"Magic"

I listened to Keys of the Kingdom yester-day, and this morning I figured out the chords for "Magic."  In doing so, I discovered something I wouldn't have found otherwise.  The song is in E major, but under the line "I'm in a state of permanent confusion," the chord progression moves to an F# major, which contains an A# accidental.  This foreign tonality musically mirrors that "confusion."

"Nervous"

I listened to Long Distance Voyager on Tuesday and noticed a small feature in "Nervous."  In the lines "Would you turn away" and "Would you walk away," the "away"s are sung with a melisma (E E F#), musically giving a sense of movement.

While I don't really have anything to say about it, I also want to point out the nice parallelism in the lines "Don't question faith / Don't answer lies."

"What Am I Doing Here?"

I listened to Caught Live + 5 to-day and noticed a small thing about "What Am I Doing Here?"  In the line "Ev'ryone's dream is deep within," the three syllables of "Ev'ryone's" are all sung to different pitches (C B A), musically giving a sense of the breadth of "ev'ryone."

"Watching and Waiting"

When I listened to To Our Children's Children's Children yester-day, I noticed a small thing in "Watching and Waiting."  "Share" in the lines "They're here for only you / To share" is sung with a melisma, although it's sung to two notes of the same pitch (G).  Still, the articulation gives something of a sense of the word's meaning, since the word is "share[d]" by the two notes.

"The Dream"

I listened to On the Threshold of a Dream yester-day, and I noticed a small grammatical ambiguity in "The Dream."  One line could be rendered as "Come to witness spring's new hope, born of leaves decaying" (where "decaying" is a participle modifying "leaves") or as "Come to witness spring's new hope, born of leaves' decaying" (where "decaying" is a gerund).  As far as meaning, however, there isn't much difference.

"Eternity Road"

I'm going a bit out of order in my cycle of albums, but I figured out some of the clarinet mellotron part in "Eternity Road" last night and noticed a small thing while doing so.  In the repeated line "You'll see us all around," the three syllables of "all around" are each sung to a different pitch (F C A, which is then echoed by mellotron).  Musically, this gives a sense of the breadth of "all around."

"What Am I Doing Here?"

When I listened to In Search of the Lost Chord a few days ago, I also noticed something about "What Am I Doing Here?" which is included as a bonus track.  "Free" in the lines "Ev'ryone's dream is deep within / Find it, and you'll be free" is sung with a melisma (E D).  Because it's not limited to a single pitch, there's a musical sense of that "free[dom]."

"House of Four Doors (Part 2)"

In the phrase "Nowhere at all" in "House of Four Doors (Part 2)," "all" is sung with a melisma (C D in one voice).  Because it's in a grammatical construction with "at," however, the melisma provides a sense of degree rather than entirety.

"Anymore" in the phrase "not there anymore" is also sung with a melisma, specifically the "-more" is sung to two G notes an octave apart.  The musical sense here, although negated ("not... anymore"), is one of continuation.

"House of Four Doors (Part 1)"

I noticed a small thing in "House of Four Doors (Part 1)" when I listened to In Search of the Lost Chord yester-day.  In the line "We'd lost our way," "way" is sung with an ascending melisma in one voice (C D) and a descending melisma in an-other (G F#).  Musically, "way" is being pulled in two different directions, and this illustrates the confusion of being "lost" and not knowing whether to go up or down.

"Time to Get Away"

When I listened to Days of Future Passed last week, I noticed a small thing in "Time to Get Away." "Tears" in the line "Toiling has bought too many tears" is sung with a melisma (D E), musically giving a sense of amount for that "too many."

"The Day Begins"

I listened to Days of Future Passed on Tuesday.  I considered listening to the vinyl copy I have, so I dug it out on Tuesday morning, but I ended up listening to the 2008 CD re-issue so I could also listen to the bonus tracks.

But when I was looking at the record sleeve, I noticed something about "The Day Begins," if only tangentially.

For years, the only copy of Days of Future Passed I had was a CD re-issue, and judging by what information is available on discogs.com, it's from 1991.  The two poems at the beginning and end of the album are printed in the liner notes.  When I listened to it, I thought one line in "The Day Begins" was "Let insipid figures of light pass by," but since the booklet had "Let inspired figures of light pass by," I just assumed I heard it wrong.

