What's the best "bridge" you've heard in a song?

“Alone Again Naturally” has a great bridge.

 

Rush in the ‘80s had a number of great ones. A couple that jump immediately to mind are “The Enemy Within” and “Marathon”.

 

McCartney's "Live and Let Die".
The reggae bridge breaks the intensity of the first half of the song, so the intensity can hit you again.
Then he does the same thing with the soft string-backed break before hitting you again for the finale.

 

For me it's in Bee Gees's "Nights On Broadway" (at about 2:40)

 

The Crunge - Led Zeppelin. Just kidding.

 

The long and winding road

 

Oh, I definitely think about that one! (It helps that I've played it, no doubt.) That change to the Cmaj7/bIII7 is just dynamite -- an old trick, admittedly, heard as far back as "Night and Day" and before that too, but still a good one. Really well-orchestrated, too.

Along similar lines, I'll nominate "I Know" by Dionne Farris. Very 1990s in the verses (which are still nice), but that bridge is weapons-grade stuff. Like "The Girl Is Mine", it opens the song right up and introduces a new harmonic color at just the right time.

 

Joe Walsh, live version of Turn To Stone, from You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind. The flute solo eventually going into the intro riff to solo, from 3.54 to 6.54!! Value for money.

 

One of my favorite bridges is in Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It”. The lead-up to the bridge during the harmonica instrumental break (2:04) that slides into the bridge at the 2:22 mark is damn smooth!

 

Brighton Rock

 

The confounded one that eluded Led Zeppelin.

 

Great call

 

The Beatles - We Can Work It Out
"Life is very short.." love it !

And a close 2nd place awarded to
The Rolling Stones - Bridges To Babylon

 

I don't understand a word but caught myself whistling this one

 

Joni Mitchell's "Eastern Rain" had a beautiful middle which Faiport replaced with Richard Thompson guitar solo when they covered it . Beautiful Mitchell lyrics, beautiful Thompson solo, not a bad deal.

 

Absolutely, and it's on this song--more than any other-- where the "old" Bee Gees meet the "new" Bee Gees.

 

It may not be one of his "best" songs, but the bridge on Springsteen's "Human Touch" is one of his best--when it begins with the line--
Oh girl that feeling of safety you prize/Well, it comes with a hard, hard price....

 

Bob Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie" has always been a favorite of mine. The seemingly random way he jumps from the tonic to the sharp 5 major chord (in this case, D to Bb) always makes me chuckle. "I think we need another chord here. Yep, that'll do."

 

"All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison



Does Keith's part of "Memory Motel" count as a bridge?

 

Yeah, the Beatles win this thread going away. Too many to name, although Ticket To Ride and We Can Work It Out are favorites.

Tom Petty stopped writing middle eights after a while for some unknown reason.... Shame as he always used them to kick the song to the next level. I love the bridge in "Don't Do Me Like That" ("Cuz somewhere deep down in-SIDE someone is sayin...") and "Refugee" ("Right now if this ain't real to you, it's one of those things you gotta feel to be TRUUUUUUE!!!").

And because NO ONE else is gonna mention this band..... 38 Special wrote a fantastic bridge for "Caught Up In You." Probably the highlight of the song, and maybe their career. Starts at 1:56.

 

Bob Dylan - Just Like a Woman

It was raining from the first
And I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here
And your long-time curse hurts
But what’s worse
Is this pain in here
I can’t stay in here
Ain’t it clear that I...

Really love how it transitions back to the verse.

 

"I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash has one that is nothing short of majestic, with clouds parting and "nothing but BLUE SKIIIIIIIES..."; drifting voices ala "A Day In The Life" and a burbling synthesizer adding to the grandeur.

"Born To Run" by Springsteen might just be the best ever, though. Like "Wouldn't It Be Nice" it seems worthy of a movie, in and of itself.

 

Uhh, how? What should he say instead? This just sounds like complaining for the sake of complaining.

 

I love the bridge in Steely Dan's Barrytown.

 

Cheap Trick - Voices

Especially bridge 2