SAMPLE SONG PRESENTATIONS
VINCENT
VINCENT
The song I've chosen to present is called "Vincent." Some people know it by its first line, "Starry, Starry Night."
The song was featured on Don McLean's first album, which also included the even more famous title song, American Pie, released in 1971.
Don McLean's music falls into the genre of the "singer/songwriter," usually with light instrumentation (sometimes just piano or acoustic guitar) and some autobiographical lyrics.
The title, "Vincent," refers to the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, who is as famous for his short tragic life as for his paintings. Though he sold only one painting in his lifetime, he is now one of the world's most famous painters.
Here are the lyrics to the song, which I got from the Internet. [I pass them out]. Note that the lyrics are precise and descriptive. No vague ideas here.
McLean uses a lot of concrete nouns and adjectives (palette, China blue, grey, "weathered faces lined with pain") but also uses general ideas such as "darkness in my soul," linking the painter's art to his life.
The writer also refers to the artist's purpose ("what you tried to say to me") and his effect on the viewer ("how you made them understand").
There are strong images in the song. For example, "flaming flowers that brightly blaze" uses alliteration (f/f and b/b) and evokes images of Van Gogh's actual paintings. Same with "swirling clouds in violet haze" and references to different colors (amber, China blue, grey, etc.).
Finally, the song refers to the artist's suicide.
The song is well written with other details I don't have time to discuss in my brief presentation. I would like to conclude by saying the song is ruined for me by a terrible phrase, "one as beautiful as you." I never liked that line and it seems lazy to me, as if McLean couldn't think of better words. Surely a man can't be beautiful & Van Gogh certainly wasn't. But one can ignore that line and still enjoy the song.
As for the melody, it's quite strong, with a swirling repetitive pattern that seems to capture the artist's own obsession, but also the gentleness underneath.
I'll play a bit of the opening melody so those who never heard this song can have some idea of what it's like. [I play the first part of the song.]
One final point. From what I heard this song is played continuously in the Van Gogh museum in Holland.
Do you have any questions?
Starry
starry night
paint your palette blue and grey
look out on a summer's day
with eyes that know the
darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and the daffodils
catch the breeze and the winter chills
in colors on the snowy linen land.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they did not know how
perhaps they'll listen now.
Starry
starry night
flaming flowers that brightly blaze
swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in
Vincent's eyes of China blue.
Colors changing hue
morning fields of amber grain
weathered faces lined in pain
are soothed beneath the artist's
loving hand.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
perhaps they'll listen now.
For they could not love you
but still your love was true
and when no hope was left in sight on that starry
starry night.
You took your life
as lovers often do;
But I could have told you
Vincent
this world was never
meant for one
as beautiful as you.
Starry
starry night
portraits hung in empty halls
frameless heads on nameless walls
with eyes
that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the stranger that you've met
the ragged men in ragged clothes
the silver thorn of bloody rose
lie crushed and broken
on the virgin snow.
And now I think I know what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they're not
list'ning still
perhaps they never will.
Joni Mitchell was part of the second wave of singer-songwriters, focusing less on social issues than on personal confession. Though never a major hit maker, she charted some singles, her albums sold well, and several of her songs (including "Taxi," "The Circle Game" and this song) have been covered repeatedly by artists in all genres.
As the title suggests, the song explores life from "both sides," and might be compared with the English poet William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, each verse contrasting life from a view of innocence and then experience.
"Clouds" is used first with the literal meaning of the word and is then used in the metaphorical sense as "illusions."
The child sees clouds innocently in images of ice cream, angel hair, and "feather canyons," but from the view of experience they just bring rain or snow, preventing other pleasures rather than being a pleasure in themselves.
Love is seen from the same dual point of view: first as a "dizzy" "fairy tale" (moons, Junes, ferris wheels) then as a cynical relationship of exploitation ("if you care don't let 'em know"), more taking than giving.
The final stanza finds hope not in innocence but in experience. Life used to be innocent, with lots of plans and schemes for the future, living amidst the spectacle of "circus crowds" (social relationshps), but the singer can no longer accept those illusions, while her friends (tied to their own illusions) regret a change in her. But the singer is philosophical: she's lost her innocence, but gained experience enough to see through her illusions.
This is a fairly sophisticated outlook for a young (27) writer/singer. Its point of view is similar to the biblical book of Ecclesiastes with its refrain, "All is vanity (or illusion).
