"Nothing's Changed"

Yester-day, I was thinking about Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "The Tracks of My Tears," specifically the line "My smile is my makeup I wear since my break up with you" at the end of the bridge, which is sung to a melody something like this:

I realized that there are some similarities between this and the keyboard solo (Hohner Pianet + Vox Continental) in the alternate take of "Nothing's Changed" (track 15 on disc 3 of Zombie Heaven), which is something like this:

Both consist primarily of a repeated set of descending triplets (although the intervals in the two parts aren't the same), and both start with an eighth note pick up and an ascending fourth.

According to the Zombie Heaven liner notes (p. 52), the Zombies performed "The Tracks of My Tears" live, so it's possible that the melody and rhythm of the vocal part here had something to do with Rod Argent's keyboard solo in "Nothing's Changed," even if merely subconsciously.

"So Much More"

This is just a minor point, but the line "Ev'ry night and ev'ry day" in "So Much More" contains a temporal merism.

Also, this is my 1,000th post on this blog.

"The Best Is Yet to Come"

I listened to Colin Blunstone's On the Air Tonight last week and noticed a handful of small features.

In the line "You say the words that help me carry on" in "The Best Is Yet to Come," "on" is sung with a melisma (A E G), giving a sense of that continuation.

In the line "'Cause it's hard, but it's the same for ev'ryone," "ev'ryone" is sung with a melisma, giving a sense of breadth.  Initially (at ~0:41 and ~1:44), it's A G A B, but later in the song (at ~2:56), it's E F# E B C# B.

In the line "When ev'rything is wrong, hold on," the three syllables of "ev'rything" are all sung to different pitches (C B A), providing a sense of that breadth.

"This Is Your Captain Calling"

I was thinking about Colin Blunstone's "This Is Your Captain Calling" recently and noticed a handful of features, all in the first iteration of the chorus:

This is your captain calling

This is your captain calling

To tell you I'm out of my brain again

This is your captain calling

And if you think we're falling

You're perfectly right

And I'd be delighted if any of you

Could give us a hand and land the plane

In the line "And if you think we're falling," "falling" is sung to a descending pair of notes, providing a sense of its meaning.  It's only a small interval (a whole step:  F# to E), but it's somewhat conspicuous because up to that point, the melody ascends and holds steady ("And if you think we're" is sung to the notes C# D E F# F#)

In the line "And I'd be delighted if any of you," the phrase "any of you" is sung to notes of all different pitches (A G# F# E), giving a sense of the breadth of "any."

The line "Could give us a hand and land the plane" exhibits internal rhyme ("hand" and "land"), hinting at the stability that would result from "land[ing] the plane."

"Sanctuary"

When I watched the Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London DVD a couple days ago, I also noticed an ambiguity in the lyrics of "Sanctuary," specifically in the line "When all around seems to be trouble."  It could be parsed in two different ways:  either "all" as the subject and "trouble" as a predicate adjective or "all around" as an adverbial phrase (modifying "seems to be") and "trouble" as the subject (with the structure inverted, rather than the more prosaic "When trouble seems to be all around").

"I Love You"

When I listened to The Decca Stereo Anthology back in September, I thought there was an ambiguity in the lines "I shouldn't hide / My love deep inside" in "I Love You."  Yester-day, I watched the Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London DVD (because according to Russo's Collector's Guide, the concert was recorded on 6 June 2003), and I finally sussed it out:  "deep inside" could function adverbially (modifying "hide," describing where to hide this love) or as a post-positive adjectival phrase (modifying "love," indicating the degree to which the narrator feels this emotion).  Admittedly, the first seems more likely.

"A Man for All Reasons"

I listened to Argent's Nexus a couple days ago to mark the U.S. release of the "A Man for All Reasons" b/w "Music of the Spheres" single, and I remembered something that I noticed about "A Man for All Reasons" when I listened to the album back in April, although I think I'd been dimly aware of this even before then.  There are changes in the dynamics to represent the lines "And again, there's the man of war" (played forte for bellicosity) and "And again, there's the man of peace" (played piano for tranquility), and of course, these opposite dynamics also mirror the difference between "war" and "peace."

"Trapeze"

I was thinking about "Trapeze" yester-day, and I realized that in the section

Flying, sighing headlong into dread
Hoping, praying I'll find the path to tread

the phrase "headlong into dread" is sung to a descending melody (Bb A G F# D), musically illustrating this sensation.  In other words, it mirrors that "sinking feeling."

"A Man for All Reasons" b/w "Music from the Spheres"

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, fifty years ago to-day (3 June 1974), Argent's "A Man for All Reasons" (edited) b/w "Music from the Spheres" (Epic 5-11137) was released in the U.S. and Canada.  The U.K. release (Epic S EPC 2448) was on 14 June, coincidentally Rod Argent's birthday.

"The Ring"

I listened to Argent's Circus this morning and started wondering about the effects on "The Ring" again.  I've long suspected that at least one of the effects is ring modulation, although I can't find anything to confirm this.  If this is the case, though, the title has a dual meaning:  there's "ring" in the sense of ring modulation, and there's also "ring" in the sense of circus ring, in keeping with the album's theme.

"It's Magical" b/w "Summersong"

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, fifty years ago to-day (24 May 1974), Colin Blunstone's "It's Magical" b/w "Summersong" (Epic S EPC 2413) was released in the U.K.

"The Coming of Kohoutek"

I listened to Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique yester-day, and afterwards, I was thinking about "Dies Irae," which is quoted in the last movement.  A loose quotation of it also appears at the beginning of Argent's "The Coming of Kohoutek," and I realized that its placement at the beginning of the three linked songs that start the Nexus album ("The Coming of Kohoutek," "Once Around the Sun," and "Infinite Wanderer") has some significance and is appropriate for this context.  As Rod Argent explains in this interview,  "the comet [Kohoutek] was heralded as being potentially one of the most spectacular events to occur in the sky for many years.  In the far past, spectacular comet visitations had been linked to all sorts of prophesies of doom and destruction, and I included a very famous musical theme - the Dies Irae, (Day of Wrath), written in the 13th century."  Obviously, the theme heralding the "Day of Wrath" precedes the event that it announces, and likewise, Argent's quotation of the tune comes first in the song.