Musical Analysis #2 - The Lightning Strike (What If This Storm Ends?)



When you think about the group Snow Patrol, many think of their most popular song Chasing Cars. Today I am gonna talk about their song The Lightning Strike (What If This Storm Ends?) released on October 24th, 2008. Snow Patrol is a band based in Glasgow but the members are originally from Northern Ireland and Scotland. They're defined as an alternative rock band that originally started out as an indie band. 

Within the first piano note ringing in your ears, you can tell immediately that this song is going to evoke some type of emotion within the listener. During the research into this song, I discovered that this song is not just a stand alone song. This song is actually part of a longer song composed of three songs totaling sixteen minutes and eighteen seconds. 

Lyrics- When I discovered what Snow Patrol wrote this song about it struck me as odd because I had interpreted it in a completely different way. According to an article posted by The Telegraph, lyricist Gary Lightbody said "I was caught in a really quite devastating storm in Glasgow one night, and I was pretty terrified - 150-mile-an-hour winds, trees falling down. But we went outside the house, and it was also just thrilling. There was this howling wind, but it felt like silence, as if our senses were being too bombarded to cope with what was going on. So the record was born out of that feeling, of two people having a protective shell around each other." That surprised me because when I hear this song it makes me think about if a bad situation never ends and eventually you're just a memory. What happens if you never get to be with the person you love ever again? Essentially the lyrics to me are about someone on the verge of breaking and that there is a silver lining at the end. It is so fascinating to me that music can be interpreted in such different ways. 

Dynamics- From the beginning of the song you can tell that is goes from mezzo-piano to forte. They give a great crescendo after the first few notes and they make great use of accents with their piano keys. When the song does begin, you think it is simply going to be a mellow song but the piano in the back pushes the song to be more of a ballad.

Tempo- According to Musicstax.com, this song is about 132 bpm in the key of D Major with a time signature of 4/4. The song being 132 bpm was surprising to me because you mostly hear the piano in this song rather than the other melody in the background. When listening, there is definitely a definition in how hard they are playing the keys, i'm not sure if that is a real thing, it just sounds like they are pushing the key down harder at certain points. According to our musical cheat sheet, this songs tempo would fall under Allegro (fast or "happy"). For the naked ear, I assumed that it would have fallen under Andante (steady "walking" tempo)

Range- While I read that the song is in the key of D major, according to singingcarrots.com the vocal range of this song is in G minor with a range of F3-G4. I think that the background piano paired with these vocal ranges are a lovely pairing and it helps to hear the emotion in the lyrics.

Rhythm- This song is not necessarily one that I would tap my foot along with, but there is a clear rhythm to follow. The piano ballad in the background throughout the song gives it that extra push that it needs, almost like it is declaring that of course it has a large part in the song being what it is. I think without this background piano the song would not work the way it does.

I am a fan of the majority of Snow Patrols music and each one of their songs is thought provoking and brings out emotion wether it be happy, sad, sentimental, or fear. They are a wonderful band and I recommend that you give them a listen past their more popular songs. 






References

“Key, Tempo & Popularity of The Lightning Strike by Snow Patrol.” Musicstax, musicstax.com/track/the-lightning-strike/5RM1b5ARD9VSYE0qnuEHmv. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.

“Snow Patrol.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Sept. 2023, simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Patrol#:~:text=Snow%20Patrol%20is%20an%20alternative.

“Learn to Sing in Tune with Pitch Training from Singing Carrots.” Snow Patrol - The Lightning Strike: I. What If This Storm Ends: Vocal Range & Original Key | Singing Carrots, singingcarrots.com/song?song=snow-patrol-the-lightning-strike-i-what-if-this-storm-ends. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.

Last Updated: 3:54PM GMT 29 Oct 2008. “Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody Interview.” RSS, 30 Oct. 2008, web.archive.org/web/20090418210441/www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3562697/Snow-Patrols-Gary-Lightbody---interview.html.

“The Lightning Strike.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Oct. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lightning_Strike.

Comments

  1. Amanda K.February 25, 2024 at 11:14 PM

    I definitely think of Chasing Cars when I think of Snow Patrol! I haven't really heard any of their other music (though I do like Chasing Cars, and it's one of the songs I've learned to play for fun), so it's interesting to hear a different song from them.

    I love the driving piano line at the opening, which pulls you into the song almost irresistibly -- like a riptide, if that makes sense! Then the vocals are a little more open and ethereal on top of that driving instrumental line -- kind of mellow, like you said, but they also have a bit of a bite to them, an almost dark energy (again, if that makes sense -- these sorts of descriptions are so subjective and abstract, it can be hard to convey in words). I really enjoy the intensity, personally. I can feel that emotional inspiration of the storm you mentioned that the lyricist described -- it has that almost-overwhelming-but-not-quite feeling. Thanks for sharing this song in your analysis!

    ReplyDelete
  2. CameronFebruary 27, 2024 at 3:26 PM

    I haven’t heard this awesome song in so long! I’m so glad that you talked about the dynamics of this song. It has always stuck out to me, the levels that the instruments hit when the song reaches the crescendo just brings so many emotions.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AmelieFebruary 28, 2024 at 3:25 AM

    I am a big fan of this song! The song gives an ethereal feel with a deeper meaning. I think the tempo is pretty quick however, with the other instruments and the vocals it gives the song back its mysterious feeling. The piano has a fast tempo however the notes are not as happy as the tempo similar to a minor scale sound and like halloween music. I agree with the writer that this song brings out many emotions.

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