Fibonacci in popular music
Predicting the next hit song…Send in your songs
Hi -
For everyone reading, we’re glad you’re here. We’d also like to ask your help in identifying Golden section and Fibonacci songs. Please check out the “How it works” page, and when you do some analysis, just add a comment to this post, with:
1. Title of the song
2. Calculation of the golden section &/or Fibonacci ratio
3. What is the climax of the song and why
4. Your name so you get some credit.
We’ll add it into the stats and we can see if we can make this work.
Thank you!
The Stranger
This is another very well known song by Mr. Joel… It is 5:06 in length and the climax occurs at 3:13
5:06/3:13 = 1.585
This is close enough I think to be considered significant correlation with Fibonacci.
I am psyched about how much patterning I’ve noticed in Billy’s greatest hits..no wonder they are greatest hits….Fibonacci left his mark…
To recap, 4 songs definitely follow fibonacci, this 1 is borderline, and 1 was a bit too far away. But overall, every song is within reasonable distance from 1.618 and the album as a whole so far can be considered a definite prophet of Mr. Fibonacci.
New York State Of Mind
This timeless classic is 6:o3 in length. The golden section occurs from 3:20 to 3:56, with a dramatic pause at 3:44. I found this to be a significant point in the song….
6:03/3:44 = 1.62!
Billy has done it again! This is the 4th of 5 songs so far on GHV1 that have conformed to Fibonacci.
This is becoming a very promising venture..!
We’ll Be Together Again
The next song on the Great American Song Book is entitled “We’ll Be Together Again,” originally performed by Frank Sinatra and covered by Rod Stewart.
The Frank version is 266 seconds in length and has an extremely long instrumental climax (almost a minute long) ranging from 127 seconds to 185 seconds. The golden section comes at almost the halfway point in the climax, at 165 seconds
266/165 = 1.618
The Rod version is a little bit shorter, clocking in at 234 seconds. It too has a very long instrumental climax, although again a little bit shorter ranging from 118 seconds to 147 seconds. The golden section comes at about 145 seconds in, very close to the end of the climax.
234/145 = 1.613
To recap, both songs appear to conform to the golden section. However, since both songs have very long climaxes, it’s pretty easy for them to conform. The Sinatra version is definltey more credible because the golden section comes almost exactly halfway through the climax, where it is at the tail end of Rod’s.
Say Goodbye To Hollywood
Track 4 off GHV1 is Say Goodbye to Hollywood. The song is 3:42 long and has a clear golden section which begins at 1:49 and ends at 2:22. The interesting part is that a distinct hesitation or pause in the instrumental section, which I believe to be its climax, occurs at 2:17.
3:42/2:17= 1.62! FIBONACCI!
Billy is 3 for 4 right now and the one he’s missed on was just outside the range….so far this is very exciting and I hope to find more corresponding hits from Billy as I continue researching GHV1.
Time for More Billy Joel
Track 3 on Greatest Hits Vol. I is “The Entertainer”. This isn’t one of my personal favorites but it’s on the cd nonetheless. The song is 3:38 in length and the golden section (a short one of about 12 seconds) occurs at 2:20 in.
218/140 = 1.557
This is close but I think just far enough to discount from displaying the presence of fibonacci. However, it is at least worthy of being notedly not far off.
I will continue on in my search, so far Billy has made me proud..
Someone To Watch Over Me
I couldn’t leave for Spring Break having been diasspointed by Rod.
I searched some more and was able to find another example of Rod working his magic.
“Someone to Wacth Over Me” is pretty old, but very recognizable. Judy Garlands version is very nice, but certainly not a golden section song. It’s 195 seconds long so the golden section should be right at two minutes in and at that point there is nothing going on. Also none of her dramatic points match up or even approximate any Fibonacci numbers.
Now the Rod version on the other hand…
it does match up with several Fibonacci numbers, as well as being close on a few others (i found stuff at 8, 22, 31, and 55 seconds, all on or near Fib numbers).
The climax occurs at 130 seconds, when Rod elevates his voice a little extra for this part. With the song being 211 seonds long,
211/130=1.623…close enough for me. Heres another example of rod lengthening the song and having the climax hit the golden section.
That’s more like it Rod!
What a Wonderful World
For the first time I’ve been disappointed by Rod.
The original “What a Wonderful World” done by Louis Armstrong is one that just about everyone loves to poorly sing along to.
His version is 139 seconds long. There’s the one verse where he sings higher, and i used the midpoint of that as the climax. it happened to be at 80 seconds in
139/80= 1.73…ehh, not good enough. (however, if you use the end of the verse, the ratio becomes 1.63, but i honestly didnt feel the end was any more special than the whole verse)
When I saw that Rod’s version was long I figured I would definately find a golden section song. Especially after listening to it, I felt there would be something. It basically is the regular song, then a sax solo then some more singing. Unfortunately tho, the total length was 270 seconds and the midpoint of the sax solo was 133 seconds in, so…
270/133 = 2.03, nowhere near the golden section.
No Fibonacci numbers on either version here either.
That’s okay Rod, you’re allowed one every now and then.
Moonglow
I agree with the previous post. That idea is sort of summarized by what I found looking at “Moonglow.”
There were a few versions but the one i was able to download actually had no words. That wasnt really a problem though, I was still able to pick out dramatic moments and the climax. I didn’t find anything interesting relating to the Fibonacci numbers here. The climax also was non-interesting.
173/76 (highest note in the song, happens during a harp solo i think)= 2.2, no golden section.
The thing about Rod, and what we’ve found so far, is that he can take a ballad like song like this, and make it more like a Fib/golden section song. That’s exactly what I see here. None of the points match up with Fibonacci numbers, but they are clsoe, within 5 or 6 seconds. and the climax occurs at 137 seconds in, the same high note as in the original…
213/137= 1.55, not golden section but much closer
I think this is almost a summary of what Rod is doing. He is taking the originals and adding sections to them and changing them slightly to make them more likely to be appreciated by a larger audience.
Interesting stuff.
Rod’s Magic
I think the pattern is more in how he covers the songs that the ones he picks. All the songs he covers are Americana classics, but the way he transforms them are is the truly fascinating aspect of what we’ve been finding. He seems to always lenghten the song and seems to nail a golden section each time. I know that his covers are not the biggest hits or get the most radio airplay, but there has to be something to this. Let’s keep looking at Rod to see if we can find more…
