The breakdown

I don't totally know where I'm going with this but I've been thinking a bit about the function of 'the breakdown' in songs. when the other instruments cut out and the bass and drums, or drums and sparse guitar play simply but confidently with vocals over the top.

It can feels like the moment where the truth is told, where decoration and tact is discarded; where you lay it on the line. It's the musical equivalent of saying: 'we've been talking for a while and it's been good, but just listen for a moment, I really just want you to understand this one thing'. Even if you don't have different lyrics for this bit, the sparseness will somehow add extra weight to the words. Perhaps, for the first time, this is where the listener is really concentrating on the lyrics. These words will somehow come to represent the whole.

Maybe this is going too far. Perhaps it's not often really intended for this but rather the added emphasis is a by-product. Maybe people use the breakdown more to give a bit of shade to the light -- to create negative space in the song, adding more drama to the final, louder chorus.

The breakdown also works as a song opener. It focuses attention on the vocals and makes a simple proposition to build on. I want to use this more but how do you do this without sounding like a hardcore band? Or Joy Division? This isn't necessarily a bad thing.