"stay of leave", by Dave Matthews

oh, i love dave...This is from the his 2003 solo album Some Devil.

This song has a great instrumental introduction, with a really nice groove between drums and guitar. It's in 12/8, but is taken in a fast one. It begins in b minor, with a beautiful melodic line that repeats twice, and then ends on a half cadence. Dave starts singing right after this, with that same groove with the guitar and drums. At the chorus, a drum shaker starts in, which really makes it sound cool...There is also a cymbal crash on each of the endings of the verses, which gives it some variety. When Dave sings this he sounds laid back and the notes aren't really on the beats, giving it a more relaxed feel...It's actually a very simple song, except for a meter change to simple meter when the on the 3rd verse from the end "remember we used to dance, and everyone wanted to be you and me and I want to be too, what day is this, besides the day you left me? what day is this besides the day you went?", and he keeps the simple meter throughout the ending of this piece which is kind of unique. Simple meter fits more of the mood now as the lyrics become sadder and deeper.