Friday, March 22, 2019

"He's a Dynamo"

This morning I listened to a live performance by Argent from 1972, and I noticed a couple things about "He's a Dynamo" (partially because the lyrics in the live performance are actually easier to understand than in the studio version).

A couple years ago, I noted that "head to toe" is sung to a descending phrase (G F# E), musically giving a sense of top to bottom, but there's more to it than that.  I'd thought the chorus was:
See him rock; see him roll
From his heart to his soul
Oh, oh no, from his head to toe
He's a dynamo
But based on the live version, now I think it's actually:
See him rock; see him roll
From his heart to his soul
High or low, from his head to toe
He's a dynamo
I realize now that "from his head to toe" is actually a merism, as are "From his heart to his soul" (in a figurative sense, anyway) and "High or low."  Additionally, the notes to which "High or low" is sung (C B A) also have that "top to bottom" quality.