Sunday, June 27, 2021

"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.