the song
i had never listened to Madilyn Mei until yesterday, but i'm interested to listen a lot more soon. "What's Going On?!" is a quirky bouncy polka neurodivergent anthem about not understanding how to be a human
- "I am an alien / My rocketship is human bone and skin"
- "I wanna go home / Where is home though?"
- "How do I be one of- / How do I be one of you?"
where to find it:
- YouTube MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIoRr6VcbSE
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5s7nzC5NOwTo61L1NBGH26?si=21f6b4c956344ce7
context
yesterday I invited random queer strangers from the internet to my rental in Philly to jam and make friends
only one person showed up, and we only ended up properly jamming on one song, but it's a fucking incredible song (and the rest of the conversation and hangout was so incredibly fun)
i have what i'd call "perfect harmony" - give me the context of a key, play a song, and I can realtime write down roman numeral analysis of the harmonic functions i hear
so it was rly easy to listen to this song and pretty quickly identify the chord progressions, map out the sections, and quickly pick it up to jam along
it was admittedly not necessary for me to make a markdown-based lead sheet in order to just play "root, 5th, root, 5th" on all of the chords lol. but i did that anyways.
so here, if u wanna jam on this song, you can use this as a starting point.
transcription - Madilyn Mei - What's Going On?!
Key: D Major (tmp switch to D Minor during bridge)
chord progressions
(riff)=I I7 IV iv (D D7 G Gm)- pre-chorus:
V IV V IV V I VI7 IV ivadd6 (A G A G A D B7 G Gmadd6) - bridge switches to key of D minor, borrowing DMaj chord:
I VI I IV I VI iv VI (D Bb D Bb D Bb Gm Bb)- this sounds cool bc we switch from key of D Major to D minor but we borrow the D Major 1 chord back anyways. modal interchange! and it beautifully sets up for the "reverse picardy" at the end of the piece - we only ever hear D minor in that very last chord.
lead sheet
- refrain (instrumental)
( riff ) x2 - chorus ("i am an alien")
( riff ) x4 - refrain ("what's going on")
( riff )x 2 - pre-chorus ("take me to your leader")
( V . IV . ) x 2 - pre-chorus 2 ("i'd go back to space")
V . (slowdown) I VI7, hold. (a tempo) IV . iv . - refrain (instrumental)
( riff )( riff ) - verse ("you mock")
( riff ) x 4 - pre-chorus ("safer than having friends")
( V . IV . )x 2 - chorus ("i am an alien")
( riff ) x 4 - refrain (instrumental)
( riff ) x 2 - pre-chorus ("take me to your leader")
( V . IV . ) x 2 - pre-chorus 2 ("i'd go back to space")
V . (slowdown) I VI7, hold. (a tempo) IV . (slowdown) ivadd6 . - bridge (instrumental)
(D minor key, borrowing major 1) I VI I IV I VI iv VI - bridge ("i, i-i-i don't want to be here")
I VI I IV I VI iv VI x 2- end with "everywhere I look, I'm al-"
(hold/sweep V7)-loooone
- end with "everywhere I look, I'm al-"
- chorus/outro ("i am an alien")
back to key D Major. slower ( riff ), repeat, accelerate- "How do I be one of-----")
(slowdown, hold iv add6) - "you?"
I, shift into i
- "How do I be one of-----")
detail lyric-synced version
note that i've tried to move lyrics across lines to be accurate for when the chord changes, but I know I haven't caught all of those changes yet, so this isn't precisely synced yet.
refrain 1 / intro
( riff ) ( riff )
(instrumental)
chorus 1
I am an alien
My rocketship is human bone and skin
( riff )
I'm something smaller
Staring out the skull
With a panel of wire
( riff )
And buttons I don't understand
Spamming every one of them
( riff )
So does being human mean
Pretending to know what's going /
refrain 2
( riff )
on? (Hello!?)
( riff )
What's going on!?
(Fine!)
post-chorus 1
( V . IV . )
Take me to your leader
I would like to have a couple words, Get
( V . IV . )
your shit together
How do humans keep on getting worse? I'd
post-chorus 1 extended
V .
go back to space
But they've inv-
(slowdown) I (a tempo)
-vaded out there
VI7, hold
too-----
IV . iv .
We're doomed!
refrain 3
( riff ) ( riff )
(Will anyone tеll me what's going on?!)
(No!? I'm gonna scream! AAAAAAAA TELL ME!!!!!)
verse
( riff )
You mock the way I talk
And I might bе a little bit behind
( riff )
Trends and slang and other ways to fit the box
To not be not liked
( riff )
Once it gets underneath my skin
It's hard to let anyone in
( riff )
Again, my walls go up
I'm on defence, my solitude is
post-chorus 2
( V . IV . )
safer Than having friends
( V . IV . )
Why do I feel alien?
chorus 2
( riff )
I am an alien
My rocketship is human bone and skin
( riff ), but silent on the last chord, the iv / Gm
I'm something smaller
Staring out the skull
Through (SILENT) two big eye sockets
( riff )
And I just don't understand
How to become one of them
( riff )
Does being human mean pretending
To be something you're
refrain 4
( riff )
not?
What's going
( riff )
on!?
post-chorus 3
( V . IV . )
Take me to your leader
I would like to have a couple words
( V . IV . )
Get your shit together
How do humans keep on getting worse?
post-chorus 3 extended
( V . )
I'd go back to space
But they've inv-
(slowdown) I (a tempo)
-vaded out there
VI7, hold
too
IV iv add6, slowdown
We're doomed!
bridge
I VI I IV I VI iv VI
(instrumental)
I VI I IV I VI iv VI
I -i-i-i don't want to be here
Don't want a body or brain
Or thoughts of my own
I don't know who's there in the mirror
I wanna go home
Where is home though?
I VI I IV I VI iv VI(shorter)
I don't wanna be her
Dissociate through another day
I don't know who that is standing in the mirror
Everywhere I look, I'm al-
V7
-lone
(hold/sweep V7)
chorus 3 / outro
(slower, accelerate)
( riff )
I am an alien
My rocketship is human skin and bone
( riff )
I'm over trying to fit in
I guess I'll always be alone
( riff )
Coz I just don't understand
How to become one of them
( riff )
How do I be one of-
How do I be one of you?
( riff )
How do I be one of-
How do I be one of you? (Is anyone out there!? Over!)
( riff )
How do I be one of-
How do I be one of you?
( riff )
How do I be one of- (Anyone!? Over!)
How do I be one of you?
( riff )
How do I be one of- (I'm talking to myself aren't I!?)
How do I be one of you? (Hahaha! Over!)
( riff )
How do I be one of-
How do I be one of you? (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Over!)
(faster)( riff )
How do I be one of-
How do I be one of you?
( riff )
How do I be one of-
How do I be one of-----
(slowdown, hold ivadd6)
(short pause)
I
you?
slow shift into i