Wednesday, November 24, 2021

"It's So Easy Falling"

About a month ago, I was thinking about the vocal melodies in the chorus of "It's So Easy Falling."  I think they're something like this (lead vocal on the top line, backing vocals on the bottom line):


These lines are repeated with little musical variation.

Like I mentioned before, that the melodies descend gives a sense of the (metaphorical) "falling."  Recently, though, I realized that the shapes here also illustrate the inevitability expressed in the line "I can't help it falling."  That the lead vocal briefly ascends (at the end of the first measure) and then holds the note for a longer value can be thought of as hesitancy or resistance.  This is when the backing vocals come in and reassert the descent (the "falling in love"), after which the lead vocal complies or is coerced and then descends again.