Listen to This: "Leave the Biker" by Fountains of Wayne
Apr 09, 2020
The world, and especially the songwriting community, suffered a great loss this week. Adam Schlesinger, who passed away from complications from COVID-19, was the one of the best writers of a generation. From “Stacy’s Mom” to “That Thing You Do,” to pretty much every song by his band Fountains of Wayne, Schlesinger’s music has influenced countless songwriters, including us.
We want to honor him by taking a look at and breaking down one of our favorite Fountains of Wayne songs: “Leave the Biker.”
So here are a few reasons that “Leave the Biker” rules:
It’s funny. It’s silly. It’s light-hearted. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. In fact, it doesn’t take itself seriously at all. It’s a reminder that a good song doesn’t have to be deep and meaningful or tug at your heartstrings to be completely satisfying. Sometimes a great song can JUST. BE. FUN.
He's got his arms around every man's dream
And crumbs in his beard from the seafood special
Oh can't you see my world is falling apart
Baby please leave the biker
Leave the biker, break his heart
One of the things we love about Fountains of Wayne and Adam Schlesinger’s writing is how incredibly—almost comically—specific the lyrics are. Most of us songwriters want our listeners to be able to relate to the stories we are telling. Sometimes we shy away from that level of detail in fear of alienating our listeners. But the truth is that providing more specifics only makes the picture clearer, more vivid and more relatable. Whether or not we’ve had the personal experience of pining over someone who’s dating a surly tattooed biker, the details allow us to picture it as clearly as if we’re watching a movie.
He's got leather and big tattoos
And big scars all over his face
And I wonder if he ever has cried
Cause he couldn't get a date for the prom
This song has the perfect ratio of sugar to spinach. We know that might sound crazy, so let us explain. We often want our songs to be catchy, memorable, easy to sing along with, etc. That’s the sugar. It pulls people in and gets them hooked. But sometimes we also want our songs to be smart, clever, and more complicated than they seem to the average listener. That’s the spinach. And the perfect combination will have just enough sugar that they don’t even know there’s spinach in it until they read the recipe. In other words, the song sounds easy and catchy but interesting enough to pique our ears and make it stand out from every other 3-chord pop song.
This song does just that. It seems pretty basic with simple chords and rhythm. But tucked in there is a big modulation (key change), a few measures of 6/4 and 2/4 (most of the song is in 4/4), and a sprinkling of interesting chords like a minor 4 and flat 3. It’s sugar/spinach perfection.
Pretty great, right? If you’re getting down about the state of affairs, put on this song and try not to smile. We dare you.
Because we believe that the best way to fully understand the brilliance of a song is to learn to sing and play it, we made a chord chart for “Leave the Biker” that you can download here for free!
What do you love most about this song? We would love to hear from you.
Happy Writing,
Allie & Bess
P.S. You can even take it a step further and challenge yourself to take some of these elements and write your own silly, fun, detailed, simple yet smart pop rock song!
Band photo by Chris Strong
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