Tuesday, June 30, 2020

"Dirty to the Bone"

In the line "She'll pull you in; she'll take you down" in "Dirty to the Bone," one of the vocal parts descends for "she'll take you down" (A G G E), musically giving a sense of that "tak[ing]... down."

Monday, June 29, 2020

"Love and Rain"

I listened to Alone in the Universe a couple days ago and noticed a couple things.

In the lines "It takes a lot of rain / To make a flower grow" in "Love and Rain," "grow" is sung with a melisma (C Bb G), musically giving something of a sense of its meaning.

In the chorus, there's an echo applied to "again" in the line "Keep comin' back again," and that repetition also gives an impression of the meaning.

Sunday, June 28, 2020

"Without Someone"

I listened to Balance of Power yester-day and noticed a small feature in "Without Someone."  The line "It hardly moves at all" (referring to "the clock staring from the wall" from the previous line) is sung to a paucity of pitches, just A Bb and C.  The musical phrase is limited, and this gives a sense of that "hardly mov[ing]."