"Be Free"

An-other thing I noticed when I listened to Argent recently is that some of the "fly"s and "free"s in "Be Free" are sung with various melismas, musically giving a sense of freedom or movement.

Argent

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I just listened to Argent's eponymous album as part of my listening schedule, and - as always - I noticed things:

"Be Free"

I'm not exactly sure where the verse divisions are, but there's some parallelism either between the first two verses or within the first verse.

I said you'd be free, didn't I?
I said you'd climb high, didn't I?
Took you out to the sky
Told you one day you'd fly

You didn't believe me, did you then?
You didn't look up, did you then?
Didn't look to the sky
Didn't believe you'd fly
Didn't believe you'd fly

There's "didn't I" in the first verse (or first half of the first verse) and "did you then" in the second verse (or second half of the first).  There's the same verb with different subjects ending the first two lines of each verse (or each section).

"Dance in the Smoke"

The second and fourth lines of the verse (which is just repeated over and over again) are identical save for one word:

We will light a giant, burning fire tonight
We will build it and dance in the smoke
Every branch we'll tie somebody's worry to it
We will burn it and dance in the smoke

but those two different words alliterate with each other, so it's not a difference that sticks out that much.

"Free Fall"

I'd noticed before that during the hand-clapping part (which ends in a difficult rhythm before repeating), someone messes up and claps before they should.  But in listening to the song this time, I noticed that that mistake is after the line "That now I'm confused inside."  So while it's a mistake, it actually fits pretty well.  It's like it demonstrates the discord of the confusion.

"Stepping Stone"

I'd noticed before that in different iterations, the first line of what I guess is a chorus changes from "I would gladly make you happy" to "I would love to make you happy."  I realized listening to it this time that - duh! - it's a progression.  The feeling becomes more ardent as the song goes on.

"Be Free"

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After listening to Argent this morning, I learned some of "Be Free."  I'm most certain of the organ part in this.  The guitar part is pretty close, but some of the notes might be wrong, and I'm even less sure of the electric piano part (although I'm pretty sure the chords are right).

Oh, and this is a new one in the catalogue.  A good way to start the year.

Argent

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I listened to Argent this morning and worked on transcribing the lyrics.  And I noticed some things.

In "Like Honey," there are some lines about flying:

So rise and learn to fly
Help the lonely hour of the night pass by
So rise and spread your wings
Help the lonely hour of the night begin

And then a few songs later, in "Be Free," there are more lines about flying:

If you're gonna spread your wings
And hear the song that freedom sings
Remember that I told you to be free
If you're gonna sweep the sky
And feel the wind come rushing by
Remember that I told you to be free

Both sets of lyrics are also pretty parallel structurally.

This might even bear some comparison to "Wings against the Sun" from the Zombies' 2004 album As Far as I Can See.  I haven't explored that yet.

On the second side, there's an-other instance of this - where the same theme is present in two songs - although it's not as strong a connection as that between "Like Honey" and "Be Free."  "Stepping Stone" has the line "I would gladly made you happy," and "Bring You Joy," the next song, has:

And I'll make you feel so happy
You could cry
Yes, I'll make you feel so happy
You will die

However, while those lines are sort of similar, the songs have different outlooks.

Additionally, I found some more instances of remembering, which is a major theme in Chris White's and Rod Argent's songs.  "Be Free" has the line "Remember that I told you to be free."  "Schoolgirl" (written by Russ Ballard) starts out with "Remember when you were a schoolgirl."  And "Stepping Stone" starts out with "Remember days when we were close and warm as night turned to dawn" and later has "Remember fresh and sweet the thought of summer ways, loving eyes, lazy day."  Those lines in particular connect "Stepping Stone" to the Zombies' "Beechwood Park," specifically the first two verses:

Do you remember summer days just after summer rain
When all the air was damp and warm in the green of country lanes
And the breeze would touch your hair, kiss your face, and make you care
About your world, your summer world
And we would count the evening stars as the day grew dark in Beechwood Park

Do you remember golden days and golden summer sun
The sound of laughter in our ears and the breeze as we would run
And the breeze would touch your hair, kiss your face, and make you care
About your world, your summer world
And we would count the evening stars as the day grew dark in Beechwood Park

Both refer to summer, warmth, and the day-to-night transition (although "Beechwood Park" is day to night and "Stepping Stone" is night to day).