The Alan Parsons Project's "La Sagrada Familia"

The second thing I noticed while listening to The Essential Alan Parsons Project this morning is in "La Sagrada Familia," originally from Gaudi.  There are two recurring lines: "La Sagrada Familia for the lion and the lamb" and "La Sagrada Familia there's peace throughout the land."  These two lines reminded me of two things: first, Elvis' "(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me)" and second, Isaiah 11:6-7:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.  The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

I wrote about "(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me)" earlier this year, specifically how that Isaiah text appears to be the source of one of the verses:

Well, the bear will be gentle, and wolves will be tame
And the lion shall lie down by the lamb, oh, yes
And the beast from the wild shall be led by a child
And I'll be changed, changed from this creature that I am, oh, yes

It seems that Eric Woolfson (the main writer for the Alan Parsons Project) took some inspiration from one or the other of these sources, but I'm not sure how familiar he was with either (if he was familiar with them at all).

There's a spoken part at the beginning of "La Sagrada Familia" that talks about a cathedral that Gaudí was building, so it would make sense to quote from the Bible when writing about a cathedral, yet while a lamb and a lion are both mentioned in the Isaiah text (along with peace, although not blatantly), they're not mentioned together like they are in the Elvis song.  So while it seems that either (or both) of these could have inspired those lines in "La Sagrada Familia," I'm not sure if that's really the case.

The Alan Parsons Project's "Limelight"

This morning I listened to the second disc of The Essential Alan Parsons Project (which I started yester-day), and I found two things to write about.  The first is pretty simple:  in the song "Limelight" (originally from Stereotomy), there are the lines "Limelight, don't let me slip right through your fingers / There's a long way to fall" (when it's repeated later, it's "don't let it slip right through your fingers").  Both times, there's a melisma for "fall," where the later notes are lower in pitch than the earlier ones, so the word itself is falling in pitch as it's sung.

Fred Astaire's "Let's Call the Whole Thing off"

I'm currently listening to the second disc of a two-disc Fred Astaire set.  In the Gershwin's "Let's Call the Whole Thing off," after the lines "It looks as if we two will never be one / Something must be done," there's an instrumental section (starting at about 2:17).  I'm not sure of the specific instruments, but lines are traded between an instrument with a higher register and one with a lower register.  It continues the back-and-forth that's present in the lyrics:  "You say either, and I say either / You say neither, and I saw neither."

The Alan Parsons Project's "Snake Eyes"

This morning I listened to the first disc of The Essential Alan Parsons Project.  I listened to "Snake Eyes" (from The Turn of a Friendly Card) twice because I thought I noticed something and then wanted to confirm it while looking at the lyrics.

There's a recurring section, but there are changes in it for every reptition.  The first section (referenced from the lyrics section on the Alan Parsons Project's website) is:

Just one minute more, give me just one minute more
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright
Just one minute more, then I'll walk right through that door
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright, if ya gimme

The second iteration includes more of the "gimme one (minute) more" line:

Just one minute more, gimme just one minute more
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright, but'cha gotta
Gimme one minute more, gimme one more, gimme one minute more
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright

The final section adds "gimme one more" in the backing vocals, and the second half changes the "minute" to "marker" (which I'll admit I didn't notice until looking at the lyrics).  The APP website formats this verse differently (ostensibly to accommodate the backing vocal parts), which I've followed here:

Just one minute more (Gimme one more)
Then I'll walk right through that door (Gimme one more, gimme one more)
It's gonna be alright (Alright)
It's gonna be alright, but'ya gotta 

Gimme one marker more (Gimme one more)
Then I'll
 walk right through that door (Gimme one more, gimme one more)
Gimme one more (Don't let me down)
It's gonna be alright, alright, alright

As that section is repeated, the "gimme one more" occurs more and more frequently, and - along with the switch from "Gimme one minute more" to "Gimme one marker more" - this illustrates something of a gambling addiction.  The singer/speaker can't pull himself away from his insatiable need.

The White Stripes' "You've Got Her in Your Pocket"

I'm currently listening to the White Stripes' Elephant.  I noticed something about the chorus of "You've Got Her in Your Pocket."  It changes a bit with every repetition, but here's the first iteration:

You've got her in your pocket
And there's no way out now
Put it in the safe and lock it
'Cause it's home sweet home

What I noticed is that the third line - while it sounds the same when sung - could be written as "Put it in the safe and lock it" or "Put it in the safe and locket."  Each rendering has its advantages.

"Safe and locket" implies extra security.  The singer/speaker advises "you" to "put it" in two different locations, almost so that an extra back-up copy is available.  Additionally, a locket is kept closer and is more personal than a pocket.

This might be looking at it too closely, but "safe and lock it" could represent a higher level of security via the mosaic rhyme between "pocket" and "lock it."  There's an extra level of complexity, like a lock that's more impervious to being picked.