"The Day Begins" from the CD booklet

When I lookt at the vinyl record sleeve on Tuesday morning, I was surprised to find that it reads, "Let insipid figures of light pass by."

"The Day Begins" from the record sleeve

(For what it's worth, the vinyl copy I have is a reprint from 1972.)

I feel justified now in hearing "Let insipid figures of light pass by," but I'm still in the dark as to how "insipid" was changed to "inspired" in the CD booklet.

"And My Baby's Gone"

"Anymore" in "And My Baby's Gone" ("Without your heart / Anymore / I'm like a room / With no door") is sung with a melisma (Gb Ab Ab Gb Eb Gb Eb B Db C, I think), so there's a musical sense of that "-more" even though there's something of a negation:  "Without [it] anymore."

"People Gotta Go"

I'm not sure of the specific notes, but some of the "Go"s in "People Gotta Go" are sung with melismas, musically giving a sense of movement.

"Away" in the line "All those people have got to go away" is sung with a melisma (C# C# D, I think), also giving a sense of movement.

"Ev'rything" in the line "Till I've learned most ev'rything" is also sung with a melisma (C D G F, I think), musically giving a sense of entirety.

"Come Back (I Don't Want to Go on without You)"

In the line "It's so bad to be alone" in "Come Back (I Don't Want to Go on without You)," the "bad" is sung with a melisma (D C), musically giving a sense of degree, almost emphasizing the preceding "so."  (I'm not certain, but "so" in the line "My room is so blue" might have a similar effect.)

I previously noted that the "every" in the lines "I keep seeing your face / Whoa, every place" is sung with three syllables, but I noticed last week that those three syllables are each sung to a different pitch (Eb D C), which also gives a musical sense of number.  "Place" is sung with a melisma (C Bb), which extends this sense (because of both the extra syllable and the greater range of the phrase - a fourth from Eb to Bb).

"True Story"

In "True Story," the "day" in the phrase "Ev'ry single day" is sung with a melisma (I think it's D C B).  Musically, this gives a sense of number, to illustrate "ev'ry single."

"Thank You Baby"

In "Thank You Baby," two of the "grow"s in the lines "I saw my troubles grow / Grow and grow" are sung with melismas (the first to E D; the third to D C Bb), musically giving a sense of that increase.

The line "And ev'ry day, even ev'ry night" near the end of the song contains a merism ("ev'ry day, ev'ry night").

"Stop!"

I can't be sure about this because I haven't yet learned any parts for it, but I don't think "Stop!" resolves.  Musically, this provides the same feeling as the lyrics at the end:  "Make your mind up / What you're gonna do about us."  The singer/speaker is left waiting for an answer in the same way that the listener is waiting for a musically satisfying conclusion.

In thinking about the song again to-day before writing this post, I also started wondering whether the title is meant to be similar to the Beatles' "Help!"  They're both single-syllable imperatives followed by an exclamation mark.  I'm not sure if the chronology allows for this though.

"Let Me Go"

I found a handful of things in "Let Me Go" when I listened to The Magnificent Moodies last week, and in writing this post, I found a few more.

First, here are the things I noticed last week.

There's a grammatical ambiguity in the line "When I call you dear."  "Dear" could be either a vocative or part of a double accusative construction (with "you").

I'm not sure of the notes, but "go" in the line "I find it hard to go" is sung with a melisma, giving a sense of movement.

I'm not sure of the lyrics in the whole line, but "ways" in "see a change in your ways" is sung with a melisma (A A G F, I think), musically illustrating that "chang[ing]."

"Go" in the coda ("You'd better let me go") is also sung with a melisma (E D C, I think) for a sense of movement.

In looking at the song again, I found a few more things.

"If I stay around, then you're gonna see my heartbreak" also has a grammatical ambiguity.  "Heartbreak" could be either one word functioning as a noun or two forming a clause  ("you're gonna see my heart break").

"Heartache" in the line "I can't stand all this heartache" is sung with a melisma (B B A G), musically giving a sense of that "all."

