welcome back to my series on Deftones
white pony this video is about passenger
all right the next track is passenger
and I do really love this track not just
because it has Maynard in it but the
song itself Maynard is a you know
supremely talented vocalist there's just
no doubt about it so here we go
passenger the drums
oh
they kill me
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foreign
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foreign
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lucky Witnesses
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call me
this time won't you please
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around your passenger
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put their money
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Cushing your knees
now
is
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take me again
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right
tonight
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foreign
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foreign
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take me to the edge
[Applause]
[Music]
thank you
[Music]
I mean that song is definitely about sex
so the beginning is just amazing they
just like hit you with it but notice
that the bass doesn't come in right away
so drums are just absolutely perfect and
you get this nice riff which is very
phrygian Virginian phrygian e
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foreign
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oh sorry I forgot about the entire intro
this intro is very cool tons of delay on
those guitars such a cool soundscape
love this
it's kind of nice nails
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layers and textures
like a little bit of like trans vocal
pad ooh kind of feeling
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oh god listen to that Phil
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I love that kind of suspension of the
lower end just like everything's up here
and then finally the base comes in
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to take out Maynard's Parts you
just like always
it's a great Melody
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I mean it sounds like a complete Melody
and then I think maybe Maynard came in
afterwards
it's becoming like a gay fantasy
[Music]
oh sorry I forgot so the the guitar is
playing in e phrygian
[Music]
you can do that really dark note
that's like a characteristic of phrygian
without it it would be the snow which is
ninth or the second and that's what's in
minor so that's what differentiates
minor and phrygiance
[Music]
but Maynard's singing in E Minor so
[Music]
and he lays you on that tenth note
it's like almost embellishment of that
note
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is that's a nice pattern
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ending on the ninth
his favorite spot
and then
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one thing that strikes me about this
song is that there isn't a chord
progression at all
okay that's not true the pre-chorus has
a bit of a chord progression so maybe
that's what breaks it up no you don't
know that's true the pre-chorus
definitely has a chord progression but
the verse and the chorus don't they just
stay on this riff which is just based on
on E
so this is all just over e you know
I was telling my friend we were talking
about it that the vocal Melodies kind of
imply chords so that the guitars don't
have to move at all not like that was at
all
conscious but that's part of why it's
still interesting is because it's like
um
[Music]
that kind of implies a chord and then
that also applies a different chord
anyway but yeah it's just really nice
melody writing and then um we got the
Chrome button
s
[Music]
this is I think the
definition
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foreign
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these and this okay so this is the flat
six and five relationship
very dark very minor setting
lessons
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the lucky Witnesses I love how he says
that lucky Witnesses then Chino comes in
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okay then the chord
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call me
this time won't you please
drive faster we know what you're talking
about okay so this chord
I think it's this chord I think it's a
CSUS II and I love the sound of the sus2
chords with their with Steven's guitar
tone I just
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and then you go
I'm sorry
so
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drive and he's like singing the
sussiness
the ninth I mean
[Music]
and that sets us up for uh Starting Over
Again on E because this is this these
notes are all these chords are all kind
of surrounding e and setting us up for
that
foreign
but yeah I love that moment drive faster
and he's building
Abe is killing it with the drum fill
actually he starts out as going
okay wait hang on
[Music]
we're going to talk about the drums for
this pre-chorus it's very it's like
maybe it's because the ride symbol but
it just reminds me like just slightly of
jazz it just feels very like relaxed and
pulled back and kind of like has almost
this like stumbling lazy sound to it