Colin Blunstone's Ennismore

This morning I listened to Colin Blunstone's Ennismore.  I noticed a couple things about two songs, but since they're not major points, I'm putting them in the same post.

The first thing I noticed is in "I Don't Believe in Miracles."  After the line "I believe I was your game, your ball" in the lead vocals, the backing vocals echo, "Your ball."  There's something of a glissando on that "ball" though, so the pitch is raised as the word is sung, which anticipates the next line in the lead vocals: "If you threw me up, then I would fall."

The other thing I noticed is that in "Andorra" after "rain" in the line "But down the mountains came the rain to soak our head," there's a guitar part that seems to represent raindrops.

Elvis Presley's "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"

I'm currently listening to an Elvis compilation album, and I noticed a couple things about "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You."  Some of the "heart"s in the recurring line "I want you, I need you, I, I love you / With all my heart" have either a melisma or a sort of stutter, which - to some degree - represents that "all."  The wanting, needing, and loving isn't limited to just one note or one pitch.

More significantly though, I noticed a large interval between the two syllables of "apart" in the line "'Cause I die every time we're apart."  I'm pretty sure the interval there is an octave (between C notes), which helps to demonstrate that distance.

Bo Diddley's "Don't Let It Go (Hold on to What You Got)"

Yester-day I listened (for the first time) to the first disc of a three-CD set of Bo Diddley.  I'm listening to the second disc to-day, and I think I found a reference to Ray Charles' "Hallelujah I Love Her So" in "Don't Let It Go (Hold on to What You Got)."  There's the line "She brings me my coffee in her favorite cup," which is very similar to Charles' "She brings my coffee in my favorite cup."  According to the credits for the two compilation albums I have these songs on, "Hallelujah I Love Her So" is from 1955, and "Don't Let It Go (Hold on to What You Got)" is from 1959, so chronologically, that reference is possible, but since I don't know much about Bo Diddley (this is the first album of his material that I have, and this is only the first time I'm listening to it), I'm not sure if that's a viable connection.

Cliff Richard's "Donna"

I just listened to the first disc of a two-disc set of Cliff Richard, and I noticed two things about his cover of Ritchie Valens' "Donna."

At first, I just noticed that one of the lines could be written one of two ways.  Either "For I love my girl; Donna, where can you be?" or "For I love my girl, Donna; where can you be?"  There's a slight pause in the vocals after "girl," so the first rendering is more accurate, but the second is grammatically viable.  There's no major difference in meaning between the two; one just has "Donna" as a vocative (asking her where she is), and the other has "Donna" as an appositive (specifying that the girl whom the singer/speaker loves is Donna).

But then I realized that this line (along with some others) illustrates something else.  "For I love my girl; Donna, where can you be," "I had a girl; Donna was her name," and "Oh, well, Donna, now that you're gone" all have "Donna" in the middle of the line, which reflects how Donna is at the center of the singer/speaker's life and how her leaving is what he's most concerned about.

I briefly referenced Valens' original (I haven't gotten around to transcribing it yet), and while these two points also apply to his version, there are some slight lyrical differences between the two recordings.

Vipers Skiffle Group's "If I Had a Hammer"

I just finished listening to the second disc of the two-CD set of the Vipers Skiffle Group that I started yester-day.  I noticed some articulations of some lines in "If I Had a Hammer."  They're not consistently employed in every verse, but there are some melismas on "all" and "land" in the recurring line "All over this land," musically portraying the inclusiveness.  Similarly, the "all" in the line "All over this land" that ends each verse spans an octave (of C notes), which demonstrates the encompassing mentioned in the lyric itself.

Viper Skiffle Group's "The Wild Colonial Boy"

I'm not sure if I noticed this before or not, but I certainly haven't written about it.  In Viper Skiffle Group's "The Wild Colonial Boy," there's an interruption in the drum part in the middle of the lines "Well, he fired a shot at Kelly" and "Then he fired a shot at Fitzroy too."  Throughout the verses, there's a kind of shuffle that I think is played with brushes, but after the "fired a shot" phrases, there's a sudden hit, apparently to portray those shots.

Wagner: Die Walküre

I've spent much of to-day listening to Wagner's Die Walküre.  This is only the second time I've listened to it, and I haven't really tried to understand the story yet, but I did notice a small thing about a particular phrase (mostly because I happened to glance at the title of the movement).

Near the beginning of Act 3, Scene 1, Brünnhild sings, "Schützt mich und helft in höchster Not!"  ("Protect me and help in most dire need!"):

(notation found here)

The word "höchster" here is what caught my interest.  Paired with "Not" ("need," "distress," &c.), it's most likely to be translated as "most dire" (as I've done above*), but in other contexts, "höchster" would be translated as "highest."  In the melody here, the first note to which "höchster" is sung is the highest in the phrase, which emphasizes that superlative and mirrors that alternate meaning.

