Dissect - S10E2 - EARFQUAKE by Tyler, The Creator

Episode Date: October 25, 2022

Our season-long analysis of Tyler, The Creator's IGOR continues with his biggest song to date, EARFQUAKE. Shop Season 10 merchandise here. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Host, EP, Writer: Cole Cuchna Writer: Camden Ostrander Audio Editor: Kevin Pooler Theme Music: Birocratic Recreations: Andrew Atwood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify, this is Dysect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. This is episode two of our season-long examination of Tyler the creator's Igor. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Last time on Dysect, we analyzed Igor's opening track, Igor's theme. There we discussed the track's nuanced production and its deliberate fusion of both the beautiful and the ugly, from the rich, harmonious piano chords to the rough, grimy synthesizer. This dichotomy helps set the stage for the album's main character, Igor, who will fluly exhibit both qualities, from heartfelt vulnerability to maniacal aggression.

While Igor's theme is primarily instrumental, the few lyrical fragments we did here perfectly set up and foreshadowed the album's upcoming narrative. Riding around and running established the central motif of movement. Heaven suggested an ethereal destination or reward, He's Coming foreshadowed the entrance of the story's protagonist, got my eyes open, previewed Tyler's awakening to the fact that he'll need to move on, and Igor, of course, formally introduced us to the story. the album's main character. Igor's theme then ended with a bang. We heard a climactic, primal

scream from Igor himself, which is followed by a brief outro that blends perfectly with the start of Igor's second track, the subject of our episode today, Earthquake. Earthquake was written and produced by Tyler Okoma, with a guest verse by Playboy Cardi and background vocals by Charlie Wilson and Jesse Wilson. Now before we get into Earthquake proper, we have to acknowledge just how Tyler composed the transition from Igor's theme into Earthquake, as it's yet another display of his nuanced intentional approach to production and creating a cohesive body of work. The reason why the two songs blend together so smoothly is due to Tyler's strategic use of chords. Igor's theme ends on a G minor 6 chord played through a rapidly arpaciated synthesizer,

where the notes in the chord are played individually. This chord contains a G, a B flat, a D, and an F. Now the first chord we hear on Earthquake is a B-flat major 7 chord. Three of the four notes in this chord are also contained, in the chord that ends Igor's theme. Here's the two chords back to back. Because these two chords share three notes in common, the change between the two is subtle,

which is why the transition between Igor's theme and Earthquake is so incredibly smooth. The piano introduction of Earthquake establishes the four-cord progression the entire song will center around. Like Igor's theme, the progression is made up of rich four-note seventh chords that we discussed last episode.

It begins with that B-flat major 7, moves down to an A-minor 7, moves down again to a G minor 7, and then back up to the A minor 7. The way Tyler voices this chord sequence in the introduction is beautiful, almost orchestral in its use of the wide range of the piano. First we have the low register, playing the root note of each chord embellished with various melodic fills.

Next we have the middle register, which mostly plays simple two-note oscillations. Finally, we have the high register, which floats and flutters in syncopated rhythms. And now let's hear all three registers simultaneously. It's a beautifully orchestrated piano part, which is accompanied by fuzzy bass stabs played on a synth reminiscent of the one we heard throughout Igor's theme. The combination of a distorted synth with the harmonious piano sequence helps continue to develop the beautiful and ugly dichotomy central to Igor

while also creating sonic continuity between the tracks. Over this introduction, Tyler sings the phrase, For real this time, with extra repetitions of For Real, as if he's setting the stage for something meaningful. In terms of the album's narrative and Tyler's love interest, the phrase seems to imply his feelings of love are true, the real, that he's committed to this person from the start. For Real his time might also be self-referential, a cheeky nod to the fact that Earthquake is the first real song on the album, as Igor's theme is mostly instrumental, and therefore might be classified as an extended introduction. As the part repeats, Playboy Cardi sings,

bitch I cannot fall, lowering his register as he drags out the fall, before currently saying what seems to be short, as in I cannot fall short. His vocal texture here foreshadows his upcoming verse nicely and continues Tyler's noticeable use of layered dynamic vocals throughout Igor. Now before earthquake explodes into its opening hook, we hear one of my favorite moments of the song, when the piano suddenly hits a rapid descending flourish into its final chord. The irony of a descending or falling piano run right after Cardi sings, Bitch I Cannot Fall, makes for a perfect segue into the chorus, which expresses a feeling of love so intense that it completely destroys everything we thought we knew about ourselves. Earthquake erupts into its hook with a bass drop so heavy it quite literally makes the ground shake.

