"Bluebirds over the Mountain"

When I listened to the Friends/20/20 reissue, I also noticed a small thing in "Bluebirds over the Mountain."  I'm not sure what the whole line is, but "land" in the phrase "ev'ryone in ev'ry land" is sung with a melisma (B A), musically giving a sense of the range of "ev'ry."

"Transcendental Meditation"

I listened to the Friends/20/20 two-albums-on-one-CD reissue this morning (because Brian Wilson is currently on tour doing songs from Friends), and I noticed an interesting feature in "Transcendental Meditation."  For much of the verses, the saxophones play only a single pitch, and in the second verse, this gives a musical impression of the "never-changing" that's mentioned in the lyric.

"Catch a Wave"

Last week (on the 28th), I learned the organ solo in "Catch a Wave" (or at least I'm pretty close).  Here's just that section, with the incidental organ part (which - along with the chords - I learned two years ago) before and after it.

I don't know what type of organ was used on the recording, but I used the Farfisa sound on my keyboard (my drawbar settings sound a bit brighter than the original, but for the record, here's what I used:  bass 16, oboe 8, trumpet 8, flute 4, 2 2/3).

After learning the organ solo, I was still thinking about the song, and I realized that "long" in the line "Not just a fad, 'cause it's been goin' on so long" is held for at least five beats (more than a whole measure), illustrating duration.  While recording my example, I discovered that the "long" in the backing "They said it wouldn't last too long" is sung with a melisma (F# A G F# A), also illustrating duration.

"I Do"

I recently noticed that at ~1:28 in "I Do," the tubular bells start playing in this rhythm:

I'm not sure of the technical differences (since one's in 4/4 and the other in 2/4), but this sounds similar to the rhythm in the Bridal Chorus in Richard Wagner's Lohengrin:

notation found here

I'm not at all familiar with Lohengrin, but it seems that this tune is often used in wedding processions, so it's fitting that the Beach Boys subtly reference it (or at least its rhythm) in a song about marriage.

"Whistle In"

When I listened to 1967: Sunshine tomorrow, I noticed a merism in the alternate versions of "All Day All Night (Whistle In)":

Remember the day (Day)
Remember the night (Night)

Both "day" and "night" are mentioned, but the sense is really "all of the time," as in the next line:  "All day long."

When I referenced the final version of "Whistle In" on Smiley Smile, I found that is also has melismas to give a sense of duration.  "Day" is sung to the notes B G# B, and "long" to the notes A# G# F#.

"Here Comes the Night"

I found a couple things to write about in these lines from "Here Comes the Night":

Every morning my love is reborn, and it lives me with all day long
When things start to change, it takes a little rearranging, but our love goes on and on

"Every" is sung with three syllables, giving a sense of number.

"Long" and the second "on" are sung with melismas (I think both are C C A G), and these give a musical sense of duration or continuation.

"Darlin'"

At ~1:41 in "Darlin'," there's the stand-alone line "Every night, oh, darlin'."  The "every" here is sung with three syllables, giving a sense of number.

"Wild Honey"

I listened to 1967: Sunshine tomorrow yester-day and noticed a few things.

In the line "The girl's got my heart, and my love's comin' down on me" in "Wild Honey," the "comin' down on me" descends (G G E D C), so while it's used more metaphorically (I think), there's a musical sense of that "comin' down."

"Wouldn't It Be Nice"

I was thinking about "Wouldn't It Be Nice" this morning, and I realized a small thing about the line "Hold each other close the whole night through."  "Through" is sung with a melisma (D C Bb), musically giving a sense of duration.

"Heads You Win - Tails I Lose"

This morning I was thinking about "Heads You Win - Tails I Lose" and realized something about the chorus.  For the repeated "Heads you win / Tails I lose" (or the later "Heads I win / Tails you lose"), there are only two chords, and each line is sung with only a single pitch (in the lead vocal, anyway).  "Heads you win" is sung entirely to F# notes above an F# minor, and "Tails I lose" is sung entirely to E notes above an E major.  That there are only two notes and two chords for these two lines musically illustrates the two possible outcomes of the coin flip (although, as the lyrics explain, the outcome of the coin flip really has no bearing on what actually happens).

