Bridge Section Optimism in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER by Don Black (Music by John Barry)

The bridge section is traditionally where a lyricist will place content that contrasts the content of the verses.

Don Black uses the first two verses of Diamonds are Forever to establish, by a series of statements, the narrator's preference for diamonds to relationships with men. Men, she maintains, are unfaithful, and cause emotional hurt. Diamonds, on the other hand, are knowable and predictable, don't hurt anyone's feelings, and are therefore preferable to men. In all the lyric's three verses the tone is the same - emphatic, conclusory, and certain.

( It is possible to read this excess as irony - the narrator knowing and self-aware. Or it can be read as 'straight'. In this post I'm going to use 'straight'.)

To contrast the certainty of the verses, Black uses the bridge section to place a hint of doubt, and it comes in the form of the lyric's one and only question:

I don't need love
For what good is love to me?

Of course we, the listeners, all know the answer to that one. It's the narrator who appears not to. This one simple question implies the narrator may not be entirely convinced by her own argument, is still enquiring, and is indeed prepared to continue to try and find the value of love.

In just one single line of lyric, then, Black enabled a space where the narrator can be seen as vulnerable, and where change might be possible. In the bridge section he's put hope and optimism to contrast the defensive materialism of the verses.

Subtle, economic craft, so easily overlooked.


Track Suggestions
 Several covers exist - including one by the Artic Monkeys - but if you want to hear the lyrcs clearly try a studio version sung by Dame Shirley herself. There's a nice one on her album This is My Life - The Greatest Hits (2000).

Here's Shirley Bassey performing it live in Antwerp.

AABA Song Form Variation in EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE by Sting

The theme is obsession with menace, and all the component parts of the song support and reinforce it. However, just at the point in the standard AABA form where repetition is on the verge of becoming monotony, Sting, with great craft, brings in a whole new section - the C section - complete with fresh melodic and lyric content. This new song form is AABACBA.

Here's the new C section in full:

Since you've been gone I been lost without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your face
I look around but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby, please ...

The new section has longer lines and more words than previous verses. The new content tells of the effect the obsession is having on the narrator's own emotional landscape - a strong contrast to the previous verses that basically list all the different activities the narrator threatens to observe. The last word, on the last line of this section is a sustained plea which also provides the payoff for the song.

There's one more example of craft that I want to point out. Although in the new C section Sting introduces new content and form, he isn't tempted to introduce a new line-end rhyme scheme as well. He uses the same scheme as in the verses - aaaax (x=no rhyme) which is just enough to sustain his theme of menace and obsession throughout.

Variation and continuity - all in the same section. Expert stuff.

To prove the importance of the C section, you might like to imagine a version with the C section removed - AABABA - the song quickly becomes monotonous, devoid of any emotional peak or strong payoff.

Track Suggestions

There are several covers, including one by UB40. The original track by The Police from their album Synchronicity (1983) has very clear and accessible words. Here it is below.