"Whatever's Right"

Last night, I figured out the guitar phrase and chords in "Whatever's Right" and noticed a few interesting musical features.

Like the riff in "Last Train to Clarksville," the first two notes of the guitar phrase are Gs an octave apart.  Both songs were written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, so I think this might be an intentional resemblance.

While the song is in G major, there are quite a few chords that contain accidentals:  E major (G# accidental), A major (C# accidental), C minor (Eb accidental), and D minor (F natural accidental).  This disregard of what notes "should" be in G major musically represents the sentiment of the song:  "I know that you'll do whatever's right."

At the end of the line "And even if it doesn't turn out like I planned," the chords change from C major to C minor, which musically demonstrates the feeling of disappointment in that lyric.

"Here Come the Monkees"

A little over a year ago, I was thinking about the song that the Monkees sing in "Here Come the Monkees" in order to help Vanessa Russell study for her history test.  I think the words are:

When Patrick Henry was in Virginia
He made a speech we all recall
He said to the people of a Charlotte town,
"United we stand, divided we fall"

The melody is something like:

What I realized back in March last year is that "divided we fall" is sung to a descending phrase (G G Gb F Eb), musically illustrating that "fall[ing]."  One of the tune's two accidentals occurs in the same phrase, which gives a sense of dissidence.  In the opposite sort of illustration, almost all of "United we stand" is sung to the same pitch (Eb).

"Oh My My" b/w "I Love You Better"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Oh My My" b/w "I Love You Better" - the Monkees' twelfth and final single (Colgems 5011) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (April 1970).  The U.K. release (RCA 1958) was "probably 1970."

"I'll Be True to You"

Earlier this month, I learned about half of the glockenspiel part in "I'll Be True to You" (up to the bridge).  I'd tried to figure it out once or twice before without getting anywhere; the difference this time was that instead of trying to figure it out with a glockenspiel voice on my keyboard, I used an actual glockenspiel.  I got one over the summer.

I added a bit of reverb, but it still sounds more clunky than shimmering.  I've known the guitar chords for about a year and a half, but what I play sounds a bit simplified compared to the original.

"(Theme from) The Monkees"

This morning I was thinking about the theme from The Monkees, and I realized a small thing about the lines "Anytime / Or anywhere."  The syllables of both "anytime" and "anywhere" are all sung to different pitches (C D E for "anytime" and E G A for "anywhere").  Musically, this gives a sense of the breadth of possibility.

The Monkees Present

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, the Monkees' eighth album - The Monkees Present (Colgems COS-117) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (October 1969).  Sandoval doesn't mention a U.K. release.

Side One:

1. "Little Girl"
2. "Good Clean Fun"
3. "If I Knew"
4. "Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye"
5. "Never Tell a Woman Yes"
6. "Looking for the Good Times"

Side Two:

1. "Ladies Aid Society"
2. "Listen to the Band"
3. "French Song"
4. "Mommy and Daddy"
5. "Oklahoma Backroom Dancer"
6. "Pillow Time"

"Good Clean Fun" b/w "Mommy and Daddy"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Good Clean Fun" b/w "Mommy and Daddy" - the Monkees' eleventh single (Colgems 5005) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (September 1969).  The U.K. release (RCA 1887) was "late 1969 or early 1970."

"Saturday's Child"

I was thinking about "Saturday's Child" this morning and realized a small feature in it.  The line "Always feelin' low down" descends (I think it's A A A A F# D), musically giving a sense of that "low down."

"For Pete's Sake"

A couple days ago, I realized something about "For Pete's Sake."  The three syllables of "ev'rything" in the line "It's in ev'rything we do" are sung to three different pitches (A G E, I think).  Musically, this gives a sense of breadth.

"I'll Be Back up on My Feet"

I recently got a copy of The Birds, the Bees, & the Monkees from a used book store, and I finally listened to it to-night.  I noticed a few small things, but I'm going to wait to write about those until I'm more familiar with the album.  Since I'm already fairly familiar with "I'll Be Back up on My Feet" though (because the first recorded version was featured on the show and is included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of More of the Monkees), here are a couple small things I noticed about it.

The line "Lookin' high, I'm lookin' low" contains a merism - a rhetorical device in which two ends of a range are named as a way to refer to the entirety.  So while "high" and "low" are mentioned specifically, the idea is "lookin' all over."

I also noticed that the "high" and "low" are portrayed musically.  "Lookin' high" is sung to notes spanning a sixth:  B B G.  This by itself illustrates the "high," but it's also shown in contrast to "lookin' low," which is sung to notes a whole step lower:  A A F#.

"Counting on You"

The last thing I noticed when I listened to Pool It! recently is in "Counting on You," specifically in the line "Knowing you care after all."  It's a bit ambiguous whether "after all" is used adverbially or not, but the "all" is sung with a melisma (C Bb), so if it's taken in a more straightforward manner, there's something of a musical sense of the entirety of that "all."

"Since You Went Away"

When I listened to Pool It! last week, I noticed an allusion in "Since You Went Away" (which I think I'd noticed before but forgotten about).  I'm not exactly sure how to format it, but the line "Could be the eagle finally has landed" refers to the Apollo 11 moon landing.  The lunar excursion module was named the Eagle, and Neil Armstrong radioed back to mission control that "The Eagle has landed."

When I transcribed a bit of the lyrics this morning in order to write this post, I realized something else:  "since you went away" in the line "Things are much better since you went away" could be temporal or causal.