"The Tell-Tale Heart"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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I listened to Tales of Mystery and Imagination this morning, and I noticed that the bass part during the third part of "The Tell-Tale Heart" has a rhythm that evokes the heartbeat that the narrator of Poe's story and the singer of the song hear.  (This is not the most interesting audio example; it's pretty much just a minute of C notes, but the rhythm is the salient point.)

Last May, while doing a different project, I noted how the ABA form of the piece goes well with the mental states of the speaker/singer, but including that heartbeat rhythm makes it even better.  This isn't the only instance of a lyrically-conscious bass part on the album either; the bass part in "The Raven" has a three-note phrase that's apparently meant to resemble the three syllables of "nevermore."