Another Day In Paradise (Phil Collins)

4.00

Composer : Phil Collins

Versions:

  • Instrumental + Voice
  • Instrumental

Accordage:

  • Standard
  • Matched Reciprocal

Audio:

  • Audio mp3

Description

Another Day In Paradise

Phil Collins

Released in October 1989, Another Day In Paradise is the first single from the album “But Seriously” and one of Phil Collins’ biggest hits. While most of his songs are about love or relationship problems (more or less autobiographical), this one is about the homeless drama in a very simple and strong way. This man walking in the street is him, it’s me, it’s you, who pretend not to see, not to hear the distress of this woman who calls out to us.

This contrast between this light pop and the hardness of the subject surely explains in part the impact that this song had on all the 90s.

For the Stick version, I made two versions: a first one with vocals and a second one instrumental.

In the first one, the left hand uses Leland Sklar’s very simple and very effective bass line (like most of the bass lines of this extraordinary musician) with some high notes to complete the harmony. The right hand plays the intro gimmick and plays the chords in whole notes for most of the song.

In the second version, the left hand is identical, but the right hand takes over the complete melody with the multi-voice concept, where the chord is plated and the available fingers play the melody. Here, the harmony is suggested with double notes. If you are a regular user of StickMusicScores, you must be starting to get used to this concept, as many of my scores use it.

The arrangement is as follows: the piece is in F minor natural, based mainly on three chords: F minor / Eb major / Bb minor (Im/VIIb/IVm).

Intro

As mentioned above, the left hand takes the bass line and the right hand plays the synth gimmick. Note once again the multi-voice principle of the right hand. And here it’s perfect because all the notes of the melody fall under the fingers.

Verse

Same bass line left hand. In the version with vocals, the right hand plays the chords in whole notes. In the instrumental version, it plays the melody in double notes when possible, to make the harmony heard. Very simple structure: two times 8 bars.

Chorus

Here we have a concept dear to Phil Collins, that we find in many of his songs: the bass pedal. All the chords will have as common note F in the bass. The left hand plays the same pattern around F. Note the glissando Eb/F on the fourth beat. On the first eighth note of the second beat of each bar I play the characteristic note of the chord in the treble: Ab on F minor / G on Eb / Db on Db … This left hand is quite complex but it makes you hear many things. The right hand plays the melody in double notes when possible to enrich the harmony.

After repeating the verse/chorus we arrive on :

Bridge

On this passage, the left hand plays the roots in eighth notes. Note the inversion of the Eb chord with G on bass. The right hand plays the melody in double notes according to the same principle. The melody shifts starting on the third beat of the bar.

Repetition of verse/chorus/intro then :

Coda

This end turns on the same chords as the intro, but the melody is different. It is a very beautiful counterpoint sung on the album by David Crosby. In the original version this part blends with the melody of the intro forming a magical counterpoint. Of course you can’t do this alone on the Stick, but you can do it in a group with a guitar or a keyboard.

Here the piece is finished. It only remains to assemble all these parts. This piece is very pleasant to play because it gathers several parts of guitar, bass, keyboard and voice, while being rather accessible.

Finally it is a wink to Phil Collins, this pure musician who dreamed of only one thing: “to become a drummer of a progressive rock band” and who found himself a little bit by chance a planetary star of the international pop.

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Another Day In Paradise (Phil Collins)
4.00