Just slow down,
Don't forget how to inhale exhale
I am holding your essence
In my sweaty little hand and yet
I am terrified-
Petrified by my constant recklessness.
My sunny disposition
It's who I really am, believe it
Or else you will never know me.
A contradiction unto myself
Is all I have ever been
And more than I ever knew to wish for.
Paradoxical existence has begun to bore me.
Such a florid schism unfolds
Within my physical hemisphere of reason
As the world becomes curiouser and curiouser
My cognition expands like a galaxy
Hastening in perpetuity.
I need to reel it back,
But I covet the gluttony
Of knowledge, a binge on ingenuity
Even while ill, I am compelled to consume it.
By all estimations, I will forever be
Inebriated by your torrid gaze
And indispensable touch.
That I don't find prosaic in the least.
Have I ever been lacking for love?
12 June 2008
Vocal Timbre and Abbey Road
Excerpts from my final paper written in college. I have left out the most technical parts and the charts for the sake of space, but it is a paper I am proud of so I would like to post a few things to give the flavor of the piece.
Paul McCartney’s Exploration of Vocal Timbre on Abbey Road
Timbre is the distinct quality of sound that allows the listener to differentiate musical instruments as well as human voices from one another. The range of tone color a particular instrument is capable of can be employed in the hands of a skilled composer to create a mood and distinct sound image in the ear of the listener. In classical and popular music alike, changes in timbre are often employed to denote the overarching form in a sectional piece and also breathe life into more traditional or “standardized” forms. The Beatles’ Abbey Road album contains examples of how vocal timbre is the most powerful means of expression and storytelling in the music of Paul McCartney. By examining the songs “Oh! Darling” from side one and “You Never Give Me Your Money” from the side two medley with a focus on McCartney’s manipulation of vocal timbre, it becomes apparent that his choices either create the dramatic thrust of these songs within the framework of a simple form, or alternately determine how we see the form of the larger whole....
In the Abbey Road medley, which encompasses “You Never Give Me Your Money” through “The End”, timbre is paramount is defining form and structure, and McCartney’s choices of vocal timbre is the primary means by which the story is told. In combination with textural and timbral changes in the orchestration and production techniques, abrupt changes in vocal sound create contrast and interest. The level of vocal manipulation that McCartney employs in a number of tracks on the album not only helps to denote the form but create it. This use of tone color is in accordance with Stock’s statement that “timbre can be activated primary determinant of musical structure." While discussion of timbre in general is important to the Beatles’ entire catalog, I am focusing primarily on vocal timbre....
The through-composed nature of “You Never Give Me Your Money” lends itself to characterization and storytelling. McCartney skillfully creates moods of contemplation and reverence, alternated with flashback and finally nostalgia via changes in vocal timbre. As the storyteller, McCartney’s vocal characterization is the most important tool of expression in this “movement” of the Abbey Road medley. This by examining the tracks “Oh! Darling” and “You Never Give Me Your Money”, one can see the importance of Paul McCartney’s large range of tone colors. His timbre choices reinforce the character he creates in both songs, and the contrasting tone colors he creates with his voice reinforce the emotional trajectory in the different sections of both songs, therefore delineating form in the ear of the listener. In the music of The Beatles and popular music in general, the focus on timbre as the primary means of analysis reveals a new level of artistry on the part of the composers and performers.
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