Later, I also noticed that "Go up" in the line "Go up the stairs and down the hallway" is sung to an ascending pair of notes (I think it's a seventh: C to Bb), representing this "up," and that the phrase "all the world" in the line "And she's the greatest girl in all the world" is sung to notes of all different pitches (E D G), also giving a sense of this breadth or entirety.
Monday, June 22, 2026
"So Long, Dad"
This morning, I figured out one of the Mellotron parts in "So Long, Dad" (if I'm not mistaken, it's predominantly trombone, but I think something else is also combined with it), and I noticed that at one point, it demonstrates the lyrics in a way. After the line "And she's the greatest girl in all the world," there's a three-note chromatic phrase (D D# E, dropping to C# at the end). While the span is small (only a whole step from D to E), the chromaticism involved lends some sense of breadth (in terms of variety of pitches), hinting at the entirety of "all the world."
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So Long Dad
Thursday, June 18, 2026
"Harry the One-Man-Band"
Years ago, I noticed that the structure of the line "Anywhere the people are, Harry's sure to go" in "Harry the One-Man-Band" is such that "people" and "Harry" are near each other, matching the meaning. I was thinking about the song yester-day and realized that this proximity is also portrayed musically: there's only a half-step between the last syllable of "people" (sung to a Bb) and the first syllable of "Harry" (sung to an A).
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Harry the One Man Band
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