Moby - Why does my heart feel so bad

MOBY
Why does my heart feel so bad?
Intro
Verse
Chorus
Break
Outro
Tonic key of A minor is established
Time signature is 4/4
Tempo is 98bpm (beats per minute)
Piano establishes chord sequence 1
Am
Am
Em
Em
G
G
D
D
Chord sequence continues
Vocals enter
Note that the vocal sample is untidy (you can hear traffic and other noise)
Synthesizer string pad and high piano notes play a response phrase to the vocals
vocal
piano/synth
As the verse continues there are small variations
Synthesizer strings play the chords and fill out the sound
Synth pad plays bass notes
The rhythm of the chords played by the piano changes
C
C
Am
Am
C
C
Am
Am
F
F
C
C
F
F
C
C
Chord sequence 2a
Chord sequence 2b
The chorus has two chord sequences
The chords change in the chorus and a new sample is introduced: 'these open doors'
This gives the music a 'lifting' effect.
The texture is much the same.
After the second verse is a one bar break
All the parts drop out for a single bar.
You can still hear the delay effects of the EQed vocal echo and reverb from the other parts
The texture breaks down to:
Vocal sample of 'why does my heart feel so bad'
Synth pad playing chord sequence 1
Chord sequence 1
STRUCTURE
The structure is similar to a typical pop song:
Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Break, Chorus, Outro
Technology
Samples are deliberately left untouched
Moby felt that they better triggered an emotional response than when they were cleaned up
Listen to the change in sample 2 at 3.18
Listen to the intro with headphones. Try switching ears and listening in mono to hear the difference
This allows detailed control of the frequencies (such as treble)
Use of effects such as delay and reverb
Use of panning effect
EQ is short for Equalisation