Despite the overall sadness of the lyrics, the music leans on a happier sounding chord progression that creates a feeling of longing and detachment. The role the bass plays in this song is beautiful. The descending bass line as it outlines the chord gives a nice folksy vibe to the song. While the bass remains in the background for most of the verses, it takes the lead with a beautiful melody in the gaps. This stands out, so much so, that it immediately hooks the audience's ear.
“Clementine” is an unusual song from the perspective of songwriting because it challenges how a conventional song works. Jaffe achieves this by using one of the guitars to do a muted rhythm creating a percussive effect that adds to the depth of the song. The cello then follows suit along with the guitar before taking over the role of the bass. By playing the chord tones, the cello allows the bass to venture out.
The chord progression, while simple, uses the plagal cadence also known as the “church cadence” where the progression uses the IV chord to resolve to the I chord. This does not create a strong sense of resolve as compared to the perfect cadence (V to I). This selection of the cadence further strengthens the feeling of melancholy.