"So" in the line "'Cause I love you so" is sung with a melisma (Eb D C), musically giving a sense of degree.

"I've Got a Dream"

In "I've Got a Dream," "heart" in the line "And I got a heart full of love" is sung with a melisma (B C B A), musically illustrating the amount of that "full[ness]."

"Can't Nobody Love You"

I should have noted this earlier (because I discovered it in the Zombies' version last month), but when I listened to The Magnificent Moodies recently, I realized that the lines "I'm gonna love you in the morning / I'm gonna love you through the night" in "Can't Nobody Love You" contain a merism ("in the morning... through the night").

"Something You Got"

I'm unsure of the specific notes, but in the lines "Something you got, baby / Oh, makes ev'rything alright" in "Something You Got," the "al-" of "alright" is sung with a melisma, musically giving a sense of entirety.

"I'll Go Crazy"

I listened to The Magnificent Moodies yester-day and noticed a plethora of things about which I'll have posts for the next week or so (although almost all of them are just small points).

In the third "You know I feel alright" at the beginning of "I'll Go Crazy," the "al-" of "alright" is sung with a melisma spanning an octave:  F Eb C Bb Ab F.  Musically, this gives a sense of entirety.

I'm not sure of the specific notes, but "much" in the line "Oh, love you too much" is also sung with a melisma, musically giving a sense of amount or degree.  This is also present in James Brown's original (although Brown's melismas are just two notes [C Bb] where the Moodies have many more).

"Is This Heaven?"

After I listened to Keys of the Kingdom last Tuesday, I learned the muted guitar part and the chords for the verses in "Is This Heaven?"  To these, I could add the pizzicati part, which I learned a couple months ago.  This is just a section of the song, roughly from ~1:30 to ~2:45:

"Painted Smile"

When I listened to Long Distance Voyager a couple days ago, I noticed a few small things in "Painted Smile."

"Deep inside" in the line "And I hurt all the time deep inside" is sung to a descending phrase (E D C), musically giving a sense of that depth.

Similarly, "Put me down" in the bridge ("Pick me up, wind me up, put me down / You'll see me go") is also sung to a descending phrase (Ab Eb C, I think), musically giving a sense of that "put[ting]... down."

"Talking out of Turn"

I listened to Long Distance Voyager yester-day and noticed a few things.  In "Talking out of Turn," there are guitar glissandi after the lines "Let you slip through my fingers" and "Let you escape like yesterday" (I think each is a B held for a beat or two and then slid down the string).  Musically, this represents the "slip[ping]" and "escap[ing]."

"The Best Way to Travel"

Yester-day, I figured out the single, repeated mellotron note in "The Best Way to Travel" (it's the D an octave above middle C, played with the clarinet sound).  I also realized that the single note and the effects applied to it illustrate what the lyrics say:  "Thinking is the best way to travel."

As a musical representation of being stationary, there's a single pitch, but because of the effects applied (which I believe is a combination of stereo panning and increasing and decreasing reverb), that one note seems to travel left and right and back and forth.  While no actual travelling takes place (the pitch stays the same), those effects (like thinking) give a feeling of movement.

"Long Summer Days"

I also noticed a small thing about "Long Summer Days" when I listened to Caught Live + 5 yester-day.  The line "I keep sinking" is sung to a descending phrase (F# E C# C#), musically giving a sense of that "sinking."

"Dr. Livingstone, I Presume"

I listened to Caught Live + 5 this afternoon and noticed a small thing about "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" (also present in the studio version).  The "big and small" in the line "I've seen people big and small" is a merism.

"One More Time to Live"

I noticed a small thing in "One More Time to Live" yester-day:  in the second of each "For I have riches more than these," "more" is sung with a melisma in one voice (I think it's C D), musically giving a sense of the word's meaning.

"Procession"

I remember reading somewhere (but evidently not in the liner notes) that the piano phrase in "Procession" (at ~1:39) is E G B D F, which - like the album title Every Good Boy Deserves Favour - refers to what notes appear on the lines in musical notation (in treble clef, at least).  I listened to the album this afternoon, and afterwards I confirmed that this is indeed the case.

