"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.

"The Sun Will Rise Again"

I listened to Colin Blunstone's new Less Is More EP yester-day, and I noticed a small feature in "The Sun Will Rise Again."  In the line "Ev'rything must change," the three syllables of "Ev'rything" are all sung to different pitches, giving a sense of that entirety.  I referenced the versions on The Ghost of You and Me and Different Game, and in both, the pitches are G F# D.

"Care of Cell 44"

Last month, I wrote a post pointing out the similarities between "Care of Cell 44" and the Everly Brothers' "Take a Message to Mary," although I think these similarities are probably just coincidental.  I've been fleshing out some old notes on Ray Charles songs lately, and yester-day I realized that his "Funny (But I Still Love You)" could fall into the same category.  Rod Argent occasionally mentions Charles as an influence (especially for "Edge of the Rainbow," as in this interview at ~57:22, although that's a much more recent example), but I don't know if he was familiar with this particular song.  In any case, like "Care of Cell 44," it's an epistolary song; the first lines are "My dear sweetheart, I'm writing you / Just a few lines to tell you that I'm blue."  I think that's about as far as the similarities go, but it could have been an influence, even if a minor or subconscious one.

"Taking the Wings from Butterflies"

I've been re-reading Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream again, and last week, I ran across the phrase "pluck the wings from painted butterflies" (III.i.156), which reminded me of the Chris White Experience song "Taking the Wings from Butterflies" (on Volume One).  While the phrases are basically the same, I don't know if this similarity is anything more than a coincidence.  Still, I thought I'd note it.

I haven't decided to what degree I'm going to include the Chris White Experience songs here, but this one has a stronger Zombies connection than some since it was recorded during the sessions for the New World album.