"Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)"

In "Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)," "around" in the line "He never has the time to turn around" is sung with a melisma (C D C A) for a sense of movement, and "so" in the lines "We can only see so far" and "We can only go so far" is sung with a melisma (D E D, I think) for a sense of degree.

"Let's Talk about Me"

I listened to Vulture Culture a couple weeks ago and noticed a handful of things.  In what the APP website credits as "oral rendition" in "Let's Talk about Me," the television station WGN and Wrigley Field are mentioned (in the right channel) in the section starting at ~2:46.  Both of these are in Chicago.

"Dancing on a High Wire"

I'm getting behind in writing about things I'm noticing as I continue to make my way through The Complete Albums Collection box set for a second time.  I listened to Ammonia Avenue on 29 November and noticed a small thing in "Dancing on a High Wire."  In the line "You need to be so sure" at ~3:55, the "sure" is sung with a melisma (G F D), musically giving a sense of degree (for that "so").

In referencing the recording again now, I noticed that some of the "so"s in that recurring line are also sung with a melisma (C D), also for a sense of degree.

"Old and Wise"

After I listened to Eye in the Sky a couple days ago, I learned what I think is a cello part in the introduction of "Old and Wise."  To this, I could add what I think is a flute part, which I learned a couple years ago.  I used mellotron voices for both.

"Children of the Moon"

In the lines "Children, children of the moon watch the world go by" and "Children, children of the moon watch it all go by" in "Children of the Moon," the "by"s are sung with a melisma (F C), musically giving a sense of movement.

"Eye in the Sky"

I listened to Eye in the Sky yester-day and noticed two small things.  In the line "Don't cry; I ain't changing my mind" in "Eye in the Sky," "mind" is sung with a melisma (C# B), so while it's negated, musically there's a sense of that "changing" (from one pitch to an-other).

"No Answers Only Questions"

For some reason, "No Answers Only Questions" popped into my head yester-day.  I remembered only the line "And I carry the burden of the proof" though, so I had to reference the lyrics on the APP website to find out what song it was (at least I remembered it was a song from Vulture Culture [or at least a bonus track on it]).

In looking at the lyrics, I noticed that the verses exhibit anaphora:

Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us lay back, watch the world go by
Some of us fear
Some of us hate
Some of us won't wake up till it's too late

Why do we fight?
Why do we fall?
Why do we stand there, backs against the wall?
Why don't we change?
Why don't we try?
Why don't we turn round, help the other guy?

The first verse has the repeated "Some of us," and the second verse has the repeated "Why do(n't) we."

I also noticed that the structure of the second verse mirrors the sentiment.  The "Why do we"s all ask about negative behaviors, but then there's a change to the "Why don't we"s, which ask about positive behaviors.

"I Don't Wanna Go Home"

I listened to The Turn of a Friendly Card yester-day and noticed a small thing in "I Don't Wanna Go Home."  The "Lookin' up" in the backing vocals at ~1:52 is sung to an ascending melody (E F# G), musically giving a sense of that "up."

"Don't Hold Back"

The last thing I noticed when I listened to Eve recently is in "Don't Hold Back."  In the line "And don't you let a shadow be your guide anymore," the "-more" of "anymore" is sung with a melisma (A B, I think), so while it's negated ("not... anymore"), there's something of a musical sense of continuation.

"Winding Me Up"

When I listened to Eve a couple days ago, I noticed what I think is a recorder part in "Winding Me Up" (from ~2:12 to ~2:41) that I guess I hadn't been fully aware of before.  Recorder isn't listed among the instruments in the "credits" section for Eve on the APP website, but it sure sounds like one in the song.

Here's my recording, with just guitar chords for accompaniment (I doubled-tracked recorder and guitar):

Here's the notation of the recorder part (with - of course - the disclaimer that I might have something wrong):

The day after I listened to the album, I was still thinking about this song, and I realized that in the title line, the "up" is sung to a higher note than the others ("Winding me up" is sung to the phrase E E E G), musically giving something of a sense of its meaning.

In looking at the song again in order to write this post, I also noticed that "too long" is sung with melismas (G E for "too" and E D for "long"), musically giving a sense of degree and of duration, respectively.

"You Won't Be There"

Near the end of "You Won't Be There," in the line "Why are you going anywhere," the three syllables of "anywhere" are each sung to a different pitch (G F# D).  To some degree, this represents musically the breadth of possibility.

"You Lie Down with Dogs"

I listened to Eve last night and noticed a few small things.  In "You Lie Down with Dogs," the repeated "You're fallin'" starting at ~3:19 is sung to descending phrases, musically reflecting that "fallin'."  I'm not sure of the exact notes, but it starts on Ab and the first half is a diatonic descent in F minor (down to Eb, at least).  I think altogether it descends more than an octave down to F.