down
all right
[Music]
little little hint of all those triplets
that are coming later
[Music]
maybe a double bass or maybe he's just
Kaka
see that contrast is so awesome she's
just going to do
so he's he plays with he's so good
accenting with his uh snare
that's the same Rhythm that's in that
one
that one drum Loop in
even deeper
when it goes
[Music]
you know what I'm talking about
[Music]
once again Abe So the drum pattern he's
doing for the course and it's also in
the intro which is maybe easier to hear
is like
he's listening so intently to the
guitars and what they're doing I just
imagine he came in after the the Riff
was made so we have that done
so he's going
he's accenting the emphasized uh the
he's accenting the accents of of the
guitar right
[Music]
and he's doing some great stuff with a
hi-hat to kind of fill things in but I
love the kick
oh it's okay
all right so now let's look at how good
this chorus is so we're back to the uh
[Music]
okay so again just we're just in D
I mean e
h
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how does it start again
[Music]
all right so that's the that's the first
statement
[Music]
he's so Maynard yes
not curious
all right so
[Music]
all right getting out of myself but
anyway so
so this is that don't pull over Melody
are just like always so he took that and
then made a whole new Melody out of it
and rhythmically this is kind of a I and
I don't know who wrote it you know like
I imagine Maynard wrote it but I don't
know uh maybe he's just singing it but
this is uh
another one of those poly things right
one two three one two three one two
three one two three
over
duck duck duck duck duck
it's a hemiel isn't it it is you're
against two
uh so that has a nice flow to it
at the end I love that like kind of
quick
da da da
tidy little ending there not not a very
Chino ending Chino would kind of like
ended on the
SE like stay on that ninth
uh or something and then again
oh
I love that break
anything
I'm your passenger and I've always
appreciated how Maynard sings Passenger
because
well actually that whole line it's so
Maynard he goes
um yeah
starts with an um
gives us a little vibrato and it opens
it up hmm I'm your passenger and then he
gives us a straight
tone on this beautiful note
I'm your passenger
it does it again listen
[Music]
maybe he's not going he might just be
going but he's starting from a very
closed
vowel shape I guess
it's that swelling thing he does like a
like a violin would like like
before the note comes he's not going
I'm your passage
so great and then I think Chino
Underneath Him
is uh going
um
on the ninth
uh can we make so make sure we start
making Nine Inch Nails puns now
[Music]
I like this Rhythm a lot too because
it's a type of like yeah three against
two this one's an even slower drop
these
down
and
it's just a slower three against the two
and it's nice to drop these down and put
them on me nice cool seats there
[Music]
okay so we got some freaky scary guitars
happening right with some harmonics here
so
um
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I think something like that very
phrygian sounding
[Music]
yeah because that's what it is so we
have
foreign
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try that again
so that's e b c or one five flat six
it's gonna sound kind of you know
[Music]
even
flat two or F
on top of that or underneath it I mean
we have a
foreign
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okay so this is the second chorus
this time we don't get hmm I'm your
passenger
it just kind of keeps looping on the
main statement and the drums now are at
level two so instead of just the
now it's got like some cymbal crashes on
the Beats or something it's just bigger
foreign
stuff he's doing now he's just giving us
like a kind of a
somewhat open hat
I think mirror correct me if I'm wrong
[Music]
yes and now they're playing power chords
so this time Maynard gives us uh go then
go and don't you drive me home and back
again go and go it was fifth
Danny's
Abe's kick is fantastic he's doing the
whole thing with his kick
it's amazing
[Music]
so I think this chord has the flat two
in it I think it's going
at least sometimes
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foreign
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and then we're back to that kind of
loungy
strained section
creepy harmonics
nice sound design
and then it gets very triply here and I
love that
[Music]
I love all the sounds
good
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using the guitar in a very sound
designing way here right like that
it's not supposed to be like I'm a note
it's like I'm a sound I'm an accent I'm
a I sound almost metallic you know
what a mood
[Music]
it feels like the air is like thick and
foggy
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now this is really cool
a great Arrangement choice they start
singing the verse Melody but over the
bridge
baseline or whatever this is
[Music]
oh but also the um
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go
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just
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same Rhythm has dropped me down
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to get anything
foreign
so and then we get keys
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foreign
G
C
B
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