Mitchell uses nice images such as "rows and floes of angel hair," "feather canyons," and other images for clouds. She neatly sums up youthful romantic love as "the dizzy dancing way you feel" and later sex affairs as just a "show."
She can create poetic images but also phrase her point of view in plain language ("looked at life from both sides"), summing up her entire philosophy simply as "something's lost but something's gained in living every day." That's the best we can hope for amidst life's illusions and disappointments.
Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons evrywhere
Ive looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I've looked at clouds from both sides now
>From up and down, and still somehow
Its cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all
Moons and Junes and ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way
But now its just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away
I've looked at love from both sides now
>From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all
Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say I love you right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way
But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every day
I've looked at life from both sides now
>From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
I've looked at life from both sides now
>From up and down, and still somehow
Its life's illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all.
EASTER PARADE
This song (go here), (music and words by Irving Berlin) belongs to the genre called the Broadway song, a style of music popular in the US roughly between the 1920s to 1960, after which Rock 'n' Roll replaced it. Because these songs were written for the Broadway stage the lyrics were more sophisticated than radio pop (written directly for radio) or later Rock 'n' Roll, addressed to teenagers. There was more verbal play, often at a high level, idiomatic expressions, and a richer vocabulary, as can be seen in this song.These Braodway show tunes were divided into three sections: the verse, the main strain, and the bridge. The verse ("Never saw you look," etc.) was an introductory section that allowed the singer to move from speaking (on stage) to singing, leading to the sung chorus ("In your Easter Bonnet"), intermitted by a bridge (the middle part of the chorus: here, "On the Avenue") for variation until the repeat of the main tune ("Oh I could write"). Within this limited form, thousands of songs were written that became classics still recorded today.
Irving Berlin contributed hundreds of hit songs to the so-called American Song Book, including "White Christmas" and this song, which became so popular a film was named after it, starring legendary dancer Fred Astaire and the famous singer, Judy Garland. Berlin's introductory verse to this song is especially catching, almost a melody in itself, while using "for" as a linking word to the chorus that follows.
The song celebrates the Easter parade and events leading up to it, with the main focus on the bonnet with its "frills." An idiomatic expression, "all in clover" means in style. The bridge refers to the street in New York where the Easter parade is held, and ends on a tricky rhyme (you're:rotogravure). "Rotogravure" used to be the word for the photo section of a newspaper.
[verse]
Never saw you look quite so pretty before
Never saw you dressed quite so lovely what's more
I could hardly wait to keep our date this lovely Easter morning
And my heart beat fast as I came through the door
For
[main strain]
In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade
[repeat main strain]
I'll be all in clover and when they look you over
I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter parade
[bridge]
On the Avenue
Fifth Avenue
The photographers will snap us
And you'll find that you're
In the rotogravure
[end of bridge]
[repeat main strain]
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet
And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter parade
YAKETY YAK
MY SONG PRESENTATION is "Yakety Yak," a hit for the doo-wop group The Coasters in 1958.
Doo-wop is a form of Rhythm and Blues with mainly vocal harmonies supporting a lead vocal, with the group singing nonsense syllables in the background, such as "doo-wop"; hence the name (listen to "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," by The Platters, where "doo-wop" can be clearly heard). Although doo-wop was usually in ballad form, such as "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," The Coasters specialized in comic vignettes, or short-short stories in Rock form.
The song gets its name from an idiomatic expression used when someone talks too much or "nags." The husband may tell his nagging wife, "Yakety yak! Stop yakking!"
The song sums up in a few minutes the irritation teenagers feel when their parents nag them about chores or friends.
The lyrics are a capsule of 1950s youth culture that a sociologist might take dozens of pages to describe as well. References are made to Rock 'n' Roll dances, Friday night dates, "talking back," "trash" (garbage), "hip" (wise) fathers, and laundromats.
Using the point of view of the mother, the writer refers to a teenager's chores (scrubbing floors, caring for pets, etc.), using contemporary jargon and idiomatic expressions ("dirty looks," "what cooks," "hip," and "hoodlum friends"). "Dirty looks" are angry looks. "What cooks" means what's happening. A laundromat uses coin-operated clothes washers and dryers. Most teenagers can probably identify with this little vignette even today, half a century later.
Words and music are by Lieber and Stoller, who wrote famous Rock hits in the 1950s, including many for Elvis Presley, such as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Love Me" (not to be confused with "Love Me Tender") and others.
The arrangement is highlighted by a stuttering sax solo by King Curtis, a well-known session player of the time. The solo is a gem and stands repeated hearings. It begins with Curtis's trademark sax stutter 54 seconds into the song.
