Backdated, archival post
[link to original on tumblr]
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The second thing I noticed when I listened to the Zombies' The Decca Stereo Anthology yester-day was some melismas in "Don't Cry for Me." I'd noticed the descending melisma on "down" before, but apparently I'd neglected to recognize the melisma'd "heart" in the line before it: "Don't break your heart / Thinking you have let me down."
The descending melisma for "down" is easily explained as a musical representation of the "down," but I was initially confounded by the melisma'd "heart." The full line is "Don't break your heart," but that melisma does break the heart (into notes of different pitches).
After thinking about it for a while, the only explanation I can come up with (aside from just a simple vocal embellishment) is that the sentiment there is disingenuous. The singer/speaker says, "Don't break your heart," but he doesn't really mean it.
