Saturday, June 7, 2025

"Ding Dang"

Yester-day, I read Roger McGuinn's account in The Beach Boys (p. 337) of his writing "Ding Dang" with Brian Wilson.  He quotes part of the song, and I realized that there's some significance in the melodic shape of the line "I treat her so fine, but she treats me so badly," which is something like this:


Although it's only slight, the first half ("I treat her so fine") ascends (Bb to C), but the second half ("but she treats me so badly") descends (C to A).  These opposite musical directions highlight the contrast in the lyrics (especially since the verbal structure of each half is so similar).  Additionally, the descent for "she treats me so badly" even matches the narrator's disappointment.