This is caused by the track's 8-08, which are sub-base percussion sounds that dominate the lower frequencies. Along with these 8-0-8s, we get relatively simple drums. Notably, the hi-hats open on each upbeat, providing a bit of bounce to the otherwise straight drum pattern. The harmony of the hook comes from a synthesizer playing the same chord sequence the piano did during the introduction, only now the chords are simplified without rhythmic variation. On top of this foundation, we get a lead synthesizer playing in the upper register. Finally, the last texture is a choppy staccato synthesizer playing a counter melody. This particular synth is extremely subtle in the mix, but now that you've heard it solo, see if you can pick it up.

Pretty subtle, right? You really have to stretch your ear to pick it up. But it's these kind of intricate details that we feel more than we hear, and contribute to the larger nuanced musical fabric Tyler is crafting. Over this instrumental, Tyler sings the song Central Refrain, because you make my earthquake, riding around, your love be shaking me up, and it's making my heartbreak. The love that Tyler is experiencing is a complete disruption of his world, an infatuation so intense, Tyler can only compare it to the seismic shifts with the potential to destroy entire cities. Despite its simplicity, the analogy succinctly captures the ways profound and impassioned adoration for another can reach a point of endangerment,

where our entire being feels like it's at the will of the beloved. Tyler riding around continues the motif of Igor's theme, when little Uzi-Virt sung, riding around town, you can go and feel this one. In the context of earthquake, riding around appears to describe what he and this love interest are doing, the riding around, perhaps in a car together. It's also possible that Tyler is just riding around alone, unable to shake the thoughts of this person. Whether alone or together, the constant references to riding around and travel

seem to be building a concept of life's journey and all our interweaving paths, like intersecting roads and streets. Riding around is also one of Tyler's favorite activities, whether by car, skateboard, or bike. That shit brings me so much joy. I don't know what it is. I love riding my bike, especially during golden hour, and having like the perfect songs on and the sun just on me.

I'm so happy. And everyone has something that gives them a ridiculous, immense amount of joy. That shit, I just love it. I love when it's five of us and we just go get lost. We literally put them in a fucking back in a pickup truck and it's like where we're going. I don't know. I'll talk about you, I don't know.

Let's just go towards Pallie's Verdi's or fucking Santa Barbara. Oh, this is a cool street and we get out and we will ride. We wrote the most I think we did was 35 miles. The riding motif central to Igor continues to be developed as a reflect of life's journeys and the joy of movement. Tyler is kinetic and the energy of getting out and moving around with others is crucial. Of course, going outside comes with risks. You can crash, you can get lost, you can hit too many potholes, you can run out of gas and become stranded, all apt metaphors for life and relationships. The line, your love be shaking me up and it's making

my heartbreak, is tied to the earthquake metaphor, with shaking and breaking being an earthquake's primary effects. It's interesting that the love Tyler feels is shaking him to the core and hurting him already. The ideal journey would be a smooth one, but Tyler's ride is turbulent. Even at the start, we're hearing about the dangers more than the joys. Now, from a sonic perspective, we have to consider the tone and timbre of Tyler's voice during this refrain, as it's noticeably higher than the gravely low baritone we've come to expect from him. In multiple conversations, Tyler has critiqued his own singing voice, saying that his low vocal range isn't what he wants to us to hear over the music he writes.

Here he is in conversation with Rick Rubin. I've always wanted to sing, but my voice doesn't allow me to sing the way I want. And everyone's like, oh, deep voice, like you pitch it up as an excuse, but I don't want to sing like Barry White or fucking Johnny Cash or whoever else had a deep voice. I don't want to sound like that.

