way to create some musical tension. That tension gets resolved when the performer gets back onto the beat, usually in conjunction with the start of a new section of the song. In this case, the behind-the-beat feel continues until "I'm in love with the way that you say my name, every time it sound brand new," which leads us to a big crescendo into the chorus.
The lead-in line right before the chorus, "Always wondering what we'll be / I say 'we' sound better than 'you' or 'me' / baby you could be my," also relishes rhythmic tension and release. The syllables of those lyrics, as Mac annunciates them, are extremely syncopated, to the point of feeling like a big drum fill that crashes to a resolution on the 1 of the first measure of the next section. But we don't get too much resolution – Mac makes us keep paying attention by leaving "you could be my ..." hanging in the air without a conclusion.
I'm spinnin' here inside your spell
Now let's zoom out for a second. Sometimes, when I'm watching this performance, I tune out the music and just watch Mac's movements at and around the mic. He is just so in the moment. At times he seems weightless – just him and the music, not a care in the world.
And yet, the more I watch the video the more I realize that's not the whole story. I think Mac's energy, and when and how he releases it, is actually in and of itself a key element of the performance.
Take the second verse for example: After momentarily toning down his frenetic movements to deliver some densely-packed rhymes straight into the mic at the beginning of the verse, you can see Mac start to let go on the crescendo into the chorus. His voice gets louder and more forceful; his words start landing more precisely on beat; and then suddenly he jerks away from the mic and lets the rhythm of a new horn line take over.
Right on cue, Cee Lo starts coming out of his shell in preparation for his verse (also his stance at 2:43 is #iconic) and the rest of the band is playing at full volume. Mac, meanwhile, is completely lost in the sauce – eyes closed, body shaking, and even giving us some singing riffs on the "you could be my"s. And the beauty is that you can put the video on mute and still pick up on virtually all of this. Because it's not just Mac's words communicating something here. It's not just the instruments conveying musical and emotional dynamics, nor is it just the groove that's setting the atmosphere. It's Mac himself. There's an energy within him – and clearly within the other performers as well – that tells its own story.
I won't let anything tear us apart
A good story is driven by its characters, and after the second chorus is when the characters other than Mac really start to shine. But it's not the ones you'd expect. It's not the horns, even though they just introduced a new melody, and it's not Cee Lo (yet). It's the strings and the backup singers, and they're tasked with completely changing up the energy of the song in a split second. If the momentum of the past few minutes has been directed toward digging deeper and deeper into the groove, now suddenly we find ourselves floating above it. No drums, even – just the "ahh-ahh-ahh"s to anchor us as we hear Cee Lo's voice weave around them.
Interestingly, Cee Lo's laid-back demeanor during his verse masks how musically complex that section is for the band as a whole. Halfway through, the horns give us an unbelievably tight line of 32nd notes, while Mac layers a high harmony line over Cee Lo.
All that happens on the lyric "loving me in spite of me, bless your heart" – and what a weird and brilliant phrase that is. Confusing grammatically, yet intuitive and relatable at the same time. And right on message with the rest of the song. Mac and his love are inextricably bound, flaws and all. He vows he "won't let anything tear us apart." It's complicated – the foundation of their "groove" is a delicate balance of focus, precision, trust and, most importantly, practice. But the result is a high unlike any other; the kind of safe, secure, comfortable joy that you can only get from the people you love.
And now, as the piece comes to a close, Mac and the band have to deliver on that concept. This is a performance, after all – it won't cut it to just vibe it out on groove alone for the remainder of the song. They've put so much thought and care and emotion into building this love story, and now they have to make sure it ends with a bang.
So they take the energy back down after Cee Lo's verse – but then immediately start the build-up to the final chorus. Cee Lo's got the vocal ad-libs covered, so Mac makes himself part of the percussion section. His "I feel like"s blend perfectly into the building 16th in the drums, and everyone's energy is laser-focused on bringing the fireworks for the final chorus.
Mac is dancing in earnest now (as are the backup singers); the horns are comfortably nestled deep in the pocket and going full-throttle; the rhythm section is rhythm-ing; Cee Lo's essentially just yelling at this point (on pitch of course); then to tie it all up, our drummer gives us an absolutely monster fill, Cee Lo puts his hood back up, and the song is over. Not a cue missed, not an assignment misunderstood, not a moment of disconnection among the performers.
"We" really does sound better than "you" or "me."
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