I'm listening to an-other Roy Orbison compilation album, titled For the Lonely: 18 Greatest Hits. Last month, I had wondered whether the rhythm in "Running Scared" is the same as that in Maurice Ravel's Boléro. As it turns out, the rhythm isn't the same.
However, listening to the song this time, I realized that the structures are fairly similar. Ravel's Boléro is based almost entirely on a percussion rhythm. (If I recall correctly, Ravel joked about this, saying that it's a shame that there's no music in the Boléro.) Orbison's "Running Scared" is also built on a rhythm that's the same throughout the entirety of the song.
But what's more interesting about "Running Scared" is that the rhythm changes instruments. For the first half a minute, the rhythm is in an acoustic guitar - the only instrument present. Then, bass and drums (and I think electric guitar) come in, playing the same rhythm. At about fifty seconds in, violins come in, with the same rhythm. At about a minute and a half, the rhythm in the drums changes (albeit only slightly), but brass comes in and sustains the original rhythm until the end of the song.
So "Running Scared" is the same as Ravel's Boléro in that it's based entirely on one rhythm, yet unlike Ravel's Boléro, that rhythm is played by more than one instrument. (Although, to be honest, it's been awhile since I've last listened to Ravel's Boléro, so maybe the rhythm is made obvious in an-other instrumental part in that piece too.)