"This Whole World"

I didn't notice this when I listened to Sunflower last week, but later I noticed in "This Whole World" that "free" in the line "Happy 'cause you're livin', and you're free" is sung with a melisma (E D C#, I think).  Musically, this gives a sense of the word's meaning, since it isn't constrained to a single pitch.

"Come and Go with Me"

Last week, I was thinking about "Come and Go with Me" (which I have only on the Sounds of Summer compilation album), and I realized a small thing about it:  "part" in the line "We will never part" is sung with a melisma (D B), so - although negated - there's a musical sense of that separation.

I referenced the version by the Del Vikings (which I believe is in the original), and while it's in a different key, it too has this feature.

"At My Window"

In "At My Window," the lines "A little brown sparrow came fluttering down" and "I ran out of breath, and I fell to the ground" are sung to generally descending melodies spanning almost an octave (D# to E).  Musically, this gives a sense of the "fluttering down" and "fell to the ground."  After "A little brown sparrow came fluttering down," there's also a descending line played on what I think is a sort of flute (for the same musical picture) and something like a bird call (to represent the sparrow).

"All I Wanna Do"

In "All I Wanna Do," "every" in the line "You can be sure that in my heart and soul I love you in every way" is sung with three syllables, giving a sense of number.

"It's About Time"

I'd noticed this before, but in "It's About Time," there's a fairly large interval between "I used to blow my mind" and "sky high," musically illustrating that (metaphorical) height.  "My mind" is sung to the notes Bb D, and "sky high" to Gs - a fourth higher.

"Deirdre"

In "Deirdre," "more" in the line "Well, we don't have to talk about much more" is sung with a melisma (I think it's E# F# E# D#, but the song as a whole seems a bit sharp, so it's hard to tell), musically giving a sense of the word's meaning.

"Walk on By"

I have the two-albums-on-one-CD re-issue of Friends and 20/20, and one of the bonus tracks is "Walk on By."  "By" in the title line is sung with a melisma (Ab Gb Eb), musically giving a sense of movement.

"Break Away"

In "Break Away," the end of the line "Where the shackles never hold me down" is sung to a descending phrase, musically giving a sense of that "hold[ing] down."  When I figured out the specific notes, I discovered that it's an arpeggiation of an A minor chord (E C A), so there's also a musical feeling of sadness linked with "the shackles" and their "hold[ing] me down."

I think it's also important to note that compared to the earlier iteration of the chorus ("I can break away from that lonely life / And I can do what I wanna do..."), the melody here is different, apparently to accommodate that descending melody for "hold me down."

"Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)"

In "Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)," "way" in the line "I had to walk a long, long way to town" is sung with a melisma (Eb C), musically giving a sense of that "long, long" distance.

"Be Here in the Morning"

I noticed a number of things about the chorus of "Be Here in the Morning":

Be here in the morning
Be here in the evening
Be here and make my life full
Be here in the morning
Be here in the evening
Be here and make my life

"Be here in the morning / Be here in the evening" uses a rhetorical device called a merism in which two extremes are named in order to represent a whole range.  Although "morning" and "evening" are the two specific times mentioned, the sense is really "Be here all the time."

That each line starts with "Be here..." is an instance of anaphora, an-other rhetorical device in which a word of phrase is repeated.  The effect emphasizes the request and also represents the constancy wished for ("Be here in the morning / Be here in the evening").

I think I'd noticed this before, but the "full" in the line "Be here and make my life full" is sung by a number of additional voices, musically giving a sense of that "full"-ness.

There's a semantic shift in the meaning of "make" between "Be here and make my life full" and "Be here and make my life."  Because the first half of the chorus is repeated except for that "full," the listener is left waiting in expectation of the missing word.  To some degree, this is the same sentiment that the line itself expresses:  the singer/speaker's life is incomplete, and he needs "you" to "make my life" (that is:  to complete it).

"Friends"

Yester-day I listened to Friends, 20/20, and Sunflower, and I found a number of mostly small points to write about.

In "Friends," the first line is "We've been friends now for so many years."  The "many" is sung with a melisma (F# E F# E), musically giving a sense of number.  When this line is repeated later, however, I don't think it has this feature.

