Tuesday, June 26, 2018

"Ain't It Funny"

When I listened to Planes/Never Even Thought a couple days ago, I noticed a small thing about "Ain't It Funny."  "More" in the line "When I first saw, wanted more" is sung with a melisma (Bb G in the version on Planes; C Bb G in the version on Never Even Thought).  Because it's sung to more syllables than it's spoken with, there's a sense of the word's meaning.

In referencing the song now to find the specific pitches, I also noticed that "down" in the line "You can feel down, wear a frown" is sung with a descending melisma (Bb G in both versions), musically representing that "down"ness.  Because it's a minor third, there might be a hint of sadness there too.