Posts Tagged prosody
Hal David #4…”I’ll Never Fall In Love Again”
Posted by jgarnerprod in Hit Song Analysis, Song Geek on December 21st, 2012
Masters of the singable lyrics, this single of Dionne Warwick’s has been covered by at LEAST 30 other artists.
2 points:
1) “Get enough germs to catch pneuomonia”, always makes me laugh!
2) dovetailing the end of the bridge into the last verse “That is why I’m here to remind you….what do you get when you fall in love…” Brilliant!
Okay, so maybe the “so for at least” gets a little sideways in the prosody department, but otherwise, this is another great example of Hal David’s effortless lyric writing (sounds that way anyway).
Just a few more, and we’ll step away from Hal into new territory.
Until next time…
Hal David #3…”Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”
Posted by jgarnerprod in Hit Song Analysis, Song Geek on November 27th, 2012
This song was such a smash, it was NOT ONLY a #1 for four weeks on Billboard, it also won the Academy award for “Best Original Song”.
Simplicity, prosody, it’s all there.
And let the record show, Ray Stevens turned this song down when he was asked to sing it.
(okay, am I the only guy who wondered what this song had to do with “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” at all?? Truly seemed like a “square into a circle” “cram it in there” job to me)
Until next time…
Hal David #2…”Say a Little Prayer For You”
Posted by jgarnerprod in Hit Song Analysis, Song Geek on November 13th, 2012
You know, at some point in this blog, I’m going to address the sheer INSANITY of Burt Bacharach and his odd metered melodies, particularly in the context of POP music!
But since we’re saluting Hal David here, listen to this chorus from the famed “I Say a Little Prayer For You” and how effortless the words dance over that melody.
No vowel is out of place; every accent lands where you naturally would speak it (“prosody on steroids”, as I spoke in a previous post…).
Lesser men (and women) would fall flat on their faces with this. (Well, maybe just me…)
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to just listen to Aretha. One of a kind…
Until next time…
Hal David-New series…”What the World Needs Now”
Posted by jgarnerprod in Hit Song Analysis, Song Geek on October 30th, 2012
With the passing of the great lyricist Hal David on September 1st of this year, I thought it was time I do a little informal survey of his work.
Pat Pattison can speak on the subject far better than I, but I can say that the prosody that flowed from Hal’s pen against so many Burt Bacharach melodies is simply incomparable.
We’ll start with this sweet classic “What the World Needs Now”, with the one-of-a-kind Dionne Warwick, and go from there.
BTW, I didn’t realize she said “no” to recording it first! It was Jackie DeShannon! Further reminder to not be set back by rejection! 
Until next time…
Prosody on steroids…
Posted by jgarnerprod in Hit Song Analysis, Song Geek on October 26th, 2011
If you’re familiar with the work of Pat Pattison
If you’re not familiar, prosody refers to the rhythmic inflection, or the stress of certain words within your melody. Ideally, your stresses, or emphasis should follow the natural emphasis you make when speaking.
In Steve Leslie’s example above, you would naturally emphasize the “Ti” of “Tiger”, not the “ger” of “Tiger”.
That seems fair enough, until you start writing those blasted songs!
Strangely enough, there countless examples of songs making it onto radio with weird unnatural accents! Once you’ve heard one, it’ll drive you crazy!
So where do we find some great examples of prosody to challenge and inspire us? You gotta go the classics, one of my favorites (pun intended) shown below, by the masters of Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Do you have others? Let me know, and I’ll post them here! Enjoy!
(p.s. find a link to Pat Pattison’s definitive work on lyric writing below!)