That's not the tone of voice that I want to put on the music bed that I'm laying for it. So it's something I always wanted to do, but I just never went for it until I needed vocals on songs. So I would lay down refs for people. And when they wouldn't sing it or it didn't work out, I would be like, I like this idea so much that I'm okay with putting it out like this. I perfected it as much as I can, but I want this out in the world. I would trade to be able to sing well over rapping any day. As Tyler mentions here, he often lays down temporary vocal tracks of the melody he wants

with the intention of getting someone else to sing it eventually. This was the case with Earthquake, as Tyler originally wrote it with a specific pop artist in mind. Here he is giving the backstory when performing Earthquake live for the first time. So this next song, I made this like May of 2017 and I wrote it for Beaver. He didn't take it. So I hear Rihanna people up like, hey, I got this song. I would love her to sing the hook.

I think it'll be big. Because I just want to write pop songs, honestly. And I didn't hear back from him. So I left my rep vocals in and it goes like this. Tyler here reveals that the vocals we hear on Earthquake are indeed the temporary tracks he initially laid down for reference and that the song was rejected by both Justin Bieber and Rihanna. Thus, what remains on the track are Tyler's references, which are digitally altered and modulated into a higher register. To accomplish this, he could have used a number of software effects,

and it's hard to know exactly what effects he used. But we can use a live performance of the song to try and guess at least one major step in his vocal alteration. Here Tyler is playing a solo piano introduction of Earthquake as the crowd sings along. Now the interesting detail here is that Tyler is playing the song in a different key, a key that is four steps lower than the key that's heard on the album. And more interesting still is that when this live piano intro is over and his backing tracks kick in for the full performance of the song, it switches to the higher album version key. There's no obvious musical reason to play the intro in a different key. And my guess is that Tyler wrote and recorded the song in the lower key, sung his reference vocals in this lower key

as it suits his natural low voice better and then mechanically pitched up the entire track to the key we hear in the final version. And when he went to play the piano intro live, he never learned. the piano part in the new key and just played the original one he wrote it in. This theory would explain why his voice sounds slightly chipmunk-like on the album version. Since pitching your voice up naturally creates this effect. Now regardless of the specific way Tyler altered his voice, the end result is that his voice is heard in a higher register, one that he felt conveyed the idea accurately enough, bringing it out of quote-unquote monster territory. Honestly, I think I ruined songs.

I hate my voice. I think I'm a fucking ridiculously talented. content producer and have really, really, really good ideas. All kinds are messed up though because you are widely regarded as having one of the best tones and the best most recognizable voices in modern music. Yeah, that's cute and shit, but when you want to write singy songs like Stevie Wonder, and you can't because your voice is holding you back and you sound like a monster all the fucking time.

And because of that, people only want to hear you rap. But it's like, I'm not even that good at that, but I'm ridiculously good at that. start hating it more. And I know my voice is sick as f***, but it's like, all right, like, I've wrapped. Let me show y'all what else I could do. Like, I could hit free throws, but I could also like do cool dribbles. Yeah, yeah. We can hear Tyler's eagerness to prove himself for others to recognize him as something

more than a rapper with a monster voice, but rather an elite artist whose greatest asset is his creative vision and his ability to execute great ideas. It recalls our discussion of the Igor character in our last episode, how it might stem from Tyler always feeling like, in his own words, a stepchild. Evidence by its creation process, earthquake is coming to stand in as a perfect representation of Tyler going through this feeling. There's the love interest whose presence or absence fills him with anxiety and makes him feel dependent. And then there's the fact that Tyler initially didn't even feel good enough for the song itself to be his own, which was compounded by the fact that his musical peers rejected it.

