"Time to Get Alone"

Near the end of October, I figured out the chords for "Time to Get Alone."  The song is in D major, but the bridge seems to be in an entirely different key.  I think the chords there are:

|: C major | G minor | C major | F major :|

|: A minor | D minor :|

Tonally, this departure from D major illustrates the distance that's also referred to in the lyrics ("Aren't you glad we finally got away?").

"Chapel of Love"

The line "I'll be hers, and she'll be mine" in "Chapel of Love" has a chiastic structure, and this mirrors the reciprocity in the relationship.

"Had to Phone Ya"

While writing posts about the songs on 15 Big Ones and Love You, I listened to the albums again and found a couple more things to note.

"Had to Phone Ya" doesn't really have an end; it just fades out.  The listener is left waiting for a musical resolution in the same way that the narrator is waiting for his call to be accepted ("Come on and answer the phone").

"I Wanna Pick You Up"

The first line of "I Wanna Pick You Up" ("I love to pick you up") is sung to an ascending melody (F F G A Bb C), musically giving a sense of that "up."

During the section that begins "Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat her on her butt, butt," there are staccato notes played with what I'm pretty sure is the French accordion sound on a Mellotron.  This articulation gives a musical impression of those "pat"s.

"I'll Bet He's Nice"

One of the lines in "I'll Bet He's Nice" is "'Cause I remember you and I."  I think this is actually just a grammatical error (similar to "Love was made for her and I" in "The Night Was So Young" and "And I tell her all about you and I" in "Airplane"), but it could also indicate something else.  Instead of direct objects (in which case they should be "you and me"), "you and I" could be the compound subject of a noun clause that's the direct object of "remember."  An explicit "that" makes it clearer:  "I remember [that] you and I...."  There's no verb here, but this fits with the sentiment of the song.  Part of the previous line is "it makes me cry," so it could be that while reflecting on the past, the narrator is overcome with emotion and interrupts himself here before he gets to the verb.

"Good Time"

In the lines "She's always ready / To help me in any way" in "Good Time," "way" is sung with a melisma (E B C# B), musically giving a sense of the breadth of that "any."

"Just Once in My Life"

In the line "Girl, don't let me down" in "Just Once in My Life," "down" is sung with a generally descending melisma (Eb D Eb D C), musically giving a sense of its meaning.

"In the Still of the Night"

In the line "Promise I'll never let you go" in "In the Still of the Night," "go" is sung with a melisma (B A), musically giving a sense of its meaning.  "Might" in the line "Hold me again with all of your might" is sung with the same melisma, here giving a sense of the entirety of that "all."

"Back Home"

The words "all alone" in the line "I'll run downstairs, fix my breakfast all alone" in "Back Home" start with the same initial sound, and this gives a sense of that singularity.

"Blueberry Hill"

"Apart" in the line "Though we're apart" in "Blueberry Hill" is sung with a melisma (F# B G#), musically giving a sense of that division.

"A Casual Look"

In the lines "You know she loved him / But was so young" in "A Casual Look," "young" is sung with a melisma (C# B), musically giving a sense of degree (for "so").

"Talk to Me"

In the line "Tell me, oh, you love me so" in "Talk to Me," "so" is sung with a melisma (D E), giving a sense of degree.  In the lines "The many ways you speak of love, I've heard before / But it sounds so good ev'ry time," "time" is sung with a melisma (A G A B), giving a sense of number (for "ev'ry").

"It's OK"

Last summer, I got the two-albums-on-one-CD reissue of 15 Big Ones and Love You.  I've become fairly familiar with the albums and am going to start writing weekly posts about some of the things I noticed.

In the line "Good or bad, glad or sad, it's all gonna pass" in "It's OK," "good or bad" and "glad or sad" are merisms.  In each, two opposites are named in order to give a sense of a range.

"Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)"

Recently, I was flipping through Hootenanny Tonight!, a collection of songs compiled by James F. Leisy.  Even just by looking at the notation for "Nine Hundred Miles," I knew I was familiar with the tune from an-other song.  It took me a few days to place it, but eventually I discovered that it has some similarity to the melody in "Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)."

While I was doing research to try to place the tune, I discovered that it's also used for the Kingston Trio's "The Wanderer."  This may be where Al Jardine, who co-wrote "Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)," got the melody.  As is often mentioned in connection with "Sloop John B," Jardine was a fan of the Kingston Trio.

"Devoted to You"

A couple months ago, I noticed a small feature in the Everly Brothers' "Devoted to You."  Since this also appears in the version the Beach Boys did for Beach Boys' Party!, I felt I'd write about it here too.

The bridge exhibits anaphora (the repeated "I'll never"):

I'll never hurt you; I'll never lie

I'll never be untrue

I'll never give you reason to cry

I'd be unhappy if you were blue

This repetition illustrates the narrator's determination.

"Lonely Sea"

In the line "It moves along from day to day" in "Lonely Sea," "along" is sung with a melisma (C Bb A), musically giving something of a sense of movement.

"Cuckoo Clock"

I listened to Surfin' Safari/Surfin' U.S.A. yester-day and noticed a couple small features.  In the line "I broke the cuckoo's heart" in "Cuckoo Clock," "heart" is sung with a melisma (E# D#), musically giving a sense of being "broke[n]."

"The Girl from New York City"

I listened to Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) yester-day and noticed a couple things about "The Girl from New York City."

"Night and day" in the line "We'll turn 'em on with all the things that will be happ'nin' night and day" is a temporal merism.

The chorus shifts the rhyme scheme so that instead of occurring at the ends of the lines (as in the verses), the rhyming is now internal:

The California guys all got their eyes on that girl from New York City

The L.A. boys all heard the noise about the girl from New York City

The phrase "girl from New York City" is essentially rhymed with itself, and to some degree, this indicates how the "California guys" and "L.A. boys" are fixated on her.  In the same way that they continue to look at her, the phrase "girl from New York City" retains its position in the line.

"Bluebirds over the Mountain"

Like I wrote about with "Little Bird" yester-day, there's an alliterative "all alone" in "Bluebirds over the Mountain" ("If you see her all alone"), and since there's only one initial sound, there's an illustration of this singularity.

"Little Bird"

In the line "The tree in my own backyard stands all alone" in "Little Bird," "all alone" alliterates, and because there's only one initial sound, this illustrates that singularity.

"Hawaii"

A couple days after I listened to the live version of "Hawaii" on 1967: Sunshine tomorrow, I was thinking about the song again, and I realized that in the line "I heard about all the pretty girls with their grass skirts down to their knees," the phrase "down to their knees" is sung to a descending group of notes (F Eb Db C), musically giving a sense of that "down."

"Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow"

In the line "Well, I heard this sound ev'rywhere I go" in "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow," "go" is sung with a melisma (F# G F# E, I think), musically giving a sense of movement.

"Hully Gully"

On Brian Wilson's birthday, I started re-listening to all of the Beach Boys albums in my collection (going alphabetically).  While listening to Beach Boys Party! (actually the Uncovered and Unplugged edition), I noticed a couple of small features.

In the line "You just shake your shoulders, and you wiggle your knees" in "Hully Gully," "knees" is sung with a melisma (A G A C), giving a sense of that "wiggl[ing]."  "Most" in the line "Well, when me and my baby do it, child, we do it the most" is sung with the same melisma, this time giving a sense of degree or amount.

I also noticed that "coast to coast" in the line "Well, there's a dance spreadin' 'round from coast to coast" is a merism.

"Spirit of America"

Last night, I figured out the chords for "Spirit of America," and while doing so, I noticed a small feature.  In the line "Half airplane, half auto, now famous worldwide," "-wide" is sung with a melisma (G Ab G F), musically giving a sense of that breadth.