I also realized that - to some degree - this illustrates the processional idea of the song.  Near the beginning, there's this basic spelling out of what notes go where on the staff, but by the end, there are fully realized melodies, so there's a development not only of musical style but also of musical ability and proficiency.

"Sun Is Still Shining"

The last thing I noticed when I listened to To Our Children's Children's Children recently is in "Sun Is Still Shining."  In the line "Ev'rything's turning, turning around," the three syllables of "ev'rything" are sung to three different pitches (F# E C#).  Musically, this gives something of a sense of the breadth of "ev'rything."

"Gypsy"

I noticed two things in "Gypsy" that musically relate to the line "Left without all hope of coming home" (that's how I hear it, but in the liner notes, it's printed as "Left without a hope of coming home").

While "home" is sung with a melisma (G E), that second note is the tonic.  This is the musical "home" of the song, which is in E minor.

The song doesn't resolve, it just cross fades into the next track, so there really isn't a "coming home," just as the lyric describes.

"Out and In"

I listened to To Our Children's Children's Children yester-day and noticed a few small things.

In the line "Looking for total view" in "Out and In," "view" is sung with a melisma (B A F#), and that musical span gives something of a sense of the entirety of "total."

"House of Four Doors (Part 1)"

I listened to In Search of the Lost Chord on Tuesday, and then I learned the flute parts from ~1:55 to ~2:09 in "House of Four Doors (Part 1)."

The left-channel flute is something like:

While playing this over, the intervals seemed familiar, and I realized that - perhaps coincidentally - they're exactly the same as the last few measures of the first section of "Greensleeves":

"I'll Go Crazy"

I listened to The Magnificent Moodies this evening, and then I figured out some of the piano in "I'll Go Crazy."  I also compared it to James Brown's original version.

The piano in the verses of the Moodies' version is something like:

In Brown's version, it's played on guitar, something like:

It starts an octave lower (and it's in a different key), but what I thought at least fairly interesting is that the Moodies change the relative position of the second series of triplets.  Compared to Brown's version, it's shifted down an octave.  This avoids playing the same note twice in succession when the second series of triplets goes back into the first (the last note of the second measure and the first note of the third).

"Lean on Me (Tonight)"

I listened to Keys of the Kingdom yester-day and noticed a couple small things about "Lean on Me (Tonight)," specifically about the lines "The Northern lights / The Southern Cross / I'll give to you."

Because "Northern" and "Southern" describe opposite ends, there's a sense of the range of things that the speaker/singer is willing to give.

"The Northern lights" is sung to the notes G A B A, and "The Southern Cross" to the notes F G A G, so even musically, north is above south.

"No More Lies"

I listened to Sur la mer this evening and noticed a small thing about "No More Lies," specifically about the first line:  "I need you like you need me."  There's a chiasm with the first and second person pronouns (I... you / you... me), so the structure mirrors the sentiment of reciprocity.

"Nervous"

I noticed a few small things in "Nervous," all in this section:

Seems to me, I've been a long time on this road
Has there been a sign, another way, and I've passed it by
I don't know what it is that drives me on
Gotta keep a-movin'
Gotta keep a-movin' on

"By" (Bb A) and both "on"s (A D and F# E) are sung with melismas, musically giving a sense of movement.

"22,000 Days"

When I listened to Long Distance Voyager yester-day, I noticed a few significant melismas in "22,000 Days."

"Go" in the line "That drive me so and let me go" is sung to the notes B A G, and "flow" in the line "This time feel the flow" is sung to the notes C B (in one voice, at least).  For both, the articulation gives a musical sense of movement.

For what it's worth:  I also figured out that 22,000 days is roughly sixty years.

"Gemini Dream"

I listened to Long Distance Voyager this afternoon and noticed a few things.

In "Gemini Dream," there's a recurring phrase played between two guitars, one panned left and one panned right.  Although the notes that each guitar plays aren't the same (I think the left is a glissando up to G and then two Bbs; the right two Bbs and then a hammer on from Bb to C), I think this is meant to represent Gemini (the twins) in a musical way.

The other thing I noticed is that "long" in the line "First night, so long" is sung with a melisma (G Eb).  I'm not sure if this is intended as a description or an interjection of farewell, but if it's the former, there's a musical representation of that length.

