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February 22, 2005
Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall of Shame
Now I'm sure: there's a Web site for everything. I stumbled upon the Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall of Shame trying to figure out what Mull of Kintyre should actually sound like (as compared to the tortured version I've been attempting to pluck out). The site showcases examples of what's apparently known as the "Truck Driver's Gear Change." What's that, you ask?
It's when you have a mediocre pop song that tries to lift itself up toward the end by shifting up a key before it begins to repeat-to-fadeout. It's an exceptionally cheesy -- and yet, strangely effective -- method of making a mediocre pop song seem more transcendent (like when the violins swell during a kissing scene in a Dermot Mulroney chick flick).
It's a difficult technique to describe, but once you hear it, you'll laugh out loud at how many cruddy songs use it. According to the site, the definitive "Truck Driver's Gear Change" is "Man in the Mirror." Listen to the sample and you'll know exactly what a TDGC is and you'll start noticing them all over, especially if you've ever heard a Celine Dion song.
As an aside, the writeups for each song are really great. To wit:
This is, arguably, the definitive truck driver's gear change: fearsomely sickening in its intensity, and yet somehow inspiring in its audacity. Taken from the album Bad, most of the song would be quite innocuously boring if it wasn't for the constant and revolting fretless bass, which seems to operate on a frequency intended to dissolve your internal organs.
God, I love the Web.
Posted by Lee Clontz at February 22, 2005 2:36 PM