middle eight

noun

1. the third contrasting eight-bar section of a 32-bar pop song

Example Sentences

She was blissfully unaware drummer Kevin Godley felt the "middle eight" section was lacking a certain something in Eric Stewart's song about his wife not being happy with him for hardly ever saying he loved her.

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A masterclass in pop storytelling, Good Luck Babe has a proper three-act structure, with a killer pay-off in the middle eight and a chorus you just can't shake.

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The middle eight bars should do something that relieves the tension — gives the listener a break for a minute and then takes you right back in.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That late-first-half execution contributed to Cincinnati’s strong performance in the “middle eight,” the last four minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second half.

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“I’m the writer, so I need to know how every aspect of the song goes. I can hear the bass and the drums and the keyboards. That’s how I go into the studio. It has a verse, a chorus, a middle eight, a solo, an end. If it’s going to fade, if it’s going to end, whatever — I need to know exactly what that is.”

Read more on New York Times