"Please Think about It"

I listened to Caught Live + 5 yester-day and noticed two melisma'd "go"s in "Please Think about It."  "Go" in the backing vocals after "Don't go" is sung to the notes E D C, and "Go" in the lead vocals in the line "So, if you have to go" is sung to the notes G D E D.  For both, the articulation gives a musical sense of movement.

To-day, I also finally lookt into something I noticed years ago:  that the beginning of "Please Think about It" is somewhat similar to the beginning of "I Don't Mind" (actually, the particular elements are repeated throughout both songs, but it's easier to identify them simply as "the beginning").  I don't think the rhythms are exactly the same, but they are very similar.  Although the two songs are in different keys, the root notes of the chords at the beginning of "I Don't Mind" (D F G) have the same intervals as the bass notes at the beginning of "Please Think about It" (B D E).

"Emily's Song"

Last June, I figured out (at least most of) the celeste solo in "Emily's Song."  Earlier this week, I figured out the mellotron part played at the same time.

I'm still a bit unsure of the celeste part, but if it's inaccurate, it's because I'm missing notes.  I'm pretty sure that the notes I do have are right.

Figuring out the notes for the mellotron part was relatively easy; the hard part was determining the specific voice.  I think it's actually clarinet, but it's played in a higher register.

"Minstrel's Song"

I listened to Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 this afternoon, and then I figured out the chords for "Minstrel's Song" (referencing the studio version) and noticed an interesting feature.  The song is in C major, but for the "Ev'rywhere love is all around" section, the chord progression includes a D major (with a F# accidental).  Musically, this accidental illustrates the "ev'rywhere" and "all around."

"Ride My See-Saw"

I listened to In Search of the Lost Chord yester-day.  This morning, I was thinking about "Ride My See-Saw" and realized something about the melody to which the title phrase is sung.  The notes there are C D C E, so musically there's an alternating, up-and-down feel that matches the movement of a see-saw.

"Another Morning"

The other thing I noticed when I listened to Days of Future Passed yester-day is in "Another Morning."  "So" in the line "Watch children playing, they seem so wise" is sung with a melisma (G B), musically giving a sense of degree.

"Dawn Is a Feeling"

I listened to Days of Future Passed this morning and noticed a couple small things.

In "Dawn Is a Feeling," the phrase "far and near" in the line "In minds far and near, things are becoming clear with a meaning" is an example of a merism, a rhetorical device in which two distant points of a range are mentioned in order to refer to the entirety.  While the specific words here are "minds far and near," the sense is really "minds all over the place."

"Deep"

The last thing I noticed when I listened to Sur la mer is in "Deep."  Starting at ~3:58, there's a descending synth line spanning almost three octaves to portray the depth mentioned in the repeated lines "Deep / I wanna go deep," which are sung above it.

"Love Is on the Run"

When I listened to Sur la mer, I noticed only one thing about "Love Is on the Run," but in looking at the song again in order to write this post, I noticed something else.

The "on" in the lines "With out your love / I can't go on" (that's how they're formatted in the liner notes) is sung with a melisma (B C B A, I think).  Although negated, there's a sense of continuation because the word is drawn out.

In looking at the song again, I discovered a small point about this section:

Just because its raining here
It doesn't mean the sun isn't shining

Somewhere else for someone
You have loved
But who's not near you anymore

(Again, I followed the formatting of the liner notes, including the erroneous "its" in place of it's.  Later, the reverse error appears: "When your dream has lost it's cause.")

Like "I can't go on," the "-more" of "anymore" is sung with a melisma (A G E), so while this is also negated ("not... anymore"), there's a musical sense of duration.

"Miracle"

An-other thing I noticed when I listened to Sur la mer is that "away" in the recurring line "I can feel that the night is slipping away" in "Miracle" is sung in such a way to demonstrate this "slipping away" musically.  At the end, there's a descending glissando so that the note seems to fade out - or "slip away" - rather than simply end.

"River of Endless Love"

I listened to Sur la mer on Tuesday and noticed a few small things to write about.

