In Search of Complete Song Crescendos

     In January 2024, “A Man as Alive as the City” was released by The Boxer Rebellion. The song features numerous energy increases, without corresponding decrescendos. It’s not a “slow burn,” since it is energetic from the start.
 
     “A Man as Alive as the City” is one of our favorite singles of the year, and it triggered searches for other songs characterized by stepped intensity increases. The increases can be triggered by changes in tempo, expansions in instrumentation, vocal climbs….
 
     Below are the current results of the searching. They vary in qualifying as song-long crescendos. Even “A Man as Alive as the City” has a qualification flaw, since the conclusion is a decrescendo. But the conclusion is four minutes into the song and is preceded by intensity jumps at 0:58, 1:13, 2:23, and 2:38, as well as prolonged crescendos.

     “A Man as Alive as the City” by The Boxer Rebellion

     Shearwater’s “You as You Were” is 12 years old, but it withstands the test of time. The band is from Austin, Texas.

     “My Backwards Walk” is a cover of a Frightened Rabbit single. It was released on a fund-raising album for Tiny Changes, a mental health charity started in memory of Frightened Rabbit’s frontman Scott Hutchison.
 
     “My Backwards Walk” by Manchester Orchestra

     “Summer in America” by Dreamer Boy was released in May 2024.

Lyrics of “Summer in America” by Dreamer Boy
Who do I listen to?
Does anybody have a clue?
When you rip through your dancing shoes
And you're tiptoeing through everybody else's news
Say, "What you chewin' on lately?"
Elastic attention with no definition
No clear intention
I puddle jump, I puddle jump, reflection to reflection
Till I feel connection, my ego is a weapon
 
And I
Got the sun on my back, and it's summer in America
And I
Got the sun on my back, and it's summer in America
Oh, I
La-la-la, yeah
La-la-la
La-la-la
(Yeah, I told 'em I said)
 
I got a bad case of envy, been getting pretty skinny
I'm like a buck forty soakin' wet, need therapy within me
I'm a face and a body, a human, a human
"Oh boy, you need Jesus, what the hell are ya doin'?"
And I was going to the party, where the DJ would play
And Jonny said, "More parties in the USA"
 
And now I
I stumble the streets, and it's summer in America
And I
No, I can't feel a thing, and it's summer in America
Oh, why?
La-la-la
La-la-la
La-la-la
(I was walking home)
 
The parking lot is vacant
Except a single car with two young lovers making vows on the tar
And I take a photo walking by, memorize their shape
It's a blurry mess of love and jest, it's all I'm left to trace
 
And now I
I stumble the streets, and it's summer in America
And I
The sun's on my back, and it's summer in America
And I
I can't find love, and it's summer in America
(Somebody take me in)
La-la-la
La-la-la
La-la-la
La-la-la

     “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem 

     “Stay Alive” by José González

     “Known” by The Dramatics