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").