"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.

"You're So Good to Me"

I listened to Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) yester-day and noticed a small feature in "You're So Good to Me."  In the line "I know your eyes are not on the guys when we're apart," "apart" is sung with a melisma (B B A G A B).  Since the word is sung with this disjointed articulation, there's something of a sense of its meaning.

"Amusement Parks U.S.A."

I listened to The Very Best of the Coasters yester-day and re-discovered something that I think the Beach Boys borrowed for "Amusement Parks U.S.A."  Near the beginning of the Coasters' "Little Egypt," a carnival barker uses the phrase "just one thin dime, one tenth of a dollar."  In the middle of the Beach Boys' "Amusement Parks U.S.A." there's an almost identical phrase:  "It's only a dime, folks, one thin dime, just one tenth of a dollar."

The Beach Boys ran through the Coasters' "Riot in Cell Block No. 9" for the Beach Boys' Party! album (available on the Uncovered and Unplugged edition) and rewrote it as "Student Demonstration Time" for Surf's Up, so I'm assuming that they had some familiarity with other Coasters songs too.

"Heroes and Villains"

I listened to the first disc of The SMiLE Sessions Deluxe Edition box set this morning and noticed a small feature in "Heroes and Villains."  The phrase "head to toe" is a merism.

"Here Today"

In the line "Well, you know I hate to be a downer" in "Here Today," "downer" is sung to a pair of descending notes (B F#), giving something of a sense of its meaning.

In the line "Tomorrow it's here and gone so fast," "fast" is sung with a melisma (D B), giving a sense of degree (for "so").

"I'm Waiting for the Day"

In "I'm Waiting for the Day," "free" in the line "To set your broken heart free" is sung with a melisma (B A G#).  Since the word isn't constrained to a single syllable, there's a sense of its meaning.

"So" in the line "And that you still loved him so" is sung with this same melisma, but in this instance it gives a sense of degree.  (I'd noted this before, but I didn't include the specific pitches in that post, which was so badly written that I removed it.)

"Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)"

In "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)," "right" in the line "Being here with you feels so right" is sung with a melisma (C Bb A), musically giving a sense of degree (for "so").