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*In double checking my translation with my German-English dictionary, I also found that "höchster" can be translated as "deepest" in some contexts, but considering that the note to which it's sung in this phrase is the highest, it would be something of a musical/lingual contradiction to translate it as such.

The Easybeats' "St. Louis"

I'm surprised I didn't notice this either, but the Easybeats' "St. Louis" starts with "Countrymen, friends, lend me your ears," which is pretty close to Mark Antony's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" (III.ii.73) in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

The Easybeats' "Good Times"

I just started listening to a two-disc compilation album of the Easybeats.  I'm surprised I never noticed this before, but a line in "Good Times" is "Long Tall Sally's gonna be with Slim," which is a pretty obvious reference to Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally."

Bread's "Aubrey"

This morning I listened to a compilation album of Bread and noticed something in "Aubrey."  The "past" in the line "Catching all the words but then the meaning going past" has a glissando; it's sung to three pitches rather than just one.  It slides from F# to E to D, which conveys the movement of passing that the lyric mentions.

The Mamas & the Papas' Deliver

This morning I listened to The Mamas & the Papas' Deliver and found a few things.  None of them are that significant though, so I'm putting them all together in one post.

"Dedicated to the One I Love"

There's a fairly large interval between the two syllables of "away" in the first line ("While I'm far away from you, my baby"), which helps to demonstrate the distance.  It's a fourth (D to G).

"Free Advice"

The "ground" in the line "And keep your ear to the ground" has a melisma, and the later notes have lower pitches (F to E to D), so as the word it sung, it goes lower, just like the line itself says to do.

"Look through My Window"

I actually didn't notice this until transcribing the song to look at what I had discovered, but the end of line "To the street below" descends, as if looking down on the street.  "Street below" is sung to a F Db Ab phrase.

What I noticed when I listened to the song this morning is that the "go" in the line "Someplace to go" has a melisma, suggesting the movement that stated plainly in the line itself.  It's actually the same descent as the "ground" in "Free Advice," although there's also a C# at the end.

Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young's "Almost Cut My Hair"

This morning I listened to Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young's Déjà Vu and noticed a small thing about "Almost Cut My Hair."  There's some alliteration in the lines "When I finally get myself together / I'm gonna get down in that sunny, southern weather," specifically the "sunny, southern."  Experiencing that weather is described as a reward of sorts of "get[ting] myself together," and those adjectives' being alliterative furthers the sense of harmonious well-being.

Tommy James & the Shondells' "Ball of Fire"

Yester-day I listened to a compilation album of Tommy James & the Shondells and found a couple things about "Ball of Fire."  At first, I noticed that the second "down" in the repeated line "Tumblin' down" has two syllables and that the second syllable is lower than the first (although I think it's just D to C), so it sort of represents that "Tumblin' down."  But in transcribing the lyrics, I found something else.  I think the line "As it was, so it shall be" is inspired by the doxology:  "As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever."  I've read that "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was inspired by the book of Revelation, and in Me, the Mob, and the Music, James talks about religion a bit, so that influence would make sense based on what I know.

The Zombies' "Indication"

The third (and final) thing I noticed while listening to the Zombies' The Decca Stereo Anthology is in the backing vocals in "Indication."  For the last line of the verses, the backing vocals have a consist descent.  For the first two verses, that melodic arc emphasizes the lyrics:  "Tied down every day and every night" and "I won't be the one to settle down."  Both have "down" in the line, and the melody descends.

The Zombies' "Don't Cry for Me"

The second thing I noticed when I listened to the Zombies' The Decca Stereo Anthology yester-day was some melismas in "Don't Cry for Me."  I'd noticed the descending melisma on "down" before, but apparently I'd neglected to recognize the melisma'd "heart" in the line before it:  "Don't break your heart / Thinking you have let me down."

The descending melisma for "down" is easily explained as a musical representation of the "down," but I was initially confounded by the melisma'd "heart."  The full line is "Don't break your heart," but that melisma does break the heart (into notes of different pitches).

After thinking about it for a while, the only explanation I can come up with (aside from just a simple vocal embellishment) is that the sentiment there is disingenuous.  The singer/speaker says, "Don't break your heart," but he doesn't really mean it.

The Zombies' "I Don't Want to Know"

Yester-day I listened to the Zombies' The Decca Stereo Anthology and noticed a few things.  The first was in "I Don't Want to Know."  There are the lines "I believe what I want / No matter what you do," and I'd always understood the "do" there as representing an action.  "I believe what I want / No matter what action you perform."  But listening to it yester-day, I realized that it could be a sort of abbreviation standing in for the same verb, so "I believe what I want / No matter what you believe."

The singer/speaker's steadfastness in his belief remains the same, but - depending on how that second line is parsed - he's resisting different things.