"21st Century Man"

When I listened to Time yester-day, I also noticed the structure of this verse in "21st Century Man":

Things ain't how you thought they were

Nothing have you planned

So pick up your penny and your suitcase

You're not a 21st century man

The syntax of the second line is inverted, apparently so that "planned" will come at the end of the line in order to rhyme with "man," but this inversion also illustrates the line "Things ain't how you thought they were."  Instead of a normal word order ("you have planned nothing"), there's this unexpected inversion.

"Another Heart Breaks"

I listened to Time this morning and noticed that at ~2:34 in "Another Heart Breaks," a voice starts counting off the measures, from one to eight.  This may be yet an-other instance of the Beatles' influence; there's also a voice counting off the measures in "A Day in the Life."  According to the liner notes of Anthology 2, this is "Mal Evans, one of the Beatles' two assistants, counting out the first of two long gaps that would later be so famously filled with the orchestral crescendos."

"Telephone Line"

I noted before that the phrase "blue days, black nights" in "Telephone Line" seems to be a reference to the song "Blue Days, Black Nights," which was recorded by Buddy Holly.  Recently, I figured out some of the bass part for "Telephone Line," and as I was looking at the chords as something of a guide, I realized that "Blue Days, Black Nights" and "Telephone Line" are in the same key:  A major.  This might be an-other facet of this reference, or it might simply be a coincidence.

"Prologue"

Recently, I learned the arpeggiated synthesizer part in "Prologue."  To this, I could add the synth bass part that I learned a couple years ago.

The liner notes for the CD re-issue of Time aren't very detailed in terms of the specific synthesizers used for the album.  I used my Moog Subsequent 37 for the bass part and Nord's sample of the Hohner String Melody II for the arpeggiated part.  I'm pretty sure that neither of these is accurate, but they're the best I could do.

I did the notation to put in my file, and I figured that I might as well put it in the video too.  Note that the synth bass part actually starts before this; I just started it where the arpeggiations begin (at ~0:39 in the original recording).

"Birmingham Blues"

Last night, I figured out the chords for "Birmingham Blues."  The song is in B major, and I'm wondering if this is meant as something of a musical joke, as if the B of B major also stands for Birmingham.

Secret Messages

In my initial notes on Secret Messages, I noted that one element of the collage on the album cover is Titian's Venus of Urbino.

The painting was flipt horizontally, though:

Either I hadn't noticed it before or thought it was obvious enough not to need mentioning, but an-other element is the Venus de Milo:

[source]

"After All"

One of the bonus tracks on the CD re-issue of Secret Messages is "After All."  According to the liner notes, this was the B-side of the "Rock 'n' Roll Is King" single.  At least some of it is based on a Chopin prélude (Op. 28, No. 4).

"Four Little Diamonds"

In the line "She took me for ev'rything" in "Four Little Diamonds," the three syllables of "ev'rything" are each sung to a different pitch (F Eb G), musically giving a sense of breadth.

"Day and night" in the line "I keep a-wonderin' 'bout her day and night" is a merism.

In the line "I'm gonna search everywhere," the "every-" of "everywhere" is sung with three syllables, giving a sense of thoroughness.

As if to reflect the searching nature of "I looked around; I climbed up high into the dawn...," there's something of a key change.  The verses are in C major, but this section is in a flat key.

"Time after Time"

In the line "The skies are darkening; they grow so dim" in "Time after Time," "dim" is sung with a melisma (G# F# E), musically giving a sense of degree (for "so").

"Take Me On and On"

I noticed a few significant melismas in "Take Me On and On":  "come" (I'm unsure of the notes) in the line "They come to me" for a sense of movement, "away" (D C# B A) in the line "Somewhere far away" for a sense of distance, and "on" in the title phrase (a variety of different melismas) for a sense of continuation.

"Bluebird"

I listened to Secret Messages yester-day and found a number of small features to note.

In the line "It makes me feel so sad" in "Bluebird," "sad" is sung with a melisma (F D G), musically giving a sense of degree (for "so").  In the lines "The places that I go / Don't feel good anymore," "go" and the "-more" of "anymore" are both sung with the same melisma, giving a sense of movement for "go" and, while negated, continuation for "anymore."

In the coda, "away" is sung with a variety of melismas (in the line "Bluebird, fly away," it's sung to the notes A A B G, and in the line "Fly away, away, away" to the notes F# F# E, E E D, D D C), musically giving a sense of movement or distance.

I'm surprised I hadn't noted this before, but this is also an-other instances of Jeff Lynne's use of the word "blue."

"Tightrope"

At the end of November, I got a Moog (the Subsequent 37).  I'm still learning how to use it, but here's the Moog part at the beginning of "Tightrope."