The Transformers Theme: What Makes it Great?

One of the greatest kids' TV shows of all-time, Transformers fueled the imaginations of a generation. Warring sentient alien robots, capable of transforming themselves into vehicles, bring their fight to earth. But, aside from that 1980's oh-so-cool premise, what was it that caught the attention of its viewers? I would argue it was the opening theme song (credited to Johnny Douglas).

Lasting a short 35 seconds, the opening title sequence is full of action, musically speaking. A guitar solo, accompanied by drum and bass as well as an pulsing orchestral line, introduces those unforgettable lyrics, accented by horns and flutes:

[1] Transformers,

More than meets the eye.

Autobots wage their battle

To destroy the evil forces of -

The Decepticons.

[2] (the) Transformers,

Robots in disguise.

[3] Transformers,

More than meets the eye.
[4] Transformers.

Wow, what a daunting text to set. Even in such a short stanza there are a few words which a composer would be tearing his/her hair out over (How does one sing 'Decepticon'?). In a clever scheme, Douglas repeats the motif of the first statement (marked above by a [1]) three more times ([2]-[4]), but balances its rather hollow harmonic structure with a sequence full of syncopation. It's not something you would expect to hear in a cartoon theme song - it's a bit too sophisticated.

1

The funny thing is that it sounds awfully baroque if you were to take the syncopation away. Harmonically speaking, the sequence is a Quintfall, or a sequence of a descending fifth (I've been told by a jazz player that it might be referred to as a 'circle of fifths sequence'). Each segment entails the drop of a fifth in the bass line followed by a rise of a fourth. You can see from the image in the video below that the harmony is descending.

Furthermore, if one of the horns weren't doubling a simplified vocal line, there'd have been the chance to make the 7-6 (that is a 7 chord above the written bass to a 6 chord above the written bass) sequence into a 7-7. Listen to what that would sound like in the video below (there's a typo in the figuration on the video below, it should read 7-7-7, etc. not 7-9-7, etc.).

Finally, here's the sequence in a more baroque idiom (the typo is still there, sorry about that).

Essentially, the centerpiece of the theme to Transformers has its roots in baroque music. 

Who would have thought it? 

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^{1. For the purposes of this article I transcribed the sequence in a piano reduction in cut time. It is very possible that the original theme was conceived in 4/4 time but I haven't seen the score.↩}