But despite this, Tyler was so confident in the idea itself that he found a way to make the song not just work on his own, but become his most successful song to date. And he did this through his skills as a producer. Tyler manipulated his singing voice by pitching it up, and he also enlisted the talents of legendary singer Charlie Wilson to augment his voice and melody, creating a gorgeous flood of incredibly rich vocal harmonies. Along with the thick vocal harmonies, Tyler beefs up the production elements here by adding a rapid arpaciated synth accenting the song's main core progression. This fluttering synth recalls the one we heard at the end of Igor's theme. Once again, choosing similar timbers helps create continuity between the two tracks and continues to reinforce the album's

musical language. In addition to this fluttering synth, the fuzzy bass stabs from the intro returned to the mix. We also hear a new bell-like synth playing a simple accent melody. Over these new production elements, Tyler and Charlie Wilson sing the refrain, don't leave, it's my fault, because when it all comes crashing down, I'll need you. Tyler is begging for his love interest, to stay, afraid of being alone, afraid of what's to come, and feeling dependent on this other person for safety. Now, luckily for us, Tyler himself broke down the central wordplay of these lines in conversation with Rick Rubin.

Was lyric related something that was just going on in that moment? It was an earthquake. Oh, really? Corny enough, it was an earthquake. And I was like, damn, I like earthquake. Earthquake. And I was like, oh, I say that with a F and a Q instead of the T-H and the Q. Instead of earthquake, I say earthquake.

So I was like, ah, and then I just start singing that. And you make my earthquake, don't leave it's my fault because of the fault line that earthquakes are on. Ah. So yeah. As Tyler explains, my fault plays off the central earthquake metaphor, as he conflates the responsibility of the seismic effect of this love. On one hand, the lover makes his earthquake, but Tyler seems to be blaming himself, saying that it's his his fault lines or his foundation that causes the ruptures. It seems Tyler's desire to make the love connection work is so strong that he'll immediately put himself down if things go awry, taking the blame

in order to keep this person around. Tyler's explanation for his plea of don't leave comes in the following line, because when it all comes crashing down, I'll need you. It displays the seismic proportions of this love, as Tyler fears the worst-case scenario, both in the world and this relationship, and feels dependent. This fear of someone leaving will become a motif on the album, as earthquake isn't the only time Tyler will say, don't leave on Igor.

Jesus Christ, you get a hold of yourself. Well, there's some abandonment issues on this record if you go on the lyrics alone. No, definitely. Yeah, I think I'll say don't leave... Like a lot. It's earthquake, it's on New Magic Wand, it's on...

Gone Gone in the verse. It's a lot of stuff that just keeps popping up and stuff. And I think that's why a lot of people are gravitating to it because it is a complete idea. It's, oh, that red shirt just isn't red. It was also worn over there. Does it surprise you when you start taking a look at the body of work and you start to collect the moments that you feel are going to give it a cohesive feeling and you're like, shit, that keeps coming up a lot. Is that surprise even you?

Yeah, but again, it's just being honest and just putting this. Like, this is the first album where I didn't want to be cool. I wasn't trying to be cool. It's no who that boy is. It's no swat. It's just this. There. Yeah.

And it may seem repetitive, but that's kind of a life. Everyone wakes up in the morning and brush that goddamn to some people. Absolutely. I don't care how confident a picture you presenting yourself or how much you think you have it under control. Everyone is terrified of abandonment. Everyone's terrified of being left alone. And those experiences you have, whether you're a kid or a grown-up,

they stay with you. those are some of the most present experiences of your life is when people walk out. Yeah, and if it's not even that, it's always something. It's crazy, things really point back to your childhood. And again, I didn't have a pet. So, okay, this car could blow up. I'll get another one. It's because I don't have to take care of it.

You know what I mean? Yeah. It's always little shit like that. So definitely, I don't know what that is for me, but I'll probably figure it out in like two years. Tyler confirms that fear of abandonment is a concern on the album, and then later states that many of the issues in our lives are things that stem from our childhood. Now, we're going to try our best to avoid playing armchair psychologist, but it seems one of the first things a psychiatrist might ask a person with a fear of a male figure abandoning them

is about their father, especially from someone who believes many of our issues stem from childhood. In his music and interviews, particularly early in his career, Tyler often addressed his absent father, and his thoughts on his father over the years have oscillated between disappointment and apathy. For instance, in 2011, Tyler said, quote, I don't trust anybody. Even my close, close, close, close best friends who I'd take a bullet for, there's things I don't talk to them about. So I have to make these songs just to get shit out, just to say it. Shit I don't talk about, not having a dad. I lied to all my friends like, oh, my dad got work and shit. Shit like that just means shit to me. just being around all my friends and they got fucking dads and I'm looking at my mom like,

why don't I have one? It sucks being like 18 years old, living at my grandma's house, fucking stealing from cars and going to the pawn shop just to go to McDonald's and have something to eat. That shit is real, unquote. Well, this is a heartbreaking quote. Three years later, Tyler would have this to say about his father. Are you mad at him? Did he desert the family?

