Monday, August 23, 2021

"That's All I Ever Want from You Baby"

A couple weeks ago, I figured out the chords for "That's All I Ever Want from You Baby" and noticed a handful of things.

With the disclaimer that I may have something wrong, here's the chord progression:
Chorus
|: F major | Bb major :|
F major | C major | Bb major
[resolves with F major]

Verses
|: F major | F augmented | Bb major | C major :|
F major | F major 7 | Bb major | G major
The song is in F major, but there are a couple accidentals in these chords (C# in F augmented and B natural in G major).  Because these pitches venture outside of the song's key, there's something of a musical sense of the encompassing nature of the "all"s in the first verse ("Let me kiss away all your tears / And let me chase away all your fears / Baby, love me though all the years") and the "every" in the second verse ("When you're kissin' me, hold me tight / And when you're holding me, oh, baby, do it right / Oh, let me be with you, girl, every night").  This "every" is also sung with three syllables, an articulation that gives a sense of number.

I also noticed that "fears" (A G) in the line "And let me chase away all your fears" and "night" (A G F) in the line "Oh, let me be with you, girl, every night" are sung with melismas, giving a sense of entirety (for "all") and number (for "every").

Monday, August 16, 2021

"Happy Families (with Edwin O'Garvey and His Showband)"

In "Happy Families (with Edwin O'Garvey and His Showband)," the parts about "one big happy family" are sung with multiple voices, illustrating the "big" size.  Additionally, the syllables of "family" are each sung to a different pitch (first A F# D and later Bb G Eb), also giving a sense of breadth.

Monday, August 9, 2021

"Harry the One-Man-Band"

In the line "Anywhere the people are, Harry's sure to go" in "Harry the One-Man-Band," "go" is sung with a melisma (A G F), musically giving a sense of movement.

Monday, August 2, 2021

"Ha! Ha! Said the Clown"

In "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown," there's a particular sound under "this" in the line "In a while, run a mile, I'm regrettin' all this."  I'm pretty sure this is a Mellotron cello.  It seems that Mann pressed a key so that the note started, and then he turned the pitch knob so that the note goes up in pitch.  Whatever it is, this glissando-type effect illustrates the entirety of the "all" in "all this."