Monday, June 28, 2021

"It's So Easy Falling"

The repeated line "Falling in love with you" in the choruses of "It's So Easy Falling" is sung to a descending melody spanning an octave:  A G F F C Bb A ("love" is sung with a melisma [F C], and "you" is sung with a melisma the first time only [instead of the final A above, it's A Bb A G A]).  While "falling" is used metaphorically here, there's a sense of its meaning because of that descent.

"Run" in the line "I say that I can't take no more; I've said it more than once before, and I never run" is also sung with a melisma (D Bb C, I think), so while it's negated, there's a sense of movement.

Monday, June 21, 2021

"Country Dancing"

In the line "We'll make love through to the break of day" in "Country Dancing," "day" is sung with a melisma (C Bb Ab), so while it's used metaphorically, there is a representation of that "break[ing]."

Monday, June 14, 2021

"Everyday Another Hair Turns Grey"

At ~1:36 in "Everyday Another Hair Turns Grey," the last bit of "Ring around the Rosie" ("We all fall down") can be heard among the noises of children.

Side note:  the title should really read "Every Day Another Hair Turns Grey."  "Every day" functions adverbially; "everyday" is an adjective.  On this blog, however, I'm going to follow what's printed on the CD case and the original record sleeve.

Monday, June 7, 2021

"No Better No Worse"

I noticed a couple small features in "No Better No Worse."

In the line "Need I tell ya, they'll say you've broken ev'ry law," "law" is sung with a melisma (although the two pitches are the same:  Db).  Musically, then, there's a sense of being "broken."

In the chorus, the repeated "any man" is sung by a few different voices, and its syllables are all sung to different pitches (C B G).  Both of these features give a sense of the breadth of possibility of "any."