Nah, dude, I'm stoked. I think if I had a dad, I think if I had a dad, I would have went the normal college route and like a lot of other people So you're not angry I'm so stoked my life panned out how it was I just decided to rap about it to seem like I'm sad Would you like to be with them? Would you like to meet them?

I mean one day I guess I don't really think about it I mean he must know all about you Yeah I don't really care Like I'm fine Not even being passive aggressive right now I really don't care It's contrasting statements like the two we just observed

That make it hard to pin down exactly how Tyler might feel about his father, and whether or not his fear of abandonment stems from this aspect of his childhood. But it is something to keep in mind as we continue our examination of Igor's narrative and Tyler's evolving relationship with masculinity. Now, after a repetition of the chorus, Earthquake breaks down to solo piano, and Playboy Cardi emerges to deliver a guest verse. We'll dissect that verse and the rest of Earthquake right after the break. Welcome back to dissect. Before the break, we heard Tyler express a fear of abandonment as you imagine a worst-case scenario in both the world and the relationship central to earthquake and

the album more generally. Now we reach the moment you've all been waiting for when I'm forced or lucky enough to dissect a verse from King vamp himself, Playboy Cardi. Oh my God. Oh, my God. Production-wise, this section of the song returns to the textures of the introduction, with piano taking the lead and ballished with various synth textures.

In conversation with Rick Rubin, Tyler revealed how he originally planned to keep this part instrumental. Yeah, I made the skeleton of the beat. And while I let it play, I paced in my room and kind of came up with that. It was like, damn, that's all I'm going to say is, you make my earthquake.

Don't leave, it's my fault. That was it. it. And then in the middle it was a piano solo, but then I added Cardi on it because I just love his voice. As he states here, Tyler was drawn to the sound of Cardi's voice, and thus Cardi's feature seems to be used more as an additional instrument and texture, perhaps more than what he was going to bring to the song lyrically. Generally speaking, the collaboration between Tyler and Cardi makes a lot of sense, and from Cardi's perspective, might even appear to be years in the making, as Cardi was a big fan of Odd Future from the early days. It's easy to find

old Cardi tweets about the group, such as one from April 2011, when he said, quote, Jasper Best Rapper Out of Odd Future, hashtag Just Sayan. Also, when talking to Yo Phillips about his work, Cardi said, quote, I was listening to Tyler's Goblin while I was making a whole lot of red. I was listening to a lot of crazy shit, evil shit. I just thought they were psyched out. I just wanted to psych out with them. That's me. Everybody go right, I go left, unquote. When talking about his appreciation of MF Doom, Cardi credited Tyler saying, quote, Remember, I was a big Tyler, the creator and Aesop Rocky fan. Tyler always quoted Doom.

You can hear it in the raps, unquote. On the other hand, Tyler has been a champion of Cardi's music for years. In 2018, Tyler rapped over the beat for Cardi's song RIP for a Lucy called Tiptoe. Hey, I tip, tip tip tip, tiptoe in this bitch. Everybody got opinions, everybody got tips to them to their finger niggas. They get kept to my dick. Later in 2018, Tyler tweeted about RIP saying, quote, When Cardi says, bought a crib for my mama off that mumbling shit, my eyes water up every time, it's beautiful, that's black excellence, unquote.

