"Red Red Wine" By UB40
Overview
“Red Red Wine '' is a classic song. Originally written by Neil Diamond in 1967, but sort of unpopular until the reggae group UB40 made a cover of the song in 1983. UB40 didn’t realize the song was written by Diamond until it reached the UK's top 100 songs the year it was released. The song was revived in America in 1988 by a radio station in Phoenix that played it during a weekly special… basically on repeat. It hit #1 in the U.S. for one week that year and was the first reggae song to ever reach the Billboard Top 100 (not even Bob Marley accomplished this). Eddie Sayago of The Chirp Blog, claims “Red Red Wine” to be an excellent drinking song… I can’t say I’ve tested that theory, although the name is certainly provocative! Listening to the album it was released on (“Labour of Love”) I was transported to a place with an oceanic breeze and invisible stress. These were songs I had not heard before, and according to Songfacts.com, the purpose of this album was to introduce UB40’s fans to the type of music the band grew up listening to. I fully agree that UB40 was able to shine a lot of light on the blooming love mainstream America would have for reggae with “Labour of Love” via the publicity of “Red Red Wine”.
Jamaican Coastline
Rhythm
The rhythm of red wine by UB40 is 2/4, it's indicated by repeated short notes of electric guitar plucking of the strings 3,2, and 1. This part of the song can be played on the guitar, piano, or ukelele:) I feel like the bass guitar could be easily mistaken for the rhythm, but the bass strings adjust throughout the song. It seems like a lot of reggae is played in 2/4 and 4/4, and at least for me I crave the swinging-pendulum-like rhythm of the music. It reminds me of happy times and the beach.
Beat
The beat is characterized by the bass guitar and kick drum. The Drum emphasizes beat 3, and the bass guitar also follows the beat but is adapted at the 0:14 second mark to have a lower note on string E. The drum fills in the bar before every chorus. I love the kick the drum adds, and the classic bass of a guitar is so refreshing to hear. As I’ve mentioned before I love bass, and I feel like reggae music is one of the original bass-forward genres of music. Hearing the string plucking of a bass guitar evokes a very nostalgic vibe for me and adds a lot of personal listening enjoyment.
Melody
The time signature of the melody is 4/4, and the lead vocals sing the melody. There are different vocalists for the repeated chorus. I think that the combination of the lead vocals pulling the melody, alongside the drums, snare, shaker, and guitars make this song easy to sway to. Also a very engaging listen. The slightly mournful but also ‘I’ve moved on’ tone spun by the melody allows this to be a happy or sad song. It can either hype you up or cheerfully comfort you.
Tempo
The tempo here is moderate… nothing too fast but fun and suits the reggae vibe of UB40’s music. The tempo is stated to be 89 bpm, identified by author Ellie Humberstone on the platform GoConqr. Something odd I couldn’t help but notice for myself about the tempo was that when I listen to it, my mind speeds up the song as I reach the last 30 seconds… Does this ever happen to anyone else? Certain songs like Ray-J’s” Sexy Can I” do speed up towards the end but this one does not. It’s not too fast, (but faster than my previous song selection). For me, this is a song you can settle into, and enjoy. Similar to a nice squishy couch in a warm shady spot somewhere nice.
Lyrics
There are 3 different aspects to the vocals. There is harmony, also known as backing vocals. The lead singer (Ali Campbell) is the loudest of the chorus while it's happening, and then is doing the solo parts of the song alone. Finally, I found an article mentioning how there are “toasting vocals” within “ Red Red Wine”. After further research, I found that toasting vocals are something found commonly in Jamaican music. It’s chanting or talking usually in a monotone melody over a rhythm or beat, commonly done by reggae DJs. When he sings: “thoughts of you would leave my head, I was wrong, now I find, just one thing that makes me forget… Red, red, wine” one can understand where this song is coming from. Weirdly, the format of the song makes it not particularly sad. If I were to read these lyrics without any music I would assume it would evoke sad emotions.
Humberstone, Ellie. “Red Red Wine - UB40.” GoConqr, 16 Jan. 2017, https://www.goconqr.com/en/mindmap/559961/red-red-wine-ub40.
Project, The Chicago Independent Radio. “Take Two: ‘Red Red Wine’ (Neil Diamond vs. UB40): Chirp Radio.” CHIRP Radio Blog, https://chirpradio.org/blog/take-two-red-red-wine-neil-diamond-vs-ub40.
Songfacts. “Red Red Wine by UB40 - Songfacts.” Song Meanings at Songfacts, https://www.songfacts.com/facts/ub40/red-red-wine.
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