Yeah!
A lesson in minimalism, from Usher, et. al.
The Frontier Psychiatrists is a health-themed newsletter. Today, it’s not completely about data or science, it’s about the potency of minimalism. Sometimes, it is hiding where we least expect it.
Every once in a while, I try to relax. I'm terrible at relaxing. This is a quality that many individuals attention deficit hyperactivity disorder share. It is even an element on the ASRS-1, a rating scale for ADHD. Here are just a few of the items on this particular scale, which I use at work, regularly, because it’s built into my EHR, Osmind:
One of the things I do to relax is cover songs. I record them. My most recent cover song?
Yes, the Tracy Chapman classic. This week, for some reason, I decided to work on a cover of Usher’s classic tune, “Yeah!,” which features the perplexingly famous ‘Lil Jon and the hilarious (and rather gifted) rapper-actor Ludacris.
Some of the time, when I sit down to figure out a cover song, I realize that the music is quite a bit more complicated than I thought at first. Some of the tunes we bop around to on the regular are breathtakingly complex. Yesterday, I was checking out “Virtual Insanity” by Jamariqoi. The first plage of the sheet music looks like this:
Because all of my favorite pop songs have… C#m7b5 chords? Wait. No, they do not. That is some complex harmony! Coltrane, eat your heart out.
But, what about those days when you feel like you're not good enough? The days when you feel like everything is more complicated than it needs to be? The days when you think you don't have what it takes? On those days, we have proof that it’s possible to do more with less. Sometimes, all you need to make the world turn is a collection of credited songwriters:
To be clear, that is 5 people with writing credits on the song. The total number of notes in the song is less than the number of credited composers.
That is it. That three-note phrase (the low note is repeated every bar, so it’s only 3 unique notes) is the whole song.
If you're wondering, “what is it gonna take?” How am I gonna make my mark on the world? Can I do it? I have a really simple answer for you, thanks to Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris.
Yeah!
And, of course, given Lil Jon’s involvement, “Okay!”
If they can do it, we can too. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just needs to be done, all right?
I am afraid to look at what year this song came out. It definitely got played at a high school dance. Now I feel old 😂
My husband and I could have an entire conversation a la the Lil Jon character from Chappelle's Show (which also makes me feel old)
Hwhat?
Ye-eah
O-kay
If you need a square chick from Iowa to rap the Ludacris part, I'm your girl! :)