"Getting to the Point"

I listened to Balance of Power a couple weeks ago (3 April) and noticed something about "Getting to the Point" that I neglected to write about here.  In my initial notes on Balance of Power, I noted that "long" in the line "Forever / Is a long way" is sung as a whole note, which musically emphasizes that length of time.  When I listened to Balance of Power recently, I noticed that there's an effect applied to the vocal there (I'm not sure if it's technically echo or delay) so that the "for-" of "forever" and "Is a long way" continue even after they're sung in the lead vocals.  Like "long" being sung to a whole note, this too provides a musical sense of that length of time.

"When the Night Comes"

After I figured out the chords for "When the Night Comes" a few days ago, I had the feeling that "Is It Alright" from Balance of Power had a similar chord progression, so I figured out the chords for that too.

The chords progressions aren't exactly the same, but there are sections that are identical.  The entirety of the verses in both alternate between D minor and A minor.  "Is It Alright" has four measures of D minor, two measures of A minor, four measures of D minor, and then two measures of A minor; "When the Night Comes" has four measures of each: four measures of D minor, four measures of A minor, four measures of D minor, and then four measures of A minor.

(According to how the lyrics are formatted in the liner notes in Alone in the Universe, the "But what can I say when the night comes to stay" and "But where will I be when the night comes to me" sections of "When the Night Comes" are distinct from the verses and choruses.)

The beginning of the choruses in both also have the same chord progression and even the same values, but "When the Night Comes" holds each chords for twice as long as "Is It Alright."  In "Is It Alright," the chorus starts with one measure of E minor, followed by one measure that's half F major and half G major (each lasting for two beats).  Then that's repeated.  In "When the Night Comes," the E minor lasts for two measures, then there's a full measure of F major and a full measure of G major.  Then that's repeated.  From there, the chord progressions of the choruses diverge.

Alone in the Universe

In order to write about "When the Night Comes" yester-day, I referenced the lyrics in the liner notes of Alone in the Universe.  In doing so, I discovered something about the gatefold picture.  In the lower right corner of the left half (just above the Les Paul guitar), there's the golden record carried on the Voyager space probes:

Here's a picture of the golden record from NASA's website:

After I saw this and confirmed what it was, I remembered the EPK video for Alone in the Universe in which Jeff Lynne explains that Voyager 1 inspired the title track:

I feel it's also worth mentioning that one of the pieces of music on the golden record is Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode."

While writing about the gatefold, I might as well note that the cover of Jeff Lynne's Long Wave album is one of the pictures taped on the wall:

The radio on the floor in the Alone in the Universe gatefold also resembles the radio in the inside picture of Long Wave:

"When the Night Comes"

Yester-day I figured out the chords for "When the Night Comes" from Alone in the Universe.  I'm sure I noticed this before, but I don't think I've written about it:  in the first verse, there's the line "When the night comes I get midnight blue."  There's a similar expression in "Midnight Blue" from Discovery:  "I'm feelin' midnight blue."

"Dirty to the Bone"

I don't think I mentioned this here, but one of my musical projects for 2018 is to figured out at least one part for every song on Alone in the Universe.  Yester-day I figured out some parts for "Dirty to the Bone" and discovered an interesting feature.

There's a repeating guitar phrase that's something like:

And so on.

The title phrase ("dirty to the bone") is sung to this musical phrase:

These two parts consist of the same three pitches (G, B, and C), which gives the song some cohesion.

That the title phrase descends also gives a musical impression of going to the very core or - as the song puts it - "to the bone."

"Look at Me Now"

Lately, I've been listening to a ten-CD box set of works by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen.  I found a melody in his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 33 that sounded familiar.  Near the end of the Allegro cavallerésco in the first movement, there's this phrase in the solo violin:

[notation found here]

I knew this was similar to a phrase from one of the songs on No Answer, but I had to do a bit of searching before I found which one.  It's the vocal melody at the beginning of the bridge in "Look at Me Now," which is something like:

(I guessed on the key.  I'm still having trouble understanding the lyrics on a lot of the early ELO songs, but I think the lines here are "Now she's a sallow face / Got a ring of lace.")

The exact pitches (and even the intervals) aren't the same, and the rhythms are a little different, but the two melodies do have the same general shape.

"Look at Me Now" was written by Roy Wood.  I don't know if he was familiar with this particular piece by Nielsen, but there is a certain similarity between these two phrases.

