Kiss from a Rose

Annotations

With a pitch of 454 Hz and the tempo being exactly 131.72 bpm, it is quite certain that the track was sped up after recording. The maths don’t completely check out, but I presume that the original tempo was 128 bpm, which would result in a pitch of 452.8 Hz, but I found 454 Hz to be more suitable.

Whenever the melody hits the major seven in the third measure of the verse, none of the instruments play it, so a Gadd9 is more fitting than a Gmaj9 chord.

Originally, Phil Spalding had played bass, but was then replaced with Charley Drayton during the recording process. Some credits list Trevor Horn on bass, but he was the producer, and he himself has credited Drayton with bass duties on this track.

Annotations

With a pitch of 454 Hz and the tempo being exactly 131.72 bpm, it is quite certain that the track was sped up after recording. The maths don’t completely check out, but I presume that the original tempo was 128 bpm, which would result in a pitch of 452.8 Hz, but I found 454 Hz to be more suitable.

Whenever the melody hits the major seven in the third measure of the verse, none of the instruments play it, so a Gadd9 is more fitting than a Gmaj9 chord.

Additional resources

• Live on Motown Live (1999)

  With David Sancious (keys), Michael Landau (guitar), Tony Levin (bass), and Brian Blade (drums).

• Live at Wembley Arena, London, England (2004)

  With Trevor Horn on bass, producer of the original record.

• Live at the BBC Radio Theatre, London, England (2015)

  With Jamie Muhoberac on keys and Chris Bruce on guitar, who both played on the record.

• Interview on the Song Exploder podcast (2023)

  Seal and Trevor Horn talking about the song.

• Interview with Mason Marangella (2024)

  Seal giving an acoustic duo rendition of the song and talking about the songwriting and recording process.