"Expectation" is a song by

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...

, released as a single in 2010. It was recorded during the sessions for the ''

Innerspeaker ''Innerspeaker'' is the debut studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala. Recorded at a remote beach shack in Western Australia during the winter of 2009, the album was released on 21 May 2010 by Modular Recordings. ''Innerspeaker'' ...

'' album in 2009, and released as the third single from that album. The single features artwork from Australian artist

Leif Podhajsky Leif Podhajsky is an Australian graphic designer and art director, well known for his distinctive album art working with artists such as Tame Impala, Bonobo, Foals, Kylie Minogue, Of Monsters and Men, Lykke Li, Toy, The Horrors, Mount Kimb ...

, who also created the artwork for ''Innerspeaker'' and the follow-up ''

Lonerism ''Lonerism'' is the second studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 5 October 2012 by Modular Recordings. Like the band's debut studio album, ''Innerspeaker'' (2010), ''Lonerism'' was written, recorded, performed, and ...

''.

Composition

"Expectation" was written by Kevin Parker in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor a ...

in a 6/4

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western culture, Western musical notation to specify how many beat (music), beats (pulses) are contained in each measu ...

. It is based around the two repeating

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ...

of Cmaj7 and Fmaj7. The song starts off in a

polymeter In music, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter ( American spelling) refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats. Unlike rhythm, metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by the perf ...

rhythm, with 3/4 on the drums, and 6/8 on the guitar, bass and keyboard. The

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

have

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...

and

delay Delay (from Latin: dilatio) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Delay 1968'', a 1981 album by German experimental rock band Can * '' The Delay'', a 2012 Uruguayan film People * B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and ac ...

applied to them,, and the

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

are distorted through a

flanger Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 millisecond A millisecond (from '' milli-'' and second; symbol: ...

pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

. The verse features a slight

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

type effect where Parker's vocals come in over the top of the

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

, and then when the vocals stop they are replaced by the guitar over the top of the drums and bass. During the guitar sections in the verse, there is also a heavily flanged guitar low in the

mix Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to: Persons & places * Mix (surname) ** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star * nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player * Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia * ...

playing a

melody A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...

in the F major

scale Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

. Another verse comes in over the top of the pre-verse instrumental section. The

pre-chorus Song structure is the arrangement of a song, and is a part of the songwriting process. It is typically sectional, which uses repeating forms in songs. Common forms include bar form, 32-bar form, verse–chorus form, ternary form, strophic form, and ...

is short and features an F5

power chord A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on ...

played on guitar to punctuate the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer ...

. There is also a short bass fill, as well as a

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis an ...

fill. The

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

then comes in, featuring a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of A minor, E minor, Fmaj7, Cmaj7, G major, Fmaj7. The

oscillating Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

echoed In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the li ...

vocals from the chorus filter into the next section, with the guitar from the

intro Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

played in 4/4. The song then returns to 3/4 with the regular

strum In music, strumming is a way of playing a stringed instrument such as a guitar, ukulele, or mandolin. A strum or stroke is a sweeping action where a finger or plectrum brushes over several strings to generate sound. On most stringed instrumen ...

ming pattern returning again. A flanged backwards guitar

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

is also included. This gives way to the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, which has a

key change In music, modulation is the change from one tonality ( tonic, or tonal center) to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature (a key change). Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as ...

to G minor, with the repetitive chords of G minor and C major. Additional reverb and delay on Parker's vocals are used to provide a hazy atmosphere. The key returns to C major in the next verse. It has the same Cmaj7 and Fmaj7 chord progression once again. The pre-chorus is extended for a few extra bars this time, and includes an Fmaj7 chord in addition to the F major of the previous pre-chorus. A synth fill transitions to the chorus, but this time it only has a synth playing the chorus chord progression behind Parker's delayed vocals, which have had the delay time shortened and the feedback amount extended. The full band then comes back in to play the chorus a couple of times more before the song completely fades out at 4:24. At 4:30, the song fades back in for a

reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

of the bridge, with an extremely flanged guitar playing the G minor, C major chord progression in the key of G minor. The drums and bass soon follow the guitar, with the bass playing the vocal melody from the lyric "In all of the universe, there is nobody for me" using the G minor scale. The drums slowly start building and the song eventually comes to a

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer depend ...

with layered guitar overdubs and synths. The song then suddenly stops with a soft synth fading out a second after the band do.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for "Expectation" was directed by Clemens Habicht. It was shot in

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( S ...

in a

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest to ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, using a

360 degree camera In photography, an omnidirectional camera (from "omni", meaning all), also known as 360-degree camera, is a camera having a field of view that covers approximately the entire sphere or at least a full circle in the horizontal plane. Omnidirectiona ...

. The video begins with Tame Impala walking into position and picking up their instruments. They perform the song in a circle around the camera, and then the image is flattened onto the frame, creating a panoramic effect, making it appear as if they are standing right next to each other. This creates a wobbly and distorted image around the corners of the frame. The camera then

pans Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considered both cookwar ...

to the side and the image infinitely continues on the other side, à la

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game, maze action game, action video game developed and released by Namco for Arcade game, arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its l ...

. There are also shots with different panning patterns, such as in a figure 8. After the first chorus, it cuts to a shot at night-time, with various members of the band walking around the camera and therefore continuing on the other side of the frame. There are also shots of them performing the song in the dimly lit forest, and other shots where they are letting off

flares A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, o ...

, creating a bright red haze in the dark forest as the band plays. This scene also features an almost

hand-held camera Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are used because they are conve ...

effect with the camera zooming in up close and then crossing to other members of the band, bending the image in the process. The outro features heavy psychedelic panning effects, to create a dizzying and disorienting effect. The song finishes and the band put down their instruments and walk away. According to Parker, they spent the whole day filming it and did approximately 37 takes. The video only features the main portion of the song, and doesn't include the instrumental reprise.

Live performances

"Expectation" was added to Tame Impala's setlist in late 2010 and heavily featured in 2011. Live, Tame Impala play the entire song, including the reprise, and have a heavier use of

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, a b ...

in the reprise.

Track listing

# "Expectation" – 6:02

Personnel

* Kevin Parker – all vocals and instrumentation

References

External links

* {{authority control 2010 songs 2010 singles Tame Impala songs Song recordings produced by Kevin Parker Songs written by Kevin Parker (musician)