"Mr. Blue Sky"

A couple days ago, I watched a video of Jeff Lynne's ELO performing "Mr. Blue Sky."

It's not in this performance, but in the original recording, there's some panting after the line "Runnin' down the avenue."  Like I mentioned when I first started this project, this seems to be a nod to the panting in the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" (after the line "And looking up, I noticed I was late").

When I watched this live performance, I realized that the structure of "Mr. Blue Sky" might take something from "A Day in the Life" too.  The end of each song doesn't bear much relation to what came before.  "A Day in the Life" has an aleatoric ascent (admittedly the second one in the song) and then simultaneous crashing piano chords followed by a loop of gibberish; "Mr. Blue Sky" has a choral section and then a part with just strings and piano.

Both break free from the traditional structure of verses, choruses, and a bridge or two.  At the end, both songs have singular structural elements.

"The Lights Go Down"

Last night I went through my files because I need to combine parts I have physically written down with parts I have typed in various Google Documents (in doing so, I discovered that since last October I've known at least a bit of each song on ELO II, although I don't think I've recorded them all).  In any case, I realized something just by reading the title of "The Lights Go Down."  That line in the song descends (it's sung to the phrase C C B A), so there's a musical element to represent the "go[ing] down."

"Fire on High"

I listened to Face the Music to-day, and in the early alternative mix of the introduction to "Fire on High" (included as a bonus track), I discovered a quotation of "Pop Goes the Weasel."  It's a bit off-kilter, in keeping with the feeling of the track.  It's starts at about 2:38 (panned a bit to the left), and I think it's played in the upper register of a cello.

I don't think that part of the track made it into the final version though.  Only the first minute and a half are used before there's an edit into an-other section.  Still, I felt it worth noting.

"Nellie Takes Her Bow"

Jeff Lynne's ELO posted in various places that to-day's the 46th anniversary of the release of the first ELO album:

#FlashbackFriday: On this day, 46 years ago, the first ELO album was released. Recorded at the old Philips Studios in Marble Arch, London, the album features the very first ELO single, "10538 Overture."

A post shared by Jeff Lynne's ELO (@jefflynneselo) on Dec 1, 2017 at 2:15am PST

I listened to the album and noticed a small thing about "Nellie Takes Her Bow" (I also figured out the French horn part at the end because it's only a handful of notes).  The "world" in the lines "Just a lonely girl / That could not face a broken world" isn't sung with a single syllable like it is when spoken.  I think it's actually sung to three notes: there's an initial note and then a glissando from one note to an-other.  Whatever the specifics, the note is sung with a melisma, so the "broken" quality mentioned in the lyric is also demonstrated in the music.

"Mr. Blue Sky"

I saw a post on the Jeff Lynne's ELO Instagram account to-day about the Wembley or Bust album.  As a soundtrack, there's a live version of "Mr. Blue Sky" (apparently the one from the album):

Get a sneak peek at the ‘Wembley or Bust’ vinyl! Out tomorrow. Pre-order at www.jefflynneselo.com

A post shared by Jeff Lynne's ELO (@jefflynneselo) on Nov 16, 2017 at 9:41am PST

One of the lines caught my attention.  In this version, I think it's "Ev'rybody's in a play," but in the original version on Out of the Blue, it sounds more like "Ev'rybody's in their play."  In any case, I realized that this line has some similarity to a verse in the Beatles' "Penny Lane":

Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout
A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway

Being in a play (or feeling like it) is common to both.  The weather described in "Mr. Blue Sky" ("The sun is shinin' in the sky / There ain't a cloud in sight") and the title itself resemble the "blue suburban skies" in "Penny Lane" too.

I don't know if these similarities were intentional, but there are some obvious and unmistakable references to the Beatles in other ELO songs, so it's possible that "Penny Lane" had some influence on "Mr. Blue Sky."

"Fire on High"

I listened to Face the Music yester-day, and the piano and bass parts in "Fire on High" sounded easy to figure out.  Both are just one measure repeated over and over.  Rather than repeat these measures for the entirety of the track, I just played eight measures: four of piano alone and then four of piano and bass:

Perhaps I should note that my primary referent for figuring out the parts was the "early alternative mix" included as a bonus track on the CD re-issue.  The piano and bass are easier to hear in that mix.