Saturday, April 18, 2026

"Chestnut Mare"

I listened to (Untitled) last week and noticed a number of features in "Chestnut Mare."

The phrase "Always alone" in the first line exhibits alliteration, and the matching initial sounds of these words provide senses of constancy (for "always") and singularity (for "alone").

The grammatical structure of the line "She doesn't know what to do for a second, but then she jumps off the edge, me holding on" illustrates the meaning in a way.  Unless I'm mistaken, the phrase "me holding on" is an ablative absolute.  Regardless of the precise term, it doesn't have a strong structural connection to the clause "then she jumps off the edge," and in the same way, the narrator lacks a firm grip on the horse.

The section starting with the line "Above the hills, higher than eagles were gliding" lacks the bass and drums that had been present since the song's third line.  That the musical bottom has dropt out, leaving only the higher elements, mirrors the sort of airiness of being "Suspended in the sky."

"All" in the line "Exploding all around" is sung with a melisma (F# E), lending a slight sense of breadth.

After the line "We hit, and we splashed it dry," there's a cymbal crash, apparently meant to represent the splash.

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

"Eight Miles High"

I listened to The Byrds' Greatest Hits a couple days ago and realized that all of the words in the line "Plain, gray town known for its sound" in "Eight Miles High" are monosyllabic.  In a way, this simplicity of diction matches the meaning of "plain."

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

"Jack Tarr the Sailor"

I listened to Ballad of Easy Rider yester-day and found in "Jack Tarr the Sailor" the same sort of construction that I noticed in "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" in the fall:  the lines "And as I roamed the streets of Bath, the whores, they all would roar, / 'There goes Jack Tarr that poor sailor; he must go to sea once more'" contain a pleonasm, and while this redundant "they" isn't necessary grammatically, it does provide a sense of amount (for "all").