'I Won't Hurt You' by Anja Garbarek
The song opens with the galloping pulse of a heartbeat. One bar after that, a softly-muted bassline begins to march along. With a gentle hand, it ushers in the final pieces of the composition; a sweet arpeggiated guitar line shorn of treble and Anja's breezy vocals, announcing:
"I've lost my pride.
I've been through paradise and out the other side."
I Won't Hurt You by Anja Garbarek is a pop song in the truest sense of the word; a memorable melody, lyrics that are poetic but in no need of elucidation and as perfectly sculpted as I'll Be Your Mirror by the Velvet Underground. There's nothing ancillary to the song's structure; built around a sweet refrain of the title's words and a middle eight of raking, fanfare strokes on chiming electric guitars, the song is then brought to a close in just 2 minutes and 37 seconds.
It comes to an end with the same heartbeat and bassline that set things ticking in the first place.