Monday, July 27, 2020

"You're My Girl"

In the line "When our hearts beat, they beat so close" in "You're My Girl," "so" is sung with a melisma (G A), musically giving a sense of degree.

Monday, July 20, 2020

"Superstitious Guy"

I noticed a couple significant melismas in the bridge of "Superstitious Guy."  "Spell" in the line "Tries to break the spell" is sung to the notes F# E, so there's a sense of "break[ing]" (into more than one syllable).  "Well" in the next line ("But he knows only too well") is sung to the notes B A B D (I think), musically giving a sense of degree (for "too").

While referencing the song to transcribe the lyrics and find those specific pitches, I also noticed that in the line "Believes that when he wears it, he can't come to any harm," "harm" is sung with a melisma (B C# B A in the lead vocal, D E F# E in the harmony vocal), giving a sense of the breadth of possibility (for that "any").

Monday, July 13, 2020

"Autumn Leaves"

I don't know if this was the intent, but the title "Autumn Leaves" is something of a pun.  It could be understood either as an adjective ("autumn") modifying a plural noun ("leaves") or a noun ("autumn") and a verb ("leaves").

Monday, July 6, 2020

"As Long as I Have Lovin'"

In the line "And you can keep a-searchin', searchin' ev'rywhere" in "As Long as I Have Lovin'," "ev'rywhere" is sung with a melisma (F# F# E D E F#), musically giving a sense of breadth.

"Ev'ry day, ev'ry night" in the last line is an example of a merism.