When I try to think back to where I found the songs I love, I often draw a blank. Following rabbit holes from one playlist to artists and similar artists, it’s impossible to know when and how a song found its way into my heart. I definitely draw a blank with this song which was added to my Bittersweet playlist in 2017.
For starters, “Defibrillation” runs for 5:33 and is the title track of the album Queen of the Breakers. I think many of us are conditioned to believe a song should be around three and a half minutes because many songs in the commercial pop world are. In the past few years, I’ve even heard that songs should have the chorus in the first 30 seconds because people will stop listening if a song doesn’t immediately grab them. But equally, we live in a world where many people love Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. So there must be a place for longer songs if you’re thinking about what the music gives you instead of its arbitrary length.
The thing that first struck me about this song was the constant tambourine sitting in the back with a thumpy bass drum beating out a rhythm like a heartbeat. The song is so well put together (mixed), you don’t necessarily notice what is contributing to the soundscape. The vocals are layered to give them a choral depth, and a simple guitar riff is being plucked casually underneath. After the third verse, a new voice appears singing the middle 8 (Lucius is featured on this track), followed by soaring vocal motifs before we get the final verse and chorus.
Apart from the song’s length, it breaks another convention by having four verses, a middle 8 and only 2 choruses. It’s been said that once you’ve written a chorus you have 50% of the song, mainly because it’s often the catchy bit, the title and the thing people remember. But in this case, the chorus is only a few lines:
And what it is
Is a heartbreaking, soul-shaking, overwhelming exhalation
That hit me once again
The Barr Brothers – “Defibrillation”
I love the internal rhymes ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘soul-shaking’ and the fact that it doesn’t actually rhyme in a traditional sense, even tho it’s the closest thing to a chorus the song has.
At the end of the last chorus, the guitar steps up a gear with two overlapping riffs and those vocal motifs which feel like an exhalation of their own. When that beautiful music fades out, we are left with some sparse electric guitar, the tambourine and the bass drum. You get the full effect of that heartbeat-esque rhythm and you can feel it in your bones if you close your eyes and listen.
And I guess that’s why I love it. Not only because I love novelty and breaking the rules in music but because a whole 4 and half minutes is leading up to this wonderful release that sweeps into your ears, much like holding your breath waiting for news and being told everything is okay.
I did a little reading as to what this song is about and to paraphrase, the beat was inspired by a trip one of the Barr brothers (Andrew) took to the hospital after his mother had a fall on Christmas Day. While his mum turned out to be fine, the sound of the machines struck a chord with him. It also brought home the idea of our mortality. In the lyric, Brad sets out to write a future time capsule for his son. And I love that he admits the theme doesn’t run through the entire song, but it was a jumping-off point.
It’s hard for me as a songwriter at the moment, because I feel a lot of the feedback I’ve had is around my songs not being specific enough, accessible and telling a linear or cohesive story. Yet “Defibrillation” is proof that some artists don’t worry about sticking to a script and just write the song they want to write.