The piece opens with clanking organs and pianos under a simple what sounds like horn melody that for some reason distinctly gives me the feeling of being at sea or listening to the song on a boat. Perhaps it’s the heavy reverbs that make it feel dense, like sea-salt air. The addition of sleigh-bells gives it a cheery feeling. Overall I think feeling is what this song accomplishes, and it is one of a pure love. The sounds and lyrics work to evoke a sentiment the way one would by looking a still picture rather than try to tell a story with characters, plot, and dialogue like you would get from looking at a film.
Perhaps the most striking and memorable moment of the piece is the opening line: “ I may not always love you”. It catches you off guard, the tone so far has implied something more sentimental but this is what you get and it makes one do a double take, somewhere in the vein of “Did he really just say that?” But then any anxiousness is assuaged when we get the rest of the verse and song and realize he’s actually using it to say that he would only stop loving if the world ceased to exist.
Instrumentally, I noticed that the instruments seem to change and drop in and out with nearly every change of section but somehow this did not seem to interrupt the songs flow or energy for the most part. Except there was one part that seemed a little of kilter—the little instrumental bridge between the verses—but maybe just because it is the only time the rhythm is really broken up and the continuous quarters seem lost.
Finally, I have to talk about the chorus. It’s amazingly simple in every respect; it’s just one line, but its length is inversely proportional to how much it can mean: “God only knows what I’d be without you”. And by the time the end of the song finishes with a round on that line, it is stuck permanently in your head for the rest of the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment