Tuesday, May 25, 2021

"Tulsa County"

I'm not sure of the notes, but "go" in the harmony part for the line "Just where I'll go" in the choruses of "Tulsa County" is sung with a melisma, musically giving a sense of movement.

"Then" in the lines "Got your note in Charleston, said you needed my assistance / But when I got there, you didn't need me then" is redundant, but this mirrors the narrator's not being needed.

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

"Oil in My Lamp"

Although there's not too much in the lyrics to indicate this, "Oil in My Lamp" is based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

"Ballad of Easy Rider"

The first "flow" in the repeated line "Flow, river, flow" in "Ballad of Easy Rider" is sung with a melisma (F# E D), musically giving a sense of movement.  Because this is a descending melisma, it also connects to the direction in the following line:  "Let your waters wash down."

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

"Medley: My Back Pages/B.J. Blues/Baby What You Want Me to Do"

I noticed a couple of small things in the "Baby What You Want Me to Do" section of "Medley: My Back Pages/B.J. Blues/Baby What You Want Me to Do."  "Down" in the line "I'm goin' down" is sung with a descending melisma in one of the voices (E D B), musically giving a sense either of the meaning of the word or of the movement of "goin'."  "Roll" is sung with a variety of melismas, also for a sense of movement.

In the alternate take included as a bonus track on the CD re-issue of the album, the line "I'm goin' up" is sung to an ascending melody (I think it's E E E G#), giving a sense of that "up."