It's clear this idea continues to mean a lot to Tyler, as he used the quote to start a moving speech he gave when accepting the Cultural Influence Award at the 2021 BET Awards. Playboy Cardi has a line where he says, uh, bought my mom my house off this mumbling shit. and I always get like teared up when he says that because like this thing that's a hobby or a pastime or a passion for us a lot of people in here that shit kept us out of trouble and it allowed us to change our family lives

our friends lives our lives with Tyler and Cardi's mutual admiration established it's time to dive into Cardi's mumbling shit on earthquake on the official lyric sheet for the song it states quote Cardi lyrics cannot be transcribed, and thus none of his words are printed. It's a fair point, but he is saying something. We're going to do our best to transcribe it ourselves.

He begins the verse rapping, We ain't got a ball, D. Rose, I don't give a fuck about none. The reference to NBA star Derek Rose, who won the MVP award in 2011, appears to cite Rose's notorious injury struggles that prevented him from playing, thus we get the line, ain't got a ball. Despite not playing consistently for years, Rose's early success led to brand deals and contracts that made him quite a lot of money, so he bawled without playing ball.

Rose not playing might also be Cardi's concept here, a declaration of serious intent, that Cardi is not here to play. Cardi's no fuck's given attitude leads him to say, breathing like fuck my lungs, as if he's going so hard he might wear out his bodily functions. This also might remind us of Tyler's asthma, and the spirit of cursing lungs for making breathing a difficult task.

As we noted last episode, breathing is a motif on Igor related to the concept of running. Cardi then wraps just might call my lawyer, plug gone set me up, bitch don't set me up. These lines appear to mimic Tyler's paranoia in the song, fearing a worst-case scenario with his drug dealer and calling his lawyer preemptively. Then things get a little more interesting as Cardi wraps, I'm with Tyler, he ride like the car. Cardi here effectively adds to the riding motif we've heard both on Earthquake and Igor's theme. Perhaps this is a simple nod to the hook where Tyler sings, riding around, your love is shaking me up.

Tyler riding like the car could also be Cardi describing Tyler as a ride or die. There's even a possible sexual innuendo with the line he ride like the car, and it's here that we might begin wondering if Cardi is meant to be playing a character in his verse, specifically playing the part of Tyler's male love interest, as if he's the one in the car riding around with him. Given Igor's concept, different voices assuming different roles isn't out of the question. and works cohesively with Tyler's constant character creation. Also, if we pay close attention to Tyler's rendition of the chorus immediately before this verse,

he actually makes an interesting alteration. Instead of riding around, your love be shaking me up, Tyler sings, writing around, you're telling me something. That's something, the vague unknown, feels like a perfect description of Cardi's lyrics. Cardi is saying something, and Tyler isn't quite sure what. We'll actually come to see this idea reinforced further in Tyler's own verse. While this theory is obviously speculative, it's at least worth exploring as a possibility as we continue discussing the remainder of Cardi's verse.

He continues by rapping, and she wicked, like Woe Vicky. Cardi here is likely referencing Victoria Waldrop's social media persona, Woe Vicky, who in 2017 was infamous on the internet for scandalous or controversial activities. With this in mind, the lady attached to Cardi is tricky or conniving. Cardi then wraps, oh my God, hold up, these diamonds not Tiffany, so in love, I've been so in love. The diamond line is a lyric Cardi as used before on the Lucy green and purple with Travis Scott, as he boasts that his diamond is of higher quality than would be offered by Tiffany and company.

Going from the mention of Vicky to Diamonds and Love insinuates a romantic connection between Cardi and this woman, especially with the diamond symbolism of commitment and marriage. Simultaneously, we sense a slight amount of trepidation in Cardi saying, hold up, and calling the woman wicked. If analyzed as if Cardi is in fact playing the male love interest, These lines quite literally lay out the love triangle central to Igor's narrative, where Tyler loves a man who wavers between him and a woman.

