Showing posts with label Of Angels and Angles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Of Angels and Angles. Show all posts

Sunday, August 21, 2016

The Decemberists' "Of Angels and Angles"

I just listened to the Decemberists' Picaresque and noticed a small thing about "Of Angels and Angles."  The "aways"s in the lines "Down we go away / Away" have melismas.  The first is just F# G F#, but the second is F# G F# E D G.  Both - but especially the second - give a sense of the movement (downward movement in particular, since the phrase descends) that's mentioned in the previous line: "And, darlin', we go a-drownin'."