The solo is a model of simplicity, based on strict repetition or simple sequential patterns (that is, a phrase repeated at different pitch levels). The rhythmic changes add interest to the repetitions.
The refrain ("Yakety Yak" and its answer, "Don't talk back") adds humor and realism to this marvellous vignette of the early Rock era and closes the song nicely with repeats of the title, and the teen's symbolic victory, since he has the final word, which must have pleased teenagers.
Unfortunately the original recording is not available on youtube except in an edited cartoon version that especially mars the solo with sound effects (go here). The song begins several seconds into the cartoon and the solo is barely audible and edited to repeat the opening strain. What sounds like a cover version can be heard here. Though at a faster tempo than the original, it gives an idea what the original sounds like and the solo is intact. Taiwan students can probably easily locate the original.
Doo-wop is a form of Rhythm and Blues with mainly vocal harmonies supporting a lead vocal, with the group singing nonsense syllables in the background, such as "doo-wop"; hence the name (listen to "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," by The Platters, where "doo-wop" can be clearly heard). Although doo-wop was usually in ballad form, such as "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," The Coasters specialized in comic vignettes, or short-short stories in Rock form.
The song gets its name from an idiomatic expression used when someone talks too much or "nags." The husband may tell his nagging wife, "Yakety yak! Stop yakking!"
The song sums up in a few minutes the irritation teenagers feel when their parents nag them about chores or friends.
The lyrics are a capsule of 1950s youth culture that a sociologist might take dozens of pages to describe as well. References are made to Rock 'n' Roll dances, Friday night dates, "talking back," "trash" (garbage), "hip" (wise) fathers, and laundromats.
Using the point of view of the mother, the writer refers to a teenager's chores (scrubbing floors, caring for pets, etc.), using contemporary jargon and idiomatic expressions ("dirty looks," "what cooks," "hip," and "hoodlum friends"). "Dirty looks" are angry looks. "What cooks" means what's happening. A laundromat uses coin-operated clothes washers and dryers. Most teenagers can probably identify with this little vignette even today, half a century later.
Words and music are by Lieber and Stoller, who wrote famous Rock hits in the 1950s, including many for Elvis Presley, such as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Love Me" (not to be confused with "Love Me Tender") and others.
The arrangement is highlighted by a stuttering sax solo by King Curtis, a well-known session player of the time. The solo is a gem and stands repeated hearings. It begins with Curtis's trademark sax stutter 54 seconds into the song.
The solo is a model of simplicity, based on strict repetition or simple sequential patterns (that is, a phrase repeated at different pitch levels). The rhythmic changes add interest to the repetitions.
The refrain ("Yakety Yak" and its answer, "Don't talk back") adds humor and realism to this marvellous vignette of the early Rock era and closes the song nicely with repeats of the title, and the teen's symbolic victory, since he has the final word, which must have pleased teenagers.
Unfortunately the original recording is not available on youtube except in an edited cartoon version that especially mars the solo with sound effects (go here). The song begins several seconds into the cartoon and the solo is barely audible and edited to repeat the opening strain. What sounds like a cover version can be heard here. Though at a faster tempo than the original, it gives an idea what the original sounds like and the solo is intact. Taiwan students can probably easily locate the original.
Take out the papers and the trash
Or you don't get no spending cash
If you don't scrub that kitchen floor
You ain't gonna rock and roll no more
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
Just finish cleaning up your room
Let's see that dust fly with that broom
Get all that garbage out of sight
Or you don't go out Friday night
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
You just put on your coat and hat
And walk yourself to the laundromat
And when you finish doing that
Bring in the dog and put out the cat
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
(KING CURTIS SAX BREAK)
Don't you give me no dirty looks
Your father's hip; he knows what cooks
Just tell your hoodlum friend outside
You ain't got time to take a ride
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak!
Or you don't get no spending cash
If you don't scrub that kitchen floor
You ain't gonna rock and roll no more
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
Just finish cleaning up your room
Let's see that dust fly with that broom
Get all that garbage out of sight
Or you don't go out Friday night
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
You just put on your coat and hat
And walk yourself to the laundromat
And when you finish doing that
Bring in the dog and put out the cat
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
(KING CURTIS SAX BREAK)
Don't you give me no dirty looks
Your father's hip; he knows what cooks
Just tell your hoodlum friend outside
You ain't got time to take a ride
Yakety yak (don't talk back)
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak
Yakety yak, yakety yak!
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