"Only with You"

A couple days ago, I listened to a two-albums-on-one-CD reissue of Colin Blunstone's Planes and Never Even Thought.  He covers "Only with You" on Planes, and I noticed a feature in his version that's also in the Beach Boys' original.  In the lines "Before love had always had / Its ups and downs," "downs" is sung with a descending melisma (B# G#, I think), musically giving a sense of the word's meaning.

"Do You Wanna Dance?"

Because I'd been thinking about "I'm So Young," I listened to Today! a couple days ago.  I noticed a small feature in "Do You Wanna Dance?"  "All" in the line "Hold me, baby, all through the night" is sung with a melisma (D C), musically giving a sense of duration.

"I'm So Young"

A couple days ago, I was thinking about "I'm So Young" and realized that in various points in the lead and backing vocals, "so young" is sung with melismas (I'm not going to go through and figure out specific pitches for every instance).  Musically, this provides emphasis and gives a sense of degree.

I also quickly referenced the version by the Ronettes, which predates the Beach Boys' version.  The lead vocals have this feature, but I don't think the backing vocals do.

"Surfer Girl"

The other thing I noticed when I listened to Beach Boys' Party!/Stack-o-Tracks a couple days ago is in "Surfer Girl."  Even though Stack-o-Tracks has just the instrumental parts, I realized something about the vocals, specifically the bridge:

We could ride the surf together
While our love would grow
In my woody, I would take you
Ev'rywhere I go

Both "grow" and "go" are sung with melismas (A B F# and F# E F, respectively).  For "grow," the extension of the melisma gives a musical sense of the word's meaning, and for "go," the melisma gives a musical sense of movement.

In writing this post, I also discovered that there's a key change coincident with that "go" (D major to Eb major, I think).  This too provides a musical sense of movement.

Using the isolated backing track, I tried figuring out the chord progression, and while I was unsuccessful, I did notice one feature: there's a major-to-minor modulation (G major to G minor) underneath the end of the line "Made my heart come all undone."  Musically, this change portrays that feeling.

"There's No Other (Like My Baby)"

I recently got Beach Boys' Party!/Stack-o-Tracks (the two-albums-on-one-CD reissue), and when I listened to it for the first time last night, I noticed a couple things.

In "There's No Other (Like My Baby)," there's a melisma'd "so" (A G F) in the first verse:  "There's a story I want you to know / 'Bout my baby and how I love her so."  In a musical way, this gives a sense of degree.

Similarly, there's a melisma'd "proud" (also A G F) in the second verse:  "Walkin' down the street in a crowd / Lookin' at my baby, feelin' so proud."  This, too, gives a musical sense of degree or amount.

I referenced the version by the Crystals (which - according to the liner notes - was the basis for the Beach Boys' version), and while it's in a different key and some of the lyrics are a bit different, it also has these features.

In comparing them, I learned the chords for both and discovered that the Beach Boys changed one chord.  In the Crystals' version (in D major), the verses are |: I vi IV V :|.  The Beach Boys (along with lowering the key to Bb major) play |: I vi ii V :|.

(For what it's worth, Brian Wilson did a similar thing with "County Fair" and "I Do.")

"Devoted to You"

Recently, I discovered some features in the Everly Brothers' "Devoted to You."  Since the Beach Boys covered this on Beach Boys' Party!, I thought I'd write a post about it.  (I feel I should note that I have only Beach Boys' Party! Uncovered and Unplugged, not the original album.)

The first line of the second verse is "I'll be yours through endless time."  "Endless" is sung with a melisma (E D E in one voice; C# B C# in the other), and because it's drawn out, there's a musical sense of duration.

The first two lines of the third verse are "Through the years, my love will grow / Like a river, it will flow."  "Love" is sung with a melisma (E D in one voice; C# B in the other), and that extra syllable provides a musical sense of its "grow[ing]."  Both "river" (A G F# in one voice; F# E D in the other) and "it" (E D in one voice; C# B in the other) are sung with melismas, musically giving a sense of the movement of "flow[ing]."

There are two structural features that illustrate the speaker/singer's constancy:  every verse ends with the phrase "Devoted to you," and the bridge uses the rhetorical device of anaphora with the repeated "I'll never...."