Most of the "love"s in the title phrase in "River of Endless Love" are sung with a melisma (C A).  Because the word is drawn out, there's something of a musical sense of this infinite quality.

"Peak Hour"

Earlier this week, I figured out the mellotron organ part from ~3:17 to ~3:51 in "Peak Hour."  Back in January, I wrote about how the contrast between this section (with a slower tempo and sparse instrumentation) and the rest of the song illustrates the difference between the relaxed narrator and the rushing people.  This morning, after having played the part numerous times over the course of a few days just for my own enjoyment, I realized that this relaxed attitude is present even in the music of just this small section.  The note values progressively lengthen (from eighth notes to half notes to whole notes) to illustrate that "I've got time."

I'm a bit unsure of some specific voicings, but I think the part is something like:

(I adjusted the split point between the two staves so the notation looks a bit more balanced.)

"Mike's Number One"

I also noticed a small thing about "Mike's Number One," included as a bonus track on A Question of Balance.  "Grow" in the line "And we'll grow" is sung with a melisma (C B A G G), musically giving a sense of that "grow[ing]" or expanding.

"The Balance"

The beginning of "The Balance" seems to draw from the first few chapters of Genesis.  The narrator describes how a man "took to himself an orange and tasted it, / And it was good."  In the creation account in Genesis 1, a similar phrase is repeated: "And God saw that it was good."

Genesis 3:8 describes "the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day," to which "he lay in the cool" in "The Balance" bears some similarity.  The description of the orange grove with "the tree above [the man], / And the stars, / And the veins in the leaf" and its "magnificent perfection" could also describe the Garden of Eden.

In the sung parts, "always" in the phrase "the way it's always been" is held for a full measure ("al-" for the first three beats and "-ways" for the last beat).  Because it fills the whole measure, there's a musical sense of that permanence.

"Melancholy Man"

In "Melancholy Man," the lines "When all the stars are falling down / Into the sea and on the ground" are sung to descending phrases spanning an octave (G# C# C# B B A A G# / C# F# F# E E D# D# C#), musically giving a sense of that "falling down."

"Dawning Is the Day"

This is just a small point, but in the line "Flow to the sea" in "Dawning Is the Day," "Flow" is sung with a melisma (A G), musically giving a sense of movement.

"Minstrel's Song"

At the end of "Minstrel's Song," the "around" from the line "Everywhere love is around" is repeated with two different melismas: G G C and G G D (it's also sung to these phrases earlier in the song).  These span a fourth and a fifth respectively, and these intervals give a sense of the breadth of where "love is."

"It's Up to You"

The beginning of the line "And it's up to you" in "It's Up to You" is sung to an ascending phrase (B C# E), so while it really isn't the same sense, there is a musical impression of that "up."

"Free" in the line ""But it seems so long ago we have been ready trying to be free" is sung with a melisma (G# F# E, I think), musically giving a sense of that freedom (since the word isn't constrained to a single syllable).

"Tortoise and the Hare"

In the lines "And your load is so heavy" and "While your load was so heavy" in "Tortoise and the Hare," the "heavy"s are sung with a descending melisma (F F Eb C).  Musically, this gives a sense of weight, as if the word itself is being pushed down.

There's a similar feature in the first line of the bridge: "heavy" in the line "Your friend is heavy" is sung to a descending pair of notes (C A).

"Don't You Feel Small"

In "Don't You Feel Small," the "all" in the line "Who's the biggest fool of all" is sung with a melisma (B A B, I think), musically giving a sense of number or amount.  In the next verse, "more" in the line "Understanding, nothing more" is sung with the same melisma for a similar effect.

In the third verse, "voice" in the line "Time is now to spread your voice" is sung with the same melisma yet again, but here, there's a musical sense of that "spread[ing]" since the word is sung to more than one note.

The fourth verse begins with the line "See the writing on the wall."  Although the phrase "the writing on the wall" has taken on a larger meaning, it originally refers to an event in the Bible, specifically in Daniel 5.

"And the Tide Rushes In"

In "And the Tide Rushes In," the melody to which the line "I build them up; you knock them down" is sung musically reflects the "build[ing]... up" and "knock[ing]... down."  "I build them up" is sung to an ascending phrase (E A A A), and the "down" in "you knock them down" is sung with a descending glissando (C# to A).

