Bridge or Chorus?

[sprucetophere]

I’m struggling with understanding the difference between the meaning of the bridge versus the chorus at times. For example, nearly always referred to as the bridge in My Guitar Gently Weeps…

“I don’t know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you”

Why would this be considered a bridge and not a chorus?

[CASD57]

A bridge is something that the writer put in to confuse the basic melody of the song.. Usually it doesn't even fit and gives you that "What the heck is that" look" and confuses dancers

The Chorus goes with the song..it is usually the same or close to the same each time and it links the Verses

[Dave Hicks]

To my mind a chorus repeats after (almost) every verse, while a bridge turns up only once in the structure. Both differ in melody and harmony from the verse.

In the classical 32 bar AABA form, the bridge or middle eight is the 8 bars of the B section, with different melody and harmony from the A's.

(Although some people seem to use the term bridge for what I know as a prechorus.)

D.H.

[GoPappy]

I remember hearing Clapton tell the story of George Harrison playing the bridge part on "Badge." The whole reason the song is named "Badge" is because Clapton said something to Harrison about the "bridge" and Harrison thought he said "badge" because he had never heard of a "bridge" in a song.

The bridge in "Badge" is the part that starts at about 1:06 here: https://youtu.be/gSpW6MePb10

In my mind, the bridge is something that connects the chorus to the verse and, in some cases, also acts as a bed for the chorus. The bridge part in "Badge" is a good example of that. But maybe I'm completely wrong about that.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by sprucetophere

I’m struggling with understanding the difference between the meaning of the bridge versus the chorus at times. For example, nearly always referred to as the bridge in My Guitar Gently Weeps…

“I don’t know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you”

Why would this be considered a bridge and not a chorus?

I don't think it actually matters to this band!

Normally, a bridge is a quite separate part of a song. I suppose a classic example would be this one. As it has an identifiable verse, chorus and bridge
(I hear her voice.....):

[Jim Owen]

Harrison wouldn’t have used the term “bridge.” He tended to use the term “middle eight”—the B part of tunes that went AABA

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by sprucetophere

Why would this be considered a bridge and not a chorus?

As I understand it, a chorus would be repeated word for word. While the bridge in Gently Weeps is the same melody both times, the words are different.

[Graylocks]

Originally Posted by Dave Hicks

To my mind a chorus repeats after (almost) every verse, while a bridge turns up only once in the structure. Both differ in melody and harmony from the verse.


D.H.

This. Very clearly put.

[Chipotle]

IMO a big difference between a chorus and a bridge is that a chorus repeats itself several times throughout the song (it often, but not always, contains the title of the song and the melodic/lyrical "hook" that you remember--in part because of the repetition). A bridge is only used once per song, generally.

Not to be confused, of course, with a "pre-chorus": a short, slightly different section that goes between a verse and chorus and is kind of a build-up to the chorus section. It is often used before most, but maybe not all, the choruses. (A good song to illustrate the pre-chorus is Katy Perry's Firework. The pre-chorus is the section that goes, "You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine/Just own the night like the 4th of July", which leads into the chorus, "Baby you're a firework...".)

[TBman]

I think the answer is obvious.

Bridge and chorus:

[sprucetophere]

Thanks, much of what I’m reading describes the song as containing a double bridge with the same melody and different lyrics for each bridge.

Color me confused.

[bufflehead]

Incidentally, I perform the first bridge as a chorus, repeating it in place of the second bridge, which I find a bit nihilistic.

I don't know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted
No one alerted you

I've been told that I'm performing the song wrong, thus, but I tend to think that I'm performing a better version than the original.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by sprucetophere

I’m struggling with understanding the difference between the meaning of the bridge versus the chorus at times. For example, nearly always referred to as the bridge in My Guitar Gently Weeps…

“I don’t know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you”

Why would this be considered a bridge and not a chorus?

I just learned the difference myself about two years ago.

The Beatles were absolute masters at this (along with everything else). As Jim Owen mentioned above, they referred to it as "the middle eight," because typically (but not always) it's composed of eight bars. However, I've seen it in 4 bars, or 12, or even 16 on rare occasions. Robin gave a couple stellar examples above.

You'll find it a LOT in country music. For instance, Kacey Musgraves is a master at it.
The typical structure is:

VERSE ONE
VERSE TWO
REFRAIN (CHORUS)
BRIDGE
VERSE THREE
CHORUS

Here are a few of my faves.

"Something," by George; the bridge begins at around 1:20 with "You're asking me...."



Here's McCartney doing "I'll Get You." The bridge starts at 1:05 with "Well, there's gonna be a time."



Here it is at 1:08 in "I Saw Her Standing There."



The Beatles' bridges were so good, sometimes they did them twice. Here's "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" where it's done at 0:15 and again at 1:00. "And when I touch you...."



Finally, one of my absolute faves is Springsteen's "Born to Run," which starts at 2:00 with "Beyond the palace...."

[phydaux]

A chorus repeats several times throughout a song, and is usually in the same key as the verses.

A bridge occurs only once, and is often modulated to a different key to even further differentiate it from the rest of the song.

[Blueser100]

Here is a good explanation of the bridge in modern songwriting, its purposes, structure, etc.

https://iconcollective.edu/what-is-a-bridge-in-a-song/