Today i chose to look at a Bette Midler classic, “From a Distance,” number 15 on the list.

Feeling as manly as ever as I played the song a few times I actually found some Fibonacci stuff. For instance the singing starts 13 seconds in, there is a dramatic pause 55 seconds in, and there is a sharp high note 89 seconds in. I dont know how many fibonacci numbers we need in order to call them Fibonacci songs, but I think this one fits the bill.

The song is 278 seconds long, and the climax comes in my opinion at 179 seconds in for a ratio of 1.55. Not exactly a golden section song, but considering the Fibonacci sequence that i found in it, the song overall is one that I would call interesting, if not a success.

PS Any comments on how many Fibonacci numbers we want to see before granting it “Fibonacci” status?

I thought it might be interesting to see if there were any connections or correllations with a few different songs from one artist on the list. At first glance i noticed a few Mariah songs so i picked three of them.

The first one I picked was ”Someday” which was number 13 on the list. As it turns out this song was pretty bland in terms of fibonacci stuff. I didnt notice any pattern or any real dramatic points at any of the fibonacci numbers. The climax was 168 seconds in. Since the song is 248 seconds long, that ratio of 1.47 is off the mark from the golden section.

The second song was number 22 on the list, “Emotions.” This song made me think for a while. I found no Fibonacci numbers in it, but the interesting part has to do with the climax. The first time i ran through the song i noted that I thought the climax was at 170 seconds in. At this point Mariah hits what is certainly the highest note in the song. However once I went back and checked the point where the Golden section climax would be, I had to take a second look. Since the song is 249 second slong, the climax should be right at 153 seconds in. At that point in the song there is a dramatic pause. So I listened to the song again straight through and while the highest note is at 170 seconds, what i really considered the climax was indeed at this 153 second mark, for a ratio for 1.62, right on the golden section. This served as a warning to make sure you take note that the climax not nessecarily be the highest note in a song.

The last song i looked at in this block was “I dont wanna cry,” number 25 on the list. I marked the climax at 166 seconds in, at a point where Mariah’s singing is backed up by drums that are not as prominant throughout the rest of the song. The track I had was 270 seconds long which would make the ratio a little far off the mark, however, i noticed the end of the track gets cut off, so the version I had was not the entire lenght of the song. Depending on how many seconds are left, perhaps this could be a golden section song also.

I would like to start by saying that this is perhaps my favorite Rod Stewart song. In addition, the music video is one of the most entertaining I’ve ever seen. Now that I’ve professed my love for the work of Rod Stewart….let’s get to Fibonacci!

The song is 3:58…There is a clear climax to this song that takes place when Rod emphatically screams “Bring over some of your old motown records!” This occurs at 2:31, however the final build up to this climax commences at 2:27 when Rod says, “I know what we’re feelin’ can’t be wrong!” and ends at the chorus being reintroduced…

3:58/2:27 = 1.619!

This is EXTREMELY CLOSE TO FIBONACCI, within a thousandth…

As far as the alternate sequence, another strike out because the song is 238 seconds long, closest to 233 but that doesn’t really help us.

MORE ROD TO COME..

This gem by Bonnie Raitt, “Something to Talk About” appears at number 55 on the list.

The song is 225 second long. I noted the climax at 169 seconds in, giving a ratio of around 1.3, not near the golden section. The point where a golden section climax would occur is 139 seconds in. At this point there is an instrument solo, however, I would not consider this the climax.

Again, as in Bette Middler’s song, I noted a few points on interest only a second away from the Fibonacci numbers, such as when the instruments kick in, and when the singing begins, as well as some dramatic instumentals. I wonder if this is a coincidence or not. But it seems to me as if this song is another that could be considered to follow the Fibonacci sequence of numbers.

