bridge
0 tracksA contrasting section, usually once and late in a song, that leaves the familiar verse and chorus before returning to them. It refreshes the ear before the last chorus.
Form and structure
verse-chorus form
26 tracks.
What it is
The common song structure that alternates verses (new words over similar music) with a recurring chorus (the same words and the hook). Most pop songs follow it.
Read more on WikipediaRelated concepts
hook
70 tracksThe short, memorable idea a song is built to stick with you: a sung phrase, a riff, a synth line. A hook is designed for repetition and usually arrives early.
Hear it in these tracks
Waldeck
Memories
Waldeck sets Zeebee's smoky voice inside a crackling, sepia-toned ballroom swing, a downtempo daydream about a love that only lives on in memory.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
The Sun Ain't Shining No More
A brassy, technicolour psych-pop stomp from Denmark, Mette Lindberg's helium-bright voice riding horns and a strutting beat that make heartbreak sound like a parade.
Paloma Faith
Upside Down
Paloma Faith's brassy, swing-tinged retro-soul romp about a world turned on its head, with a stomping rhythm section and a voice that relishes every theatrical flourish.
Klyne
Waiting
A slow, stripped-down slice of dark electronic R&B from the Eindhoven duo Klyne, where Nick Klein's soft, close-miked voice drifts over sparse beats and muted synths; the new song on their 2015 Closer EP.
Jain
Mr Johnson
Handclap-light percussion, a bouncing bass and Jain's playful, slightly mischievous delivery make Mr Johnson one of Zanaka's sunniest little stories.
Jain
City
The closing song of Jain's 2015 Hope EP, produced by Yodelice: her bright, slightly mischievous voice riding a homemade-sounding beat that mixes pop simplicity with the rhythmic colours of a childhood spent between Dubai, Congo and Abu Dhabi.
Hindi Zahra
Music (Remastered Version)
Hindi Zahra sings a love letter to music itself, her warm, smoky voice swaying over interlocking guitars and soft percussion that blend folk, soul and Berber roots.
Glass Animals
Gooey
Glass Animals' breakout is a slow, syrupy jungle of a love song, Dave Bayley's murmured vocal drifting over finger-snap beats, soft guitar and a bassline that oozes.
Gin Wigmore
Written In The Water
Gin Wigmore snarls through a short, stomping blues-rock number from her 2015 album Blood to Bone, her raspy voice squaring up to fate, and splits its video into a two-part outlaw story.
Gin Wigmore
Man Like That
A stomping blues-soul strut in which Gin Wigmore's raspy, fearless voice lays out exactly the kind of man she wants, produced by Butch Walker for Gravel & Wine and later sung in a Heineken James Bond ad.
Gin Wigmore
Dirty Mercy
Swaggering and swampy, Dirty Mercy pairs Gin Wigmore's raspy snarl with a stomping groove and a sly, sinister edge, the opening shot of her Ivory era.
Gin Wigmore
Black Sheep
Stomping drums, chanted backing vocals and a shout-along hook frame Gin Wigmore's gravel-edged voice in a proud anthem for everyone who never fit the flock.
Gabriella Cilmi
Left With Someone Else
A smoky, retro-soul kiss-off from Gabriella Cilmi's independent third album: an old flame walks out with somebody new, and a sparse arrangement leaves room for a vocal that is pure venom wrapped in velvet.
Foster The People
Pumped Up Kicks
A breezy, whistled indie-pop earworm with a chilling story underneath: the demo Mark Foster wrote and recorded alone in five hours, which went viral in 2010 and spent eight weeks at number three in the US.
Dusty Kid
Nemur (Walls of Guitars) (Extended Version)
The Sardinian techno producer closes his debut album A Raver's Diary (Boxer, 2009) with an unexpected, tender song of layered guitars and his own fragile voice that swells into a wall of sound.
Corinne Bailey Rae
Put Your Records On
Corinne Bailey Rae's sun-dappled soul-pop single is a gentle invitation to let your hair down, all breezy guitar, soft horns and a warm voice telling you to grow into yourself.
Big Data, Joywave
Dangerous
A strutting, paranoid electro-rock stomp where Joywave's Daniel Armbruster sneers the hook over clipped funk guitar, heavy handclaps and a bassline built for headphones and dance floors alike.
Ayọ
Down On My Knees
Ayọ pleads for a lost love over acoustic guitar and a gentle reggae lilt: the 2006 debut single, recorded with a live band in five days in New York, that made a German-Nigerian singer a star in France.
Brazilian Girls
Karaköy
A walking-pace daydream named after an old Istanbul harbour district: Sabina Sciubba's supple voice and soft trumpets carry a song of wandering and missing someone, from Brazilian Girls' 2018 comeback album Let's Make Love.
Eli
Faster You Fall
Eli Meltzer, better known as the Bay Area rapper and producer Smoov-E, borrows the swagger of early rock and roll for a short, cocky chase song built on one taunting refrain.
Bonaparte, Acid Pauli
Not Today
Berlin's dance-punk ringmaster Bonaparte and the electronic producer Acid Pauli, once of The Notwist, trade a sly, defiant refrain in a 2020 single that sings from the point of view of something humanity has wronged and now asks for rescue.
K.Flay
High Enough
K.Flay's breakthrough answers a decade of songs about getting high with a question, what if I'm already high enough: breezy rhythm, bubbly guitar lines and a sing-song flow produced by Mike Elizondo.