"Imagine the Swan" b/w "Conversation off Floral Street"

According to Russo's Collector's Guide, "Imagine the Swan" b/w "Conversation off Floral Street" (Date 2-1644) was released fifty years ago to-day (29 April 1969) in the U.S. and Canada.

"Loving You Is Sweeter than Ever"

Earlier, I was thinking about "Loving You Is Sweeter than Ever" (on The BBC Radio Sessions), and I realized that "ev'ry night and day" in the line "Ev'ry night and day I lived the life of a lonely one" is a merism.

"What Becomes of the Broken Hearted"

Yester-day I was thinking about "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" (included on Colin Blunstone's Collected), and I realized a couple things about it.

"Dreams" in the first line ("As I walk this land of broken dreams") and "hearted" in the title line are both sung with melismas (C Bb Ab and D C Bb, respectively), musically giving a sense of being "broken."

Earlier to-day, I realized that there's also a significant melisma in the second line:  "I have visions of many things."  "Things" is sung to the notes Bb Ab, so while it's a smaller melisma, there's still something of a sense of that "many."

"The Feeling's Inside"

The last thing I noticed when I listened to Argent last week is that there's an instance in "The Feeling's Inside" where the structure mirrors the lyrics:  the first line of the bridge is "And you begin to feel your life was changed," and the bridge is a musical change in the song.  Before it, there's an organ introduction and two verses.  It's not the most significant point, but I thought it was interesting.

"Lonely Hard Road"

When I listened to Argent last week, I noticed a couple small things in "Lonely Hard Road."

"Away" in the line "Like a fool, I made her run away" is sung with a melisma (F F Eb C), musically giving a sense of movement or distance.

"Walking" in the line "So I'll just keep walking" in the slower section at the end is also sung with a melisma (F Eb Eb), musically giving a sense of movement but also of that continuing.

"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.

"Liar"

I didn't get to write about this yester-day, but when I listened to Argent recently, I noticed a merism in "Liar":  "We have seen no night / We have seen no day."

"Like Honey"

I listened to Argent yester-day (partially because I realized recently that it was recorded fifty years ago this year), and I noticed a handful of things.

In "Like Honey," the various lines about night falling ("When night falls on rare wine," "When night falls on stone rooms," and "And night falls no longer") are all sung to a (generally) descending melody (B D B B A G). musically giving a sense of that (metaphorical) "fall[ing]."

"Fly" in the first line of the bridge ("So rise and learn to fly") is sung with a melisma (B D A), so even though it has a general descent, it gives an impression of movement.  "Fly" in the backing vocals at the end of the bridge ("So fly") is sung with an ascending melisma (A B C D E), musically giving a sense of that upward movement.

"Pass" in the line "Help the lonely hour of the night pass by" also seems to be sung with a melisma to indicate the "pass[ing]" of time, but it's very subtle.

"Wings" in the line "So rise and spread your wings" is sung with yet an-other melisma (D C B A), musically giving a sense of that "spread[ing]."

"Be Glad"

March 29 was Piano Day (because it was the 88th day of the year and pianos have 88 keys), so I listened to Rod Argent's Classically Speaking.  I was finally able to confirm something I've been suspicious of for a long time.  I'd thought that the section of "Be Glad" starting at ~3:31 was a quotation (or near quotation) of a classical piece, but I hadn't been able to place it.  It turns out that the piece I was looking for is on Classically Speaking.  At ~3:12 in the Prelude in C# minor, Op. 45, No. 1 by Chopin, Argent starts playing this:

[source]

I don't know if what he plays in "Be Glad" is exactly the same (for one thing, it sounds quite a bit lower), but I think it's a similar sort of figure.

"This Old Heart of Mine"

I recently listened to some live versions of "This Old Heart of Mine" and noticed two small things.

"Away" in the line "Each time you break away" is sung with a melisma (B B A), musically giving a sense of movement.  (Note that this is only in the version recorded on 1 November 1966 for Saturday Club [track 26 on disc 4 of Zombie Heaven, track 13 on disc 2 of The BBC Radio Sessions]).

The second "more" in the line "Hurting me more and more" is also sung with a melisma (E F#), musically giving a sense of the growing amount.

"Photograph"

I didn't have the time to write about this yester-day, but when I listened to Planes/Never Even Thought recently, I noticed a small thing about "Photograph."  "Forever" in the chorus ("I have a photograph of you / A memory or two, my love / Lasting forever") is sung with a melisma (C# E# D# D#), musically giving a sense of duration.

"I'll Never Forget You"

When I listened to Planes/Never Even Thought a couple days ago, I noticed that "away" in the line "If no one's watchin', I walk away" in "I'll Never Forget You" is sung with a melisma (Eb Bb Ab), musically giving a sense of that movement.

When I referenced the song in order to transcribe a bit of the lyrics and to find those specific pitches, I also noticed that there's a merism in the chorus, specifically in the line "You're here with me night and day."