Hey guys. I found some interesting stuff on the number 1 song from 1991, Bryan Adams “Everything I Do.” For starters, the track is 377 seconds long, a Fibonacci number. Also unlike many of the songs I’ve looked at, this one starts with a nice strong note the second it starts out, and 1 is also part of the sequence. The singing begins within a second of the Fibonacci 13. And although those are the only spot on matches I found, throughout the song there are dramatic parts which happen within ten seconds of the other Fibonacci numbers. I think we may have found a solid “Fibonacci” song.

As for the climax, since the song is 377 seconds long, a golden section song should climax right at 233 seconds in. At that point in the song, everything stops and there is a second or two of silence, before the rest of the song kicks in. Sounds like that could definately be considered a climax to me. It’s interesting that this was number 1 on the list. Let’s keep checking some more songs out, but this one was pretty cool!

I think most people can remember this song. I would also bet that few could tell you who sang it, I certainly couldn’t until looking it up for this project. It turns out this pretty cool song is done by Jesus Jones.

The song is 152 seconds long, a little shorter than most of the other songs weve looked at. The climax comes during a nice high note 137 seconds in. That gives us a ratio of 1.1, nowhere near a golden section song.

However, this is another song that could possibly considered a Fibonacci sequence song. Although not all the points that I marked were exactly on the money, I found four points of interest within three seconds of a Fibonacci mark. The instruments kick in at 8 seconds. The singing starts at 20 seconds in, 1 short of the Fibonacci 21. There is a dramatic symbols crash at 36 seconds in ( the Fib number is 34), and at 58 seconds in, the singer for the first time lets us here the full chorus with an emphasis on the last part of it.

So these things which Ive noted are not exactly on point, but in my opinion they do represent a certain pattern, the pattern that perhaps is captured in the Fibonacci numbers.

I decided to look at Damn Yankee’s power ballad, “High Enough.” Many poeple might not remember Damn Yankees anymore but it was an 80’s hair metal band comprised of Ted Nugent, Tommy Shaw from Styx, and two other guys. This was really one of the last power ballads to reach high up on the charts before grunge took over and killed the 80’s metal movement…something I’m still sad about to this day!

Anyway, “High Enough” is close to a golden section song, but not close enough.
The duration of the song clocks in at 258 seconds with the instrumental climax starting at 168 seconds, making the ratio about 1.53. It is also does not conform to the fibonacci numbers.

So far, 1991 hasn’t been working out too great…let’s hope we get some songs. It’s important to go through as many songs as possible so we can hopefully come up with a true relationship between hit songs and fibonacci numbers/the golden section.

This one from EMF happens to be a personal favorite of mine. It appears on the list at a very respectable number 6. I think most people know this song from all of those throwback 90’s CDs that used to be advertised on TV back in the day.

The song is 208 seconds long. At about halfway through theres a piece different from the rest of the song, a little faster, as it builds to the climax. I marked the climax at 113 seconds in, at the “Whoo” after this piece. This gives us a ratio of 1.8. This is a little outside the range we are looking for, but we are getting closer. Let’s keep looking guys, we’re almost there for this year I can feel it!

This 1991 hit by REM, unfortunately, did not have a golden section that corresponded with Fibonacci’s sequence. The climax of the 4:28 song is at 3:05 seconds, calculating to 1.3405. This is not even close to 1.618.

I will move on to my other songs from 1991 in hopes of finding something more usable…

On the subject of Hip hop and R&B, I think we may run into problems finding a golden section like you said Seth, so let’s keep looking and see what we find….

For my first song for 1991, I am looking at “Motown Philly” by Boyz 2 Men. Boyz 2 Men was one of the biggest R&B groups of the 90’s and this is one of their biggest hits. Although some people might not know the song by just the title, once you hear it, it is unmistakable.

Unfortunately, this song does does not conform with the golden section or fibonacci numbers. To be honest, I couldn’t even really find a climax to the song. Which leads me to this question: Will finding the golden section be harder in R&B/Rap songs? Since there is no real band playing behind the artists, are there a lot of songs that simply won’t have an instrumental climax? I think this will be an interesting point to look at as we go through the 90’s and rap becomes more and more popular.