"Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)"

Yester-day, I figured out the chords for "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" (although what I have may need some refining).  While thinking about the song afterwards, I realized that a section of the chord progression matches the lyrics in a way.  For a good portion of the verses, the chords simply alternate between A major and D major.  Most of the lyrics above these chords list opposites:

A time to be born, a time to die

A time to plant, a time to reap

A time to kill, a time to heal

A time to build up, a time to break down

A time to dance, a time to mourn

A time to cast away stones

A time of love, a time of hate

A time of war, a time of peace

A time you may embrace

A time to gain, a time to lose

A time to rend, a time to sow

A time for love, a time for hate

In the same way that the lyrics go back and forth between opposites, the chords go back and forth between A major and D major.

"Blue Canadian Rockies"

I was thinking about "Blue Canadian Rockies" this morning.  The line "For that girl I left behind" is sung in a rather disjointed manner, with pauses of two beats between "girl" and "I" and between "left" and "behind."  This may not have been the intention, but such an articulation does give a sense of the separation between the narrator and "that girl."

"All I Really Want to Do"

I listened to Mr. Tambourine this morning and realized something about "All I Really Want to Do":  there's a contrast in number between the multitude of things that the speaker doesn't want to do and the one thing he does want to do, and as a result, that one thing stands out more.

The structure also contributes to this emphasis.  While each verse contains a different list of things the speaker doesn't want to do, all of them end with the one thing that he does want to do.

"I Knew I'd Want You"

This morning, I figured out the chords for "I Knew I'd Want You," and while doing so, I noticed an ambiguity in the lyrics.  The first two lines of the second verse could understood as "I'd like to hold you / If you want me to [hold you]" or as "I'd like to hold you / If you want me too," with "you want me too" reciprocating "I'd want you" in the title line at the end of the previous verse.

"You Won't Have to Cry"

This morning, I figured out the chords for "You Won't Have to Cry" and noticed an interesting feature of the structure.  For almost all of the song, each chord lasts at least one measure (the chord at the end of each verse lasts two measures).  Aside from the introduction, the one exception to this is in the bridge.  Underneath the words "many, many" in the line "Because he told you so many, many lies," the chords last for only half a measure.  In other words, there are more chords per measure here than in any other part of the song (again, excepting the introduction), and this higher concentration of chords mirrors the abundance of those "many, many lies."

"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better"

Last night, I figured out the chords for "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better," and while doing so, I found a small feature to note:  the "-more" of "anymore" in the lines "And I'm not gonna play / Your games anymore" is sung with a melisma (B C# B A), so while it's negated, there's a sense of continuation.

"King Apathy III"

I listened to Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde yester-day and noticed that there's a contrast between sections of "King Apathy III."  Compared to the verses of the song, the "So I'm leavin' for the country..." sections are slower, and the instrumentation is less intense.  This musical reprieve illustrates that departure and the narrator's "rest[ing] my head."

"Pretty Polly"

I realized to-day that there are some features in the title phrase of "Pretty Polly" that illustrate this prettiness from a linguistic point of view.  The two words alliterate; they have the same number of syllables, so there's a balance; and they rhyme.

"Way beyond the Sun"

In the repeated line "You better go out and find one of them fancy men" in "Way beyond the Sun," "fancy" is sung with a melisma (Bb G G the first time, Bb C Bb C G the second).  This articulation acts as musical decoration and gives a sense of the word's meaning.

In the first and fourth verses, "beyond" in the title line is sung with a few different melismas, giving a sense of degree (for "way").

"Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins"

In "Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins," the line "Millions of hearts were lifted" is sung to an ascending melody (D D D G G A B), and "lifted" is sung with an ascending melisma (although only an interval of a second:  A B).  Both of these features illustrate the word's meaning.

As if to parallel the subject of three astronauts, the song is in 3/4, with three beats in each measure.

"There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To)"

In the recurring title line of "There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To)," the "turn" is often sung with a melisma (the specific notes vary), giving a sense of movement.

"Whole" in the line "Must I live my whole life through" is also sung with a melisma (D C D, I think), musically giving a sense of entirety.

"Jack Tarr the Sailor"

In the line "And when me money was all gone, it was then that I wanted more" in "Jack Tarr the Sailor," "more" is sung with a melisma (A G F), giving a sense of amount.

I can't make out the entirety of one of the lines, but in the fourth verse, "ashore" is rhymed with itself ("Alas, I had no luck... for I'd left all me money ashore / It was then that I wished that I was dead or safe with the girls ashore").  To some degree, this gives the impression of remaining static and contrasts with the other verses, most of which end with "go to sea once more."