Saturday, July 11, 2020

"The Lights Go Down"

I found a few significant melismas in "The Lights Go Down."  "On" in the line "But I gotta carry on" is sung to the notes E D C for a sense of continuation.  I think "around" in the next line ("When you ain't around") is sung to the notes D D E D C, which - while negated - musically gives a sense of constant presence.  In the line " All your dreams have blown away," "dreams" is sung to the notes A G, giving a sense of amount (for "all").  "Proud" in the line "Lonely but tryin' to be so proud" is sung to the notes G B A for a sense of degree (for that "so").  In the line "The lights go down," both "lights" (F E) and "down" (E D C) are sung with melismas to give a sense of that "go[ing] down."