"Helplessness Blues"

Last month, I realized that, while slight, the phrase "raised up believin'" in the line "I was raised up believin' I was somehow unique" in "Helplessness Blues" ascends (Eb F F F G), musically illustrating the meaning of "raised up" (although it's used more metaphorically here).

"Montezuma"

Back in May, I wrote that the line "As naked as when they came" in "Montezuma" bears some resemblance to Job 1:21:  "And he [Job] said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.  The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.'"  A couple months ago, however, I was reading Ecclesiastes and found a stronger resemblance in 5:15:  "As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand."

"Shore"

As with some phrases in "I'm Not My Season," the line "Kin of my kin" in "Shore" seems to borrow its structure from Genesis 2:23:  "Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'"

In the repeated line "While I see it all," "all" is sung with a melisma (D C D G E D C), musically giving a sense of that entirety.  When this "all" is repeated by itself after these lines, it's sung with a slightly different melisma (G E D C D) but with the same effect.

"Cradling Mother, Cradling Woman"

In the line "I'll run down" in "Cradling Mother, Cradling Woman," "down" is sung with a descending melisma (Eb C Bb), musically giving a sense either of movement or of the word's meaning.  "While" in the lines "No one here / Say we waited our while" is sung with a melisma (C Bb), musically giving a sense of duration.

"Thymia"

In the line "Solid shape of, known it for a long time" in "Thymia," "time" is sung with a melisma (G F# E), musically giving a sense of that "long."

"I'm Not My Season"

The first two lines of "I'm Not My Season" are "Blood of my blood / Skin of my skin."  This provides a small connection between "I'm Not My Season" and "Shore," which begins with the line "Kin of my kin."  All three of these phrases seem to take their structure (and perhaps even more) from similar phrases in Genesis 2:23:  "Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'"

"Young Man's Game"

The first phrase in "Young Man's Game" is "New day rising," and as if to reflect that "rising," this phrase ascends (B D E F#).

In the line "Find something unique to say," the second (rather than the first) syllable of "something" is emphasized, and to some degree, this illustrates that "unique[ness]."

"Life" in the line "For all my life" is sung with a melisma (F# E D), musically giving a sense of the entirety of that "all."

"Maestranza"

In the line "Now that the water runs" in "Maestranza," "runs" is sung with a melisma (F# E), musically giving a sense of movement.

"A Long Way Past the Past"

In "A Long Way Past the Past," "'round" in the line "I can't turn the hand 'round" is sung with a melisma (it's C G A in the higher voice, and I think just A F in the lower voice), so while negated, there's a sense of movement (for "turn").  "Down" in the line "But still it looks a long way down" is sung with a descending melisma (G F E D C in the higher voice; E D C in the lower).  Musically, this gives a sense of the meaning of the word itself and also of the adjective "long."  "Through" in the line "I made me own way through" is also sung with a melisma (D G in the higher voice; B E in the lower); this too gives a sense of movement.

"Featherweight"

In the line "And somehow I see it's free" in "Featherweight," "free" is sung with a melisma (D C Bb G F G C).  Since the word isn't constrained to a single pitch, there's a sense of its meaning.  That may not be the intended meaning in this context though (it's a bit unclear), so this may not be a valid point.

"Can I Believe You"

I noticed a handful of significant melismas in "Can I Believe You."

"Go" in the line "Hasn't let me go" is sung with a melisma (C# B) for a sense of movement.  In the lines "If I don't, well, nothing will change / Stayin' under my weather all day," "change" is sung with a melisma (C# B G# F#) for a sense of the word's meaning, and "day" (G# B) is sung with a melisma for a sense of the entirety of "all."  "Much" in the line "Never held that much" is sung with a melisma (C# B) for a sense of amount (although negated).

I also noticed an ambiguity in the line "Can I believe you when you say I'm good?"  That's how it's printed in the vinyl gatefold, but it could also be written as "Can I believe you when you say, 'I'm good'?"

The most interesting thing I've noticed so far is in this section:

Lately I'm wondering too 

What type of desire I can break

When I'm one way with them, one with you

What half is it of me rearranged?

The vocal melody for this section is something like:

In the line "When I'm one way with them, one with you," the first "one" is sung on a downbeat, but the second "one" is sung on an upbeat.  This indicates their opposing natures.

Also, "break" is sung with a melisma (B G# F#), giving a sense of the word's meaning.

"Sunblind"

Since I started figuring out parts for the songs on Shore last month, I figured I might as well start to write about some of the things I noticed while listening to the album, although many of them are just minor points.

In the line "I'm going out for a weekend" in "Sunblind," "out" is sung with a melisma (C D E B), musically giving a sense of movement.

"Every" in the line "Carrying every text that you've given" is sung with three syllables, giving a sense of number.

"Montezuma"

I listened to Helplessness Blues to-day because it's the tenth anniversary of its release.  I noticed a handful of things in "Montezuma," mostly in this verse:

In dearth or in excess

Both the slave and the empress

Will return to the dirt, I guess

Naked as when they came

"In dearth or in excess" and "Both the slave and the empress" are merisms.  A merism is a rhetorical device used to indicate a wide range by naming two opposites.  The two here illustrate that, no matter his status or position, everyone dies.

"As naked as when they came" seems to be an allusion to Job 1:21:  "And he [Job] said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.  The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.'"

Near the end of the song, there's the line "Montezuma to Tripoli," which is also a merism.

