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Refrain
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Refrain
A refrain (from Vulgar Latin: refringere, "to repeat", through Old French: refraindre) is the line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music—the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the villanelle, the virelay, and the sestina.
In popular music, the refrain or chorus may contrast with the verse melodically, rhythmically, and harmonically; it may assume a higher level of dynamics and activity, often with added instrumentation. Chorus form, or strophic form, is a sectional and/or additive way of structuring a piece of music based on the repetition of one formal section or block played
Although repeats of refrains may use different words, refrains are made recognizable by reusing the same melody (when sung as music) and by preserving any rhymes. For example, "The Star-Spangled Banner" contains a refrain which is introduced by a different phrase in each verse, but which always ends:
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
A similar refrain is found in the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", which affirms in successive verses that "Our God", or "His Truth", is "marching on".
Refrains usually, but not always, come at the end of the verse. Some songs, especially ballads, incorporate refrains (or burdens) into each verse. For example, one version of the traditional ballad "The Cruel Sister" includes a refrain mid-verse:
There lived a lady by the North Sea shore,
Lay the bent to the bonny broom
Two daughters were the babes she bore.
Fa la la la la la la la la.
As one grew bright as is the sun,
Lay the bent to the bonny broom
So coal black grew the other one.
Fa la la la la la la la.
(Note: the refrain of "Lay the bent to the bonny broom" is not traditionally associated with the ballad of "The Cruel Sister" (Child #10). This was the work of "pop-folk" group Pentangle on their 1970 LP Cruel Sister, which has subsequently been picked up by many folk singers as being traditional. Both the melody and the refrain come from the ballad known as "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (Child #1).[citation needed])
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Refrain AI simulator
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Refrain
A refrain (from Vulgar Latin: refringere, "to repeat", through Old French: refraindre) is the line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music—the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the villanelle, the virelay, and the sestina.
In popular music, the refrain or chorus may contrast with the verse melodically, rhythmically, and harmonically; it may assume a higher level of dynamics and activity, often with added instrumentation. Chorus form, or strophic form, is a sectional and/or additive way of structuring a piece of music based on the repetition of one formal section or block played
Although repeats of refrains may use different words, refrains are made recognizable by reusing the same melody (when sung as music) and by preserving any rhymes. For example, "The Star-Spangled Banner" contains a refrain which is introduced by a different phrase in each verse, but which always ends:
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
A similar refrain is found in the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", which affirms in successive verses that "Our God", or "His Truth", is "marching on".
Refrains usually, but not always, come at the end of the verse. Some songs, especially ballads, incorporate refrains (or burdens) into each verse. For example, one version of the traditional ballad "The Cruel Sister" includes a refrain mid-verse:
There lived a lady by the North Sea shore,
Lay the bent to the bonny broom
Two daughters were the babes she bore.
Fa la la la la la la la la.
As one grew bright as is the sun,
Lay the bent to the bonny broom
So coal black grew the other one.
Fa la la la la la la la.
(Note: the refrain of "Lay the bent to the bonny broom" is not traditionally associated with the ballad of "The Cruel Sister" (Child #10). This was the work of "pop-folk" group Pentangle on their 1970 LP Cruel Sister, which has subsequently been picked up by many folk singers as being traditional. Both the melody and the refrain come from the ballad known as "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (Child #1).[citation needed])
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