Kaleidoscoping the Simple: Graphic Representations and Form in The Black Key’s “Lonely Boy”

Abstract

Formal definition of songs in popular music is often thought of as a simple operation of detecting the juxtaposition of sections such as verse, chorus, bridge, special and so on. In the first part of my paper I propose a different theoretical outlook on the problem of form, showing how it can be fruitfully approached if considered as a system of four underlying principles in a dynamic equilibrium: repetition, superimposition, modularity and stratification.In the second part of the paper a quick survey on the specific case study of The Black Key’s “Lonely boy” shows these different forces at work. The relationships between the various formal principles can be best understood through different sorts of graphic representational strategies, gaining different perspectives on the same object. This multiplication of viable vantage points presents a twofold analytical relevance: it opens the interpretation of the structural traits of cultural objects as part of a complex semiotic system, at same time helping reconstruct a network of meanings which represents their own unique features.