Here at the end of his verse, Cardi is caught in the middle. Even the line so in love is repeated twice, as if related to two situationships, between Tyler and this wicked vicky. And while very likely just a coincidence, we have to note that Cardi's verse begins at the exact middle point of the song, a serendipitous footnote if Cardi is indeed meant to portray the man caught in the middle. Now as Earthquake continues,

we hear one of Tyler's favorite moments on the entire album. On July 2nd, 2019, he tweeted, quote, 2.13 on Earthquake sounds like a cloud melting, beautiful harmonies, unquote. Here's the exact moment Tyler is talking about. One of the main reasons this moment stands out is because Tyler here changes the chord progression. The entire song up until this moment and after this moment uses the same four-core progression we covered at the top of the episode. This progression more or less repeats the entire song, and Tyler uses instrumentation. melody, dynamics, and other musical techniques to sustain our interest.

But when we reach the 213 mark, we get a chord sequence that only appears one time in the song before it returns back to the original progression. The majority of the chords here are what are called borrowed chords, which means they are chords that don't belong to the key signature the song is in. When you write a song in a certain key, there's a specific set of standardized chords that belong to that key. The main four chord sequence heard throughout Earthquake uses chords within this standardized set.

And so when we reach this moment that uses chords outside these standardized chords, it surprises our ears in a gratifying way. It's like all of a sudden introducing a brand new color. Also, if we hone in on the bass during this section, we find a cool instance of what's called text painting, which is when the music resembles the words being sung. Here's a reduction of the bass line we hear during this part. This is what's called a chromatic dissension, which just means that each note moves a half step lower than the one before it. It's a musical descent, a downward motion. It's possible this downward motion is why the part sounds like a waterfall to Tyler,

and it's why this section can be analyzed as text painting, because the words being sung are about things crashing down. I think it's important to note that given how beautiful this section is, most artists would make it a recurring part of the song, but an earthquake, it only happens once, which makes it that much more impactful and special every time we hear it. Tyler and Rick Rubin talked specifically about this moment, and Tyler commented that he deliberately composed these special moments throughout the entire album.

My favorite part is Happings Once. It's when the harmony vocals do the different chords. It's the best fucking part. It's so beautiful. And the restraint in that being the best part and deciding I'm only going to have it that one time. Well, this album's full of that because I just made, each song has those moments. Ah, that's my favorite part. And I'm like, yeah, it only comes once.

But right after that is someone else's A moment favorite part. It's true. I remember right before finish and I was like, I need something to happen chord-wise. I'm going to keep saying, I say chords so much.

It's annoying. But that's the shit that makes me lit. Oxygen, water, and chord progressions. It's fucking annoying. But I was like, I need something to take me there because the song didn't have a bridge. So I was like, I need to put something in the middle somewhere that just goes there.

And I was like, fuck, the structure is already perfect. Maybe I could take one of those leaves and just fuck it up real quick. And that's literally what I did. Wow. And I, yeah, that's how it happened. The song on the piano is easy, but I was just like, I'm going to add four chords that just feels like a waterfall and then ramp it back to the original progression.

As earthquake transitions from this one-off waterfall section, the core progression returns to the original, and we're primed to think that we're going to hear one final iteration of the hook. And initially, we do hear the opening line, You Make My Earthquake. But in another unexpected moment, Tyler opts not to continue the hook, rather over two-thirds into the song, he instead introduces a brand-new vocal part. And behind him we hear perhaps my personal favorite moment of the song, a new synth noodling around in a high register, which to me sounds like fluttering butterflies,

evoking the idea of butterflies in one's stomach. Tyler here sings in what appears to be his natural voice, contrasting with his pitched up vocals we hear on the majority of the track. It lends vulnerability to the part, as he pleads, I don't want no confrontation, no. And you don't want my conversation. I just need some confirmation on how to.

you feel, for real. In just three lines, we get a pretty vivid look into the dynamic of this relationship. Tyler is trepid, walking on eggshells, not wanting to cause trouble or annoy this person, perhaps scared that any confrontation will make them leave, which we know is Tyler's primary fear on this song. Still, he needs to know whether his affection is mutual. He needs confirmation, yet the love interest is seemingly disinterested, not wanting to formalize their feelings and perhaps showing irritation anytime Tyler brings it up in conversation. It's even possible that Tyler's plea of don't leave in the hook is a direct result of the love interest's reaction to his inquiry about their feelings. Instead of voicing its own frustration with the situation,