"How Is It (We Are Here)"

I listened to A Question of Balance this morning, and along with a few things I noticed now, I have a list of things that I noticed the first few times I listened to the album back in November.  I purposely didn't write about these then because I just wanted to enjoy listening to the album and becoming familiar with it.

In "How Is It (We Are Here)," the "Descending" at the beginning of the line "Descending from the apes as scientist-priests all think" is sung to a descending melody (G E D), so although "Descending" is used in a more metaphorical sense, there's something of a musical sense of its meaning.

The alliteration of "Men's mighty mine-machines" poetically gives a sense of that strength.

"Grain" in the line "While a starving frightened world fills the sea with grain" is sung with a melisma (A B), musically giving a sense of the abundance that "fills the sea."

"Share" in the line "It's there for you and me to share" is sung with a melisma (C D# E D# E).  The one word is sung to a number of pitches, musically giving a sense of its meaning.

"Have You Heard - Part 1"

In "Have You Heard - Part 1," the "always" in the line "Each day has its always" is sung with a melisma (G A G), musically giving a sense of that duration.

"Are You Sitting Comfortably"

In "Are You Sitting Comfortably," the "lay before your feet" in the line "The seven wonders of the world he'll lay before your feet" is sung to a descending phrase (B B G G F), musically giving a sense of that "lay[ing] before."

"Lazy Day"

A couple days ago, I learned the mellotron trombone part during the harmonica solo in "Lazy Day."  There's actually a mellotron trombone part throughout most of the song, but it was easier to pick out during this section.  I learned the harmonica solo back in August, so now I have two parts I can stick together.

There's a bent note in the harmonica solo (it contains both F# and F natural), which is a technique way beyond my harmonica playing ability, so I used melodica, which is much easier to play and doesn't sound too drastically different:

After I recorded these two parts, I realized something about the song:  the phrase "Like to get your feet up" ascends (spanning a whole octave: D E F# G A D'), musically giving a picture of that "get[ting] your feet up."

"Never Comes the Day"

In "Never Comes the Day," "away" in the line "I feel her gently sighing as the evening slips away" is sung with a glissando (moving from F# to D, I think).  Musically, this gives a sense of the (metaphorical) movement of "the evening slip[ping] away."

"So Deep within You"

In "So Deep within You," "night" in the line "My heart is heavy; it's weighed down by the night" is sung with a descending melisma (C# A).  Musically, this gives a sense of the weight with which the heart is "weighed down."

In the next verse, "shared" in the line "Warm colors flowing, this feeling we have shared" is sung with the same melisma, but here it gives a sense of the word's meaning since "shared" is distributed between those two notes.

"To Share Our Love"

Near the end of "To Share Our Love" (at ~2:32), there's the line "To share love" sung above the repeated line "To share, share my love."  The "share" in that "To share love" is sung with a melisma (E F# G#).  Because the one word is spread over a number of pitches, there's a musical sense of that "shar[ing]."

"Send Me No Wine"

I listened to On the Threshold of a Dream this morning and found a number of things to write about, although they're all just small points.

In "Send Me No Wine," the "away" in the line "To send my love away" is sung with a melisma (F# F# D, I think), musically giving a sense of the movement or distance of "send[ing]... away."

"The Actor"

The last thing I noticed when I listened to In Search of the Lost Chord a couple days ago is in "The Actor."  The "share" in the line "I wish this feeling I could share" is sung with a melisma (D D E B C D).  This articulation provides something of a sense of the word's meaning, since it's "share[d]" among a number of pitches.

"Voices in the Sky"

When I listened to In Search of the Lost Chord yester-day, I noticed a small feature in "Voices in the Sky."  The "by" in the line "Old man passing by, tell me what you sing" is sung with a melisma (G# F#), which musically gives a sense of the movement of "passing by."

"Departure"

I listened to In Search of the Lost Chord this morning and noticed some things.

Throughout almost all of "Departure," there's a slow upwards glissando on what I think is a cello.  To some degree, this mirrors the upward motion in the lines "To burst up through tarmac to the sun again / Or to fly to the sun without burning a wing."

