Song Reviews, John Prine, Summer’s End

John Prine, Summer’s End

Here’s my breakdown so far of Summer’s End:

Key of D (video has him playing capo 2 (key of C)

So in C: notes would be: C Dm Em F G Am _          

FORM:

Intro-4 bars

Verse-8 (drums start here)

V-8 (start to hear some violin underneath-slowly builds to violin solo(ish))

C -4 into Intro-4

V-8

C/Intro(violin over guitar)

V-8

C-4

60 bars total x 4 beat/bar / 74 B/M is 3 minutes 24ish seconds, which seems to match

Verses: C Em C Em F G F G (I just went with guitartab)

Chorus C Am F G (into intro C Em C Em)

Rhythm: slow flat picking entire way through, seems the same in the chorus too,

Lyrics:

Rhyme scheme: Verses: AABB

Chorus A A

Mood: pensive- made by slightly behind guitar notes? Until the chorus, where it’s more right on the beat (maybe?)

Contrast added by starting Em lyrics at beat 2,

Jumping into chorus quickly at end of verse (over the G)

Leaving the chorus into the intro on the word “home” and 2nd round of chorus going up to the F and G with the violin solo

Here’s my current interpretation of what the song is saying, although many of the lyrics are more cool images instead of with the story:

Verse 1: setup the environment, returning from a vacation of fun stuff, and “I’ll” meet you when you your finished there.

Verse 2: Time is moving on, seasons are changing, and you’re still not home

Chorus: will you please just come home

Verse 3: Now into springtime and a new year (not sure why didn’t have new years before valentines, maybe to suggest even more years go by? or to have the rhymes of the chorus repeated in the verse?)

Chorus

Verse 4:  Love that “moon in stars hang out in bars”  our time together went to fast and I’m still waiting for you

Next is melody notes: I think just C to E, C to E to B to E for start?…