"On Another Ocean (January / June)"

In the line "Wherever you run" in "On Another Ocean (January / June)," the three syllables of "wherever" are sung to different pitches (Bb Db C), giving something of a sense of the word's meaning.  "Run" is sung with a melisma (Db Eb Db), musically giving a sense of movement.

"Grown Ocean"

It doesn't affect the meaning very much, but the lines "Children grown on the edge of the ocean / Kept like jewelry kept with devotion" in "Grown Ocean" could be understood in two different ways.  As printed on the record sleeve, "kept with devotion" modifies "jewelry" because there's no comma between those phrases.  If it were written as "Kept like jewelry, kept with devotion," both "kept like jewelry" and "kept with devotion" would modify "children" from the previous line.

"The Shrine/An Argument"

I have a vinyl copy of Helplessness Blues, and the lyrics for "The Shrine/An Argument" are printed in such a way that separation and absence are emphasized.  What I would render as single lines, the record has as:

Underneath were all these pennies

Fallen from the hands of

Children they were there and

Then were gone.

and

But that day, you know, I left

My money and I thought of you only

All that copper glowin' fine.

Such renderings draw attention to the separation of the pennies from the children, the children's absence, and the separation of the narrator and his money.

"Day" in the line "Ev'ry day a-passin' complete" is sung with a melisma (Eb F Eb), giving something of a sense of that "ev'ry."

There's consonance in the line "In the ocean washin' off my name from your throat," and this particular sound in this context suggests scouring or scraping clean.

"Someone You'd Admire"

In "Someone You'd Admire," a second voice comes in for "I walk with others...," so there's a musical representation of that companionship.

The phrase "gnash their teeth" seems to be a Biblical reference.  It's actually in a few places in Matthew where Jesus explains some parables, but Matthew 13:41-42 is probably the most easily quotable:  "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The strumming pattern emphasizes "claw" and "gnash" in the line "Claw at my skin and gnash their teeth and shout."  Both of these words occur on the first beat of the bar and coincide with the most forceful strum.

"Lorelei"

In "Lorelei," the parallelism in the line "Call out to nobody, call out to me" equates "nobody" with "me," which is about the same value that the narrator gives to himself in lines like "I was like trash on the sidewalk" and "I was old news to you."

The line "Old news, old news to you then" is repeated at the end of each verse, and this repetition makes the line itself like "old news."  The melody to which these "old news"s are sung is something like:

(I guessed on the key.)

In all but the last measure, the rhythm consists of two eighth notes and one half note, and there are only two pitches, so even musically, this phrase is repetitive.

It does change, however, after the line "Fell for the ruse with you then."  It's as if the music itself was tricked, and it becomes something like:

"Helplessness Blues"

In order to reflect being "unique / Like a snowflake, distinct among snowflakes" at the beginning of "Helplessness Blues," there's only one voice and one guitar.  After the lines "I'd rather be / A functioning cog in some great machinery / Serving something beyond me," a second voice, a second guitar, and harmonium are introduced in order to illustrate the opposite view.  Later, this second guitar drops out before the line "If I know only one thing," so again there's a sense of singularity.

The strumming in the guitar parts also corresponds to the number.  For the most part, if there's only one guitar, the strums are downward, and if there are two, the strums are upward and downward.

"Sim Sala Bim"

To represent "Then the earth shook..." in "Sim Sala Bim," violin tremolos begin.

The lines "Remember when you had me cut your hair? / Call me Delilah then I wouldn't care" allude to Samson and Delilah in Judges 16.

"Bedouin Dress"

Coinciding with "return" in the line "Ev'rything I took I'd soon return" in "Bedouin Dress," more instruments come in, and the dynamics increase, as if to reflect that "return[ing]" of "ev'rything."

"Blue Ridge Mountains"

"Down" in the second "Lie down" at the beginning of "Blue Ridge Mountains" is sung with a generally descending melisma (Bb Ab Gb F Gb F Eb, I think), musically giving a sense of the word's meaning.

"He Doesn't Know Why"

In "He Doesn't Know Why," the phrase "Pull the wool over your eyes" is sung to such a melody (C# D# E# C# A# G# A#) that in terms of pitch, "wool" (E#) really is over "eyes" (A#).

"Quiet Houses"

In "Quiet Houses," some of the "Lay me down"s are sung to descending phrases (D# C# C#, C# B B), musically giving a sense of that "lay[ing]... down."

"Ragged Wood"

In "Ragged Wood," "long" in "you have been gone too long" is sung with a melisma (G# B G#), musically giving a sense of duration.  Similarly, "all" in "settled before us all" is sung with a melisma (B C# F#), musically giving a sense of number.  "Fly" in the line "When the sparrow and seagull fly" is also sung with a melisma (B G#), which - although descending - musically gives a sense of movement.

Introduction

I don't remember when I started listening to Fleet Foxes, but I think it was around the time Helplessness Blues was released.  I bought the multi-track stems for Shore even before I had listened to the album.  For years now, I've been working on a handful of projects where I try to figure out every part to every song by a particular band.  I reasoned that since I've been able to make as much progress in those projects as I have (where, at best, my resources extend to alternate mixes or different takes), figuring out parts where each is isolated in a separate track should be fairly simple.  That's the main objective of this project, although I don't plan to start on that until July.  I want to give myself time simply to enjoy the album before scrutinizing every note.

In the meantime, I'll be posting musicological notes I made about the other three albums (but mostly Helplessness Blues, which is my favorite).