DETERMINISTIC MENTAL CHRONOMETRY AS EXPOSED BY FOREIGNER - The classic "I Want To Know What Love Is" pleads for loves, and strongly emotes Lonely

The song by FOREIGNER, I Want To Know What Love I, a song that cries such a wild loneliness that an African-Western chorus must be brought on for the choruses in which the band yells, “I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS!!!!!!!!! I WANT YA TO SHOOOOOOW ME!!!!!!!!” is a classic.



Foreigner? Who were they? What is the song about? Answer: These boys, these Foreigner boys, (phrasing borrowed from "Wee Willie" Clinton, "Clinton 42") ready for love. Is that because they feel good about themselves, or because they have reached a point of such isolation that the only thing that could come from such a wild emotion is this wild (maybe too wild), emotion, desperate song, called by many “a masterpiece of pitiful, lonely songs”? Tough to tell, my friends!
Let’s put urban legends to rest.
Legend one: that in 1990 during a Foreigner concert performance of the song, the guitarist thought he had his microphone unplugged during the songs grandiose introduction (it is a largely keyboard based song) and mumbled into the microphone, “If we play this bloody song one more bloody time I’m going to kill myself.” That is NOT true. What was said was actually: “If we play this bloody song two more bloody times I’m going to kill myself.” Apparently it was always “two" times, in order to hold out the hope that he would not become so wearied of the frantic fan-sing-along in the chorus “SHOW MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!” that the song could be shelved for a couple of years to prevent dreaded Played Out-itude. "Look bloke, I was just saying it. Did we need the money? Sure. Is that why we played the song? Sure. Did I think the song was one of the most creative masterworks ever written? WELL, SURE, BUT I AM BIASED IN THAT I HELPED COMPOSE IT, BUT LETTING THE FANS SCREAM to it every night is making me sick of it. Did Beethoven have to play his Pastoral every bloody night??? I don’t think so bloke."
“I Want To Know What Love Is” is based on the 24 Preludes and Fugues of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Klavier II, Fugue #4 in Eb minor. says Mick Jones: “That's a bit of a joke, eh? Now, I admit, there is some borrowing from my incredible ability to play Chopin’s Second Piano Sonata in Bb Minor—there were some influence there, including the uncanny manner in which I play both the white and black keys with equal confidence and firmitude, but we’re doing this one in Eb minor. I would have liked to see old Chopin try that trick, my friend—and he always seemed lonely to me—I saw movie where Hugh Grant plays the part of Chopin—says it all, bloke."
As my regular readers know, I tend to put links as a Substitute Bibliography iin order that you can download the song, buy it through the mail, hear a clip of it and decide for yourself whether you like it at all, and most importantly for you to decide whether Meanspeed Music Theory applies in question. Below you will notice an enormous list. keep in mind, folks, that list was edited down from 5,000 entries. I thought I was being an origial, bringing out this Foreigner song as the "ultra-modern masterwork" (the band's manager's words): NOT! I have been reading through some of the analyses below since 4 AM (hence the late posting--sorry)--but believe me listeners, below is Everything You Wanted To Know About Winning, Whining, Whamming Unrequited Love Songs* (But Were Afraid To Ask) Copyright 2006 © Donald J. Trump, as though he did not actually say it, he would have thought of it, and of course, like the highly original phrase "YOU'RE FIRED" which the impoverished Mr. Trump attempted to PATENT his creative phrase before being laughed out of court, needed to be remedied. And how to remedy a sissy like a Trump, who also sued an author for claiming (I could not make this up) that "The Donald" was not even CLOSE to be a billionaire? A song of all out love!
Meanspeed Summary, I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS -
meanspeed=81.3 beats per minute.
meanemotion=Lonely, with a hope that the loneliness is lifting
meanphase=1.355 cycles per second.
meanspace=738 milliseconds per beat.
meanpitch=346.880 Hertz, 12 cents above F4=349.228 Hertz, 88 cents below F#4/Gb4=369.994 Hertz.

Ian Schneider
James Manning
United States
November 21, 2007