Editing Song structure (section)

===Post-chorus===
{{main|Post-chorus}}
An optional section that may occur after the chorus is the '''post-chorus''' (or '''postchorus'''). The term can be used generically for any section that comes after a chorus,<ref name="sloan-harding-2019">{{cite book |title=[[Switched on Pop]]: How Popular Music Works, and Why it Matters |first1=Nate |last1=Sloan |first2=Charlie |last2=Harding |year=2019 |isbn=9780190056674 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=s_C9DwAAQBAJ&dq=post-chorus&pg=PA51 51]}}</ref> but more often refers to a section that has similar character to the chorus, but is distinguishable in close analysis.<ref name="peres">{{cite web |url=https://www.top40theory.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-postchorus |title=Everything You Need to Know About the Postchorus |date=2018-07-31 |first=Asaf |last=Peres |work=Top40 Theory}}</ref> The concept of a post-chorus has been particularly popularized and analyzed by music theorist Asaf Peres, who is followed in this section.<ref name="peres"/><ref name="sloan-harding-2019"/>

Characterizations of post-chorus vary, but are broadly classed into simply a second chorus<ref name="zeger">{{cite web |title=The Post-Chorus, And It's [sic] Unsung Place In Pop Music |date=2016-08-17 |first=Eli |last=Zeger |url=https://magazine.vinylmeplease.com/magazine/post-chorus/ |work=Vinyl Me, Please.}}</ref> (in Peres's terms, a ''detached postchorus'') or an extension of the chorus<ref name="blume">{{cite web |title=The Power of Post-Choruses |date=2018-04-02 |first=Jason |last=Blume |url=https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/the-power-of-post-choruses |work=Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)}}</ref> (in Peres's terms, an ''attached postchorus''). Some restrict "post-chorus" to only cases where it is an extension of a chorus (attached postchorus), and do not consider the second part of two-part choruses (detached postchorus) as being a "post"-chorus.<ref name="blume"/>

As with distinguishing the pre-chorus from a verse, it can be difficult to distinguish the post-chorus from the chorus. In some cases they appear separately – for example, the post-chorus only appears after the second and third chorus, but not the first – and thus are clearly distinguishable. In other cases they always appear together, and thus a "chorus + post-chorus" can be considered a subdivision of the overall chorus, rather than an independent section.

Characterization of a post-chorus varies, beyond "comes immediately after the chorus"; Peres characterizes it by two conditions:<ref name="peres"/> it maintains or increases sonic energy, otherwise it is a bridge or verse; and contains a melodic hook (vocal or instrumental), otherwise it is a transition.

Detached post-choruses typically have distinct melody and lyrics from the chorus:
* <!-- Widely-cited example. -->"[[Chandelier (song)|Chandelier]]" ([[Sia]], 2014):<ref name="peres"/><ref name="keys"/> the chorus begins and ends with "I'm gonna swing from the chandelier / From the chandelier", while the post-chorus repeats instead "holding on", in "I'm holding on for dear life" and "I'm just holding on for tonight", and has a new melody, but the same chord progression as the chorus.
* "[[The Boys Are Back in Town]]" ([[Thin Lizzy]], 1976):<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Post-Chorus, And It's Unsung Place In Pop Music |url=https://www.vinylmeplease.com/blogs/magazine/post-chorus |access-date=2022-05-20 |website=Vinyl Me, Please |language=en}}</ref> the chorus consists of the phrase "the boys are back in town", repeated in a [[Call and response (music)|call-and-response]] style, while the post-chorus features a prominent riff by two lead guitars.
* "[[Smells Like Teen Spirit]]" ([[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], 1991):<ref>{{Cite web |title=Verse-Chorus Form |url=https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/VerseChorusForm.html |access-date=2022-05-20 |website=musictheory.pugetsound.edu}}</ref> the chorus lasts from "With the lights out, it's less dangerous" to "A mosquito, my libido", while the post-chorus features a heavy riff with the vocals "hey, yay".

Lyrics of attached post-choruses typically repeat the hook/refrain from the chorus, with little additional content, often using [[Non-lexical vocables in music|vocables]] like "ah" or "oh".<ref name="blume"/> Examples include:
* <!-- Early example, #1 (Billboard Hot 100) -->"[[Umbrella (song)|Umbrella]]" ([[Rihanna]], 2007):{{sfn|von Appen|Frei-Hauenschild|2015|p=79}} the chorus begins "When the sun shine, we shine together" and run through "You can stand under my umbrella / You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh", which is followed by three more repetitions of "Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh", the last one adding another "eh, eh-eh". Here the division between chorus and post-chorus is blurred, as the "ella, ella" begins in the chorus, and was a play on the reverb effect.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The-Dream on Penning Rihanna's 'Umbrella' Hook: 'It Just Never Stopped Pouring, Metaphor After Metaphor' |date=2017-04-28 |first=Adelle |last=Platon |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7775693/the-dream-rihanna-umbrella-best-choruses-21st-century}}</ref>
* <!-- Typical, widely-cited example, #1 (Billboard Hot 100) -->"[[Shape of You]]" ([[Ed Sheeran]], 2017):<ref name="blume"/><ref name="keys">{{cite book |title=The Craft of Songwriting: Music, Meaning, & Emotion |first=Scarlet |last=Keys |year=2018 |isbn=9781540039965 |publisher=Berklee Press |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=g_51DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA109 109]}}</ref> the chorus runs "I'm in love with the shape of you ... Every day discovering something brand new / I'm in love with your body", and the post-chorus repeats vocables and the hook "Oh—I—oh—I—oh—I—oh—I / I'm in love with your body", then repeats the end of the chorus, switching "your body" to "the shape of you": "Every day discovering something brand new / I'm in love with the shape of you"
* "[[Girls Like You]]" ([[Maroon 5]], 2018):<ref name="peres"/> the chorus runs "'Cause girls like you ... I need a girl like you, yeah, yeah ... I need a girl like you, yeah, yeah", and the post-chorus repeats the hook with added "yeah"s: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / I need a girl like you, yeah, yeah / Yeah yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / I need a girl like you".

Hybrids are also common (Peres: ''hybrid postchorus''), where the post-chorus keeps the hook from the chorus (like an attached postchorus), but introduces some additional content (hook or melody, like a detached postchorus.<ref name="peres"/>