Deep Water
Hello, and thank you for reading my blog, which will be a musical analysis of the song "Deep Water", performed by Kainen Kellum. The song is a haunting and melancholic tune that tells a story of the murder of a young man. Today I want to talk about the elements of this song that resonate with me, and the characteristics that have left me listening to this spooky tune, time and time again. As well as giving a brief overview of Kianen and his music.
"Deep Water" was released on May 13th of 2022 in the United States. The song has several elements that continue to keep me engaged every time I hear it. But today I want to focus on the Chords, Melody, and Tempo of the song.
Chords
While it only takes four chords to play this song, they still manage to take you on an emotional journey. The song starts off with a lonely guitar riff, playing a set of Minor chords that set the tone of the song. This song has just started and it is already producing deep emotions of mystery and sadness. Then Kainen begins to sing, producing a low range with his voice, matching the guitar chords perfectly. The progression leads you to the chorus, where it then adds a C7 chord that chills you to the bone. The chords in this song represent perfectly what I love in music, chords that can move you and make you feel emotion from start to finish.
Tempo
The tempo remains pretty consistent throughout most of the song. Steady and slowly progressing the story through two verses and two choruses. The slow tempo keeps the story unsettling and quite somber. The deliberate strums on the guitar do a good job at setting the energy of the song. It makes you just want to sit around a campfire and listen to the cautionary tale that it brings. The setting remains slow paced until the Outro begins, a chorus where Kianen slowly begins to pick up the pace. You feel the lyrics coming at you faster and faster, as if the killer has picked you as his next victim. Approaching you quickly, and then the final chords play and the song is over. The tempo in this song perfectly commands the energy of the listener. Keeping them engaged with a moderate pace, until you've heard the story and then the pace picks up, shocking you with what has happened.
Melody
The Melody of this song invokes an emotional impact on me every time that I hear it. The background of the guitar strumming, with the guitar licks in between the lyrics, keep the story moving along. Almost acting as a horse for the lyrics to ride on. The soft lyrics sung by the growl like singing voice. Warning the listener of the dangers lurking. Everything is integrated perfectly to frame the song and make it stand out in your memory. The melody leaves an impact on you, leaving you disturbed and sad, but begging for another verse. This melody is very catchy and memorable, simple yet profound. It is exactly what I look for when searching for new music.
Being an up and comer in the music scene, there's not much to find about Kianen Kellum. He is labeled as a Country singer, but I personally think a lot of his music draws inspiration from Folk music. He writes his own songs and released his debut album A Fool's Pipedream, in May of 2022. Kianen has garnered respect from fellow artists such as Drayton Farley, who continues to praise Kianen's songs, and even performs alongside him.
Kianen Kellum and Drayton Farley
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope that you have enjoyed the music and the analysis that I have made. Kianen Kellum knocked it out of the park with this song and I hope that he continues to deliver with this type of beautiful story telling music.
Hello, Great Musical Analysis! I am not generally a fan of country/folk music however, I enjoyed your piece. The chords are generally the same throughout the whole piece, however, personally, I am not getting mystery and sadness from the chords. I think the sadness comes mostly from the singers voice. I did not notice anything missing from your analysis and do not have anything to add. Great work.
ReplyDeleteHello Cameron,
ReplyDeleteI love your blog as a whole and I think that is beautiful. The explanation of your song of choice “Deep Water” I found to be very well spoken. It is truly a beautiful song and the fact that he only uses 4 chords and still gives off so much emotion is amazing. I have been finding myself really liking songs with slower tempos like this song. I agree with you that the way the tempo is in this song and the chords that are played do give the song a somber feel to it. I do see where you are coming from saying that he fits into the folk music genre. My favorite part was the very end of the song where he speeds up the tempo and then it’s over. I found that to be a great ending. You had an amazing blog post thank you for sharing.