the pleading tone of Tyler's delivery for this entire song shows him depleted by the male figure's inability to be clear in his communication. Again, if we're considering Playboy Cardi playing the role of the love interest in the song, his inarticulate mumble delivery is perfect symbolism for the lack of clear communication from the partner. Tyler saying for real during this section is a nice motivic callback to the beginning of the song, once again illuminating his desire for things to actually mean something. Tyler then continues pleading, I don't want no complication, no, I don't want no side information. The complication here seems to be the guy not wanting any relationship with Tyler to complicate

his relationship with the woman, or perhaps it's the guy doesn't want that woman to complicate things between him and Tyler. This ambiguity leads to Tyler's distress, and he doesn't want to hear anything through the great mind, no side information. Tyler then concludes the section by singing, I just need to know what's happening, because I'm for real, for real. Once again, Tyler emphasizes his readiness for something real in this relationship. The gray area is killing him. Because of his reliance on this uncertain love interest, Tyler seems completely lost. He's repeating himself and begging to know what's going on. He's vulnerable, upset, and alone.

Fittingly, in the song's outro, Tyler sings the refrain, don't leave, it's my fault. But in Instead of the rich, multi-textured harmonies that were used to hearing during this part, Tyler is now singing alone, still in his natural voice, and the added improvised vocals of Charlie and Jesse Wilson only accentuate Tyler's desperate and increasingly deflated pleas. This outro evokes an emotional crumbling, as everything has come falling down. We hear a string section playing the chords, adding cinematic drama to the moment as Tyler defeatedly repeats the refrain. Musically, this outro is certainly in the running for one of the most gorgeous musical moments Tyler has ever composed,

even making an impression on legendary audio engineer Neil Pogue, who mixed Igor. Here he is talking about the outro with Insider. That part always captured me when it was out and everything is happening during that moment to have that chord progression and that synth line going through it and the melody of the background vocals. I was like, wow. To me, that's one of the most amazing things he's ever done. Conclusions During a

Tyler revealed that earthquake actually began as a writing exercise And then I was like reteaching myself how to write songs So I was like, all right, I'm going to write a song with 25 words or less So that's how earthquake came about And I was like, I want to make a simple beat, like, no crazy drums and bridges everywhere. Like, let me make something super simple. So that's why earthquake came. While the initial idea was grounded in simplicity, the end result of earthquake is far from basic.

As we discussed throughout this episode, the song is full of nuanced and tasteful musical details that embellish its basic framework in the same way a common meal can be elevated by the perfect ingredients and inventive additions. And despite the limited amount of word sung, Tyler's able to succinctly cap, the emotional turmoil of infatuation disparity, that all-consuming, ground-shaking feeling of adoration and desire for a person complicated by the dread of insecurity of that person perhaps not feeling the same. And things are only made worse by the unknowing, by the fact they just won't fucking say either way. This is where we meet Tyler on the album, made vulnerable, subservient, and anxious

by his infatuation with a man, and held emotionally hostage by their cold, cardi-like indifference. yet there's immense beauty in Tyler's honest desperation, as he's so totally consumed by love that he's willing to surrender his cool, shelf his ego, and express exactly how he feels despite how vulnerable it leaves him, despite the potential embarrassment of rejection. The track's central earthquake metaphor offers an existential dimension to this dynamic. An earthquake tears down what we have tried to build up, a reminder that the threat of destruction is omnipresent, and that all we tried to build will crumble with time. In the time we do have, we hear in Tyler a desire not to waste it in uncertainty.

Expressing how he feels when he feels it, there's an urgency in his desire to develop this love and all its transcendent potential, so that when eventually, inevitably, it all does come crashing down. They can ride to the end together. This episode of Dysect was written by Camden Ostrander and me. If you enjoyed today's episode, please tell a friend about the new season or share on social media and tag at Dysect podcast. It really helps. Season 10 merchandise can be purchased at Dissectpodcast.com. Audio editing by Kevin Pula, song recreations by Andrew Atwood, theme music by bureaucratic.

All right, thanks everyone. Talk to you next week.