(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether

Infobox Single
Name = (The System of) Dr. Tarr And Professor Fether


Artist = The Alan Parsons Project
from Album = Tales of Mystery and Imagination
B-side = "A Dream Within A Dream"
Released = July 1976
Format = 7"
Recorded =
Genre = Progressive rock
Length = 4:20
Label = 20th Century (US) Charisma (UK)
Writer = Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson
Producer = Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson
Certification =
Last single =
This single = "(The System of) Dr. Tarr And Professor Fether" (1976)
Next single = "The Raven" (1976)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Type = studio
prev_track = "The Cask of Amontillado"
prev_no = 4
this_track = "(The System of) Dr. Tarr And Professor Fether"
track_no = 5
next_track = "The Fall of the House of Usher: Prelude"
next_no = 6

"The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" is a 1976 single by The Alan Parsons Project which first appeared on their album "Tales of Mystery and Imagination". The single reached number 37 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 62 in Canada.

Song information

It begins with background voices fading in, followed by an electric guitar riff and then, the Hammond organ, electric piano, bass, and drums kick in. Then Jack Harris chants the line, "Just what you need to make you feel better," in a deep voice that sounds like the Jolly Green Giant. John Miles sings the lead vocals. The first half of the song is played in C minor. The coda of the song shifts from C minor to D minor. It starts with a riff and applauding sounds, and then the overlaying riff from "The Raven" is played. Then the harpsichord comes in, and then the synthesizer comes in while both instruments play the overlaying riff from "A Dream Within a Dream". However, "A Dream Within a Dream" and "The Raven" are actually played in A minor. As the song fades out, a guitar lick is played amongst the rest of the instrumentation. The riff from "The Raven" is performed on a Wurlitzer keyboard with a digital vocoder. The chorus in this song sounds very similar to the chorus of "The Raven".

Tempo

Musically, this song is funky and kind of upbeat, but it also has a slow plodding rhythm. "A Dream Within a Dream" and "The Raven" also have that same plodding rhythm.