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.
