The more I listen to “Work’ by Rihanna (featuring Drake) – the video’s below –  the more I like it and the more interesting I find it.

It’s a vibey understated groove in Jamaican Dancehall style that’s moody and simple, but with subtle variations. The chords are a 2 bar repeated pattern (||:C#minor D#minor | E F#:||). The lyrics are sung by Rihanna in Jamaican patois – fluid and musical.

It’s a song built around a simple and memorable Title/hook that’s strong enough to allow the Verses to consistently go in different directions, not repeating much. (And the Chorus actually isn’t as simple as it sounds at first, if you pay attention to all the variations.) The directness of the Chorus, plus basing the song on the Dancehall style, which is different from American pop and r&b, combined with the well-established vocal identities of Rihanna and Drake, allow them to get away with Verses that have way more freedom than most pop songs.

(‘Work’ was written by Jahron Brathwaite, Matthew Samuels, Aaron Ritter, Rupert Thomas, Aubrey Graham, Robyn Fenty, Monte Moir.)

Examining how the song is put together structurally might look like this:

Intro Groove
Chorus (6 bars)
Verse 1a (6 bars)
Verse 1b (4 bars)
Verse 1c (6 bars)
Chorus (8 bars)
Verse 2d (4 bars)
Verse 2e (6 bars)
Chorus (6 bars)
Drake’s Verse
Chorus

Yes, the Verses really are five sections that don’t repeat. That’s very unusual in a pop song – to put it mildly. And Drake’s Verse is even more free form, in his patented rapping/singing style.

The melody notes in the song are all in the same scale but contain melodic and rhythmic variations that feel to me almost like an instrumentalist playing variations on five different themes. However, the ‘Work’ melodies seem intricately worked out. And the sound of the words and the rhymes fit with them hand in glove.

Also it’s interesting that although there’s a great vocal riff that leads into the Choruses, there’s no attempt to really ‘build’ into the Chorus. The Verses have sections, but there’s no real Pre-Chorus. The song just kind of flows along, gaining its own kind of momentum.

The way the melody goes with the chords in the Chorus is cool. The main lyrics to the first two bars of the Chorus are:

Work Work Work Work Work Work
Work Work Work Work Work Work

I’ve italicized the Chorus words that come on a chord change (every two beats). On those four downbeats we hear:

Melody note D# over a C#minor chord (a 9th)
Melody note C# over a D#minor chord (a b7)
Melody note D# over an E chord (a major 7th)
Melody note C# over an F# chord (a 5th)

Though the sparse arrangement doesn’t make a big deal out of the pretty harmonies that are created here, the emotion is felt… as it always is in melodies.

Please let me know your thoughts in the Comments section below:

And please share on facebook etc. by clicking the tabs below the video –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp9psZmAM_Y