Friday, August 27, 2021

"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.