"Time to Get Alone"

I listened to Friends/20/20 this evening because I saw that to-day is the anniversary of 20/20's release (in 1969), and I noticed a couple things in the bridge of "Time to Get Alone."

There's some sort of effect applied to the vocals singing "deep and wide" at the end of the line "Lookin' down through the valleys so deep and wide," giving a sense of voices echoing through a "deep and wide" valley.

In the last "Aren't you glad we finally got away," the "away" is sung with a melisma (G A Eb D), musically giving a sense either of movement or distance.  I think the Eb is even an accidental, which heightens the sense of distance.

"Be with Me"

When I listened to Friends/20/20 yester-day, I also noticed a small thing in "Be with Me."  In the lines "Ev'rything we will see / Ev'rything we will be," the three syllables of those "ev'rything"s are all sung to different pitches (C D Eb and Eb F G), musically giving a sense of breadth.

Friends

I listened to Friends/20/20 this evening and then figured out the repeated banjo phrase in the coda of "Little Bird."  It sounded familiar, and I discovered that - raised a half-step and with one pitch repeated - it's the same as the first vocal line in "Meant for You" (the rhythms are different, though).  The banjo phrase in "Little Bird" is E F G G A G; the first vocal phrase in "Meant for You" (the lyric is "As I sit and close my eyes") is F Gb Ab Ab Ab Bb Ab.  This similarity gives a bit of cohesion to the album.

"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.