Whether it be his claim to fame “Hamilton” or his more recent work in “Moana”, Lin-Manuel Miranda has become one of the biggest composers in the last decade. More recently, he wrote the soundtrack to Encanto, where one song seemed to be a smash hit above the rest.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” quickly took over the top of pop charts, but what made this song so popular? There are likely three reasons for this occurrence, the first of which is the Afro-Cuban influence on the song. Afro-Cuban music traditionally has a sort of dance feel and what makes it easier to dance than repetitive music? Take Santana’s popular “Oye Como Va”, an Afro-Cuban inspired song that only uses two alternating chords the entire time.
In a typical Afro-Cuban inspired way, Miranda’s song has a dance feel by utilizing a minor one, minor four, major five chord pattern repeatedly. The repetitiveness is also comforting in that the sequence comes back to the root chord, the one chord, very often. This would explain why so many people enjoyed the song for how it compelled them to dance.
One of the more intelligent musical choices that Lin-Manuel Miranda uses in his writing is his shifting between keys, time signatures, and modes very readily. Within the song are many notable changes in the time signature and speed of the song, which can seem exciting to the listener. It also helps build on the mysteriousness of this unknown character, Bruno. One place in particular the time signature of the piece changes is when one of the girls sings “Hey! Grew to live in fear…”, which sounds awfully faster than other parts of the song.
The last primary reason I believe the song is so successful is for changing to a major key and utilizing the four chords I had mentioned a few weeks ago. When one of the girls begins singing “He told me that the man of my dreams”, the key of the song shifts to a major key, and you can hear the major one, major five, minor six, and major four chord that we have all become so familiar with. This sequence then is used to clash all of the minor chord sequences early on when the song hits a climatic moment. This stands out to the listener in a way they cannot predict by adding dissonance to the piece (when two directly next to each other notes play). Additionally, Miranda’s clever understanding of madrigal style music provides this piece with a seamless transition into the climax of the song. Together, this culmination of my theory on the song’s success offers a plausible explanation for why, despite the song title, people could not stop talking about Bruno.
Great post! It is always a treat to read more about music in your blog. Make sure to include a picture or some sort of mixed media (a recording of what you’re talking about works, as well). Keep up the good work!