I also realized that "To fly to the sun without burning a wing" is a reference to Icarus.  In the Greek myth, Daedalus makes wings out of feathers and wax for himself and his son Icarus so they can escape the labyrinth.  He warns him not to fly too close to the sea or too close to the sun, but Icarus is so captivated by flying that he ignores this.  He does fly too close to the sun, which melts the wax in his wings, and he falls into the sea and drowns.

When I referenced my transcription of the song, I discovered that I'd already noticed this reference to Icarus (in January of last year).  It slipped through the cracks when I first set up this project and wrote posts about my old notes.

"Another Morning"

When I listened to Days of Future Passed on Tuesday, I noticed that there are two simultaneous flute parts in "Another Morning."  I'd always thought it was just a single part, which I'd learned way back in 2013.  In sorting out the harmonies (which are almost entirely thirds), I discovered that I didn't even have that one part right; near the end, I'd unknowingly shifted into the harmony part.

I think I have both parts now.  I recorded and filmed them (using the mellotron flute sound on my keyboard) because that was easier than trying to write them down:

I used the section at the end as the template for my recording, but I think the parts are the same throughout the song (aside from the last few notes, of course).  Near the end, I accidentally held a G note in the harmony part for too long, but oh well.

"Cities"

The last thing I noticed when I listened to Days of Future Passed is in "Cities," the B-side of the "Nights in White Satin" single, included as a bonus track.

In the chorus, the line "In the sky" is sung entirely to F# notes, and "On the ground" (the next line) is sung entirely to D notes.  Musically, there's a sense of the relative positions of "the sky" and "the ground" through these pitches: "the sky" (F#) is above "the ground" (D).

"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"

When I listened to Days of Future Passed yester-day, I listened to the edition with bonus tracks, and I noticed a small feature in "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," performed live on the BBC.

The second "long" in the line "Sometimes I spend long nights long regrettin'" is sung with a melisma (E D), musically giving a sense of duration.

I'm still going under the assumption that the Moodies based their version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on the Animals' version.  Not only does the Animals' version not feature a melisma'd "long," but the line itself is quite different.  In the Moodies' version, the line "Sometimes I spend long nights long regretting" is present in the second and third verses (I'm not very confident in my transcription, and there's one line I can't even make out in full):

Sometimes, babe, oh, I feel so carefree
With a joy it's hard to hide
Sometimes I spend long nights long regrettin'
If you hurt me [???] down inside

Oh, oh, baby, don't you know I'm human
With thoughts like any other man
Sometimes I spend long nights long regrettin'
Some similar little stupid thing that you've done

In the Animals' version, these verses are:

Baby, sometimes I'm so carefree
With a joy that's hard to hide
And sometimes it seems that all I have to do is worry
And then you're bound to see my other side

Oh, oh, oh, baby, don't you know I'm human
Have thoughts like any other one
Sometimes I find myself long regretting
Some foolish thing, some little sinful thing I've done

I might not even have my transcription of the Animals' version right.  It might be "Sometimes I find myself [a]lone regretting."  In any case, the melisma'd "long" for duration seems to be unique to the Moodies' version.

"Peak Hour"

One of my 2019 musical projects is to listen to a Moody Blues album every Tuesday.  To-day I listened to Days of Future Passed and noticed a couple of things about which I'll have posts over the next few days.

At ~3:16 in "Peak Hour," there's a tempo change from a fast tempo to a slower one (and there's also a change in the number of instruments playing, with the slower section featuring only what I believe to be an organ sound on mellotron), which musically differentiates between the rushing people and the speaker/singer, who has a more relaxed attitude.  The lyrics during this slower section describe this difference:  "It makes me want to run out and tell them / They've got time."  When the speaker/singer himself says, "I found out I've got time," the word "time" is sung with a melisma (A Bb B in one of the voices), which musically gives a sense of the abundance of time that he has.

"Let Me Go"

This evening, I learned the piano in the introduction to "Let Me Go," to which I could add the flute part that I learned back in December 2017:

This is only ten measures, but I think it turned out fairly well.  The flute part is such that I can play it even with my limited flute abilities.