From a music theory perspective, what is it about “Little Dreamer” by Van Halen that makes it sound so jazzy, especially compared to most of their other songs? Is there something they do in this song that is very different from their other songs? In case you haven’t heard the song, here it is.
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Hmmm…I’m not exactly sure what you mean. I don’t hear at this as jazzy at all.
Just a classic VH rock song.
Is there a particular portion of it that stands out as jazzy or is it the song as a whole?
Maybe “jazzy” isn’t exactly the right word to convey what I mean. There’s a certain sound to it that I do find different from the vast majority of Van Halen songs. I think “jazzy” is the best way I can describe it but if I come up with some other ways to describe the particular quality in this song that I’m referring to, I’ll post again.
Good question. Let me have a few minutes to figure that out because yes, I do believe it is certain parts I’m referring to. Thank you!
OK, first of all there is the chorus that starts at :43 or :44 into the song. Tenth way it sounds when Dave sins the word “Dreamer” at :49 into the song. Also from 2:46 to 2:51 into the song, first the way he sings “little dreamer” and then the guitar fill at 2:49. Also, and this is very jazzy, the part that begins at 3:07 to 3:13 - that vocal melody has a very sad, nostalgic jazzy feel.
I think I see what you’re saying. The main riff in the chorus is outlining a couple of minor 7 chords, which are a staple of jazz. The cadence between the two is something you find in a lot of jazz tunes, particularly bluesy numbers. Of course just banging a m7 chord through a blasting Marshall typically sounds pretty terrible. The genius here is how Eddie breaks the chord up into bits to outline the harmony without resorting to simple “chugging” on the chords.
I think the background “oooohs” over the chorus also contribute to a jazz-esque feel. They are functioning essentially like horn pads do in a lot of other songs. If you squint your eyes (ears?) just right you can almost imagine a horn pad like that in a Steely Dan song.
This is definitely not your typical 12-bar blues brasher (a la Ice Cream Man) and it does stand out stylistically on this record and even the VH catalog as a whole. Maybe Eddie soaked up enough jazz from hearing his dad to infect his writing for this tune. Taken to an extreme would we ended up with an entire album of this?
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Thank you very much alexvolimer! I think your explanation accounts for a good deal of what makes the song sound so jazzy. There is that vocal ending that isn’t even sung over any notes and still sounds very jazzy as well, I guess that’s the only mystery left. BTW, if you know the chords that Eddie plays in the first 5 seconds of the song and could tell me what frets on what strings are being used that would be very cool!
I hope not! LOL That’s too extreme in the wrong way!
I’d never thought of Little Dreamer as jazzy to be honest. The closest thing VH have come to jazz is on the Fair Warning album on When Push Comes to Shove when Eddie does his Allan Holdsworth meets The Police impression.
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I always expect Snoop Dogg to come in on that one