Good Luck, Babe!

really

okay i love that woman but yeah i was driving home from work one day i was with um my daughter's dad but things weren't good regardless of my sexuality things weren't good and um good luck babe came on the radio and i was stuck in loads of traffic and i could hear like i was listening to it and i was like i've heard this before what she's saying so don't judge me but while while we're in complete standstill traffic i did get the lyrics up and i'm like looking at the lyrics and i was like oh oh and you know when you wake up next to him in the middle of the night i was like

she's speaking to me

she's speaking to me yes and i literally went home that night and like had a full-on like epiphany i guess and i was like lying in bed and like the room was spinning and the end of that song just kept playing in my head you know at the very end when it's like you'd have to stop the world yes and it like goes slower and lower that bit was in my head and i was like damn nothing's gonna stop this feeling

And then Feminine Arminon as well.

Feminine Arminon.

After listening to, after that experience with Good Luck Babe, that like out of world experience, I then listened to her whole album.

You know, there was, there was parts of Feminine Arminon where I was just like, oh, oh, like.

Let the world surprise you.

But I love this because it reminds me of when Good Luck Babe broke through because that was not a normal pop song.

And it reminds me of when Bad Guy Billie Eilish broke through.

That was not a normal pop song at the time.

Absolutely not.

This is your cover of Good Luck, Babe by, what's her name? Chapel Roan.

Chapel Roan.

Yeah, this is the yachtiest track of yours we've rated.

yeah yeah it seems like a lot of the people who are trying to recreate the sound that have been doing it for the last 20 years kind of get things too clean it doesn't quite sound right and then we hear your stuff come along and it sounded pretty close

it's right i'm i'm glad to hear that that was the goal there

good i have a question how much uh how much re-harmonizing did it take to uh turn good luck babe into a yacht rock song

well for that one the only part that i really changed up well i changed a little bit of it you know uh the the pre-choruses were where they had a sort of a very static progression but a lot of the the sort of yacht rock sound is you know the the chords come out of the soul r b and the jazz tradition which uh has an emphasis on harmonic movement and that you know there's certain section of that song that just kind of sit on a chord for a while and on those parts like the pre-chorus and the bridge i really had to think about uh what what else could be done here to still keep the same vibe or still keep at least a similar harmony to the original song but put like that that yacht rock twist on it and then i sort of add that thing to it that's very um i don't even know who who that might be uh ripping off but you know it's it kind of is that

I recently shared, re-shared a video on social media where Chapel Roan is talking on a podcast, Las Culturistas, a great podcast, BTW.

But she's talking about how she does not sing Good Luck Babe in its original high recorded key when it's in a long set of songs.

It's just too high for her.

And so I just comment on that to go, OK, so this is just an example, example one of many, many, many of high level artists who, for whatever reason, need to tweak a key when they go to perform so they can deliver their best.

and why but let me first say when somebody says something like people hear keys i think they mean the right thing said in the wrong way right because think about the last time unless you have perfect pitch which very few people have tell me the last time you went to a concert and went hold up this is normally an f sharp i believe it's an f today well it's ruined for me Right? That doesn't happen.

What people hear is vibe, tonality, the quality of the sound.

What do I mean by that? I mean, if you've got a chorus like Good Luck Babe, it has high energy.

It has this bright kind of edgy sound.

You're listening to Sound Opinions, and this week, we catch up with our old colleague, Bill Wyman.

His new book ranks every song by some classic rock artists, including the Beatles, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, and the Eagles.

It is an argument waiting to happen.

I'm Jim DeRogatis.

I was visiting a friend a few years ago.

I attended a neighbor's block party, and just as I arrived, the band broke into Jailhouse Rock.

And then someone pointed out to me that the lead singer was your convicted ex-governor, Rob Blagojevich, who reminded us that he had 2,900 days to learn that song, and that was my quintessential Chicago moment.

312 beer.

But every now and then, I do think about Lisa." And I was like, love that.

That reminded me of Chappell Roan's, um, song Good Luck Babe.

What is it? You'll be thinking about me.

Something, whatever.

Hello, I am pop songwriter Justin Tranter.

I have been lucky enough to co-write songs like Chapel Roan's Good Luck Babe, Justin Bieber's Sorry, Cake by the Ocean, Imagine Dragons Believer, and I am obsessed with the art of collaboration.

When I started collaborating and co-writing and opening my mind to the fact that I might not be a singular genius and I might need help, my entire life changed.

So welcome to Unchanged.

"And when you think about me as you're-"

Good Luck, Babe.

Good Luck, Babe.

It feels a little like Good Luck, Babe, but I feel like the, the singer has a lot more, um, grace for the character she's talking about.

Right, because the, the-

Yeah

Hello, I am Justin Tranter, pop songwriter.

I have been lucky enough to co-write songs like Chapel Rowan's Good Luck Babe, Justin Bieber's Sorry, Imagine Dragons' Believer, Cake by the Ocean, Halsey, Bad at Love, and I'll shut the fuck up.

I am obsessed with the art of collaboration.

The second I realized I probably shouldn't write everything alone, my entire life changed.