The Music of Language (Cont.)

In the Wall Street Journal last week there was a piece about the history behind The Talking Heads' Burning Down the House track. This was a "music-first" situation, where the music drives the language, as well as the meanings (if any) that can emerge from it.

When I write songs alone, I start with text fragments in the form of titles, single lines, phrases, or interesting couplets. If I have a rhythm idea, I can easily map a dummy lyric over it, then actually use the dummy lyric or swap it out with something else. If someone supplies the lyric, I find the music in it first (lines that are rhythmic, tempo, mood) then proceed from there. Sometimes I go through existing music ideas and try to sing the words over it. It may be possible to use any text and scan it to find words and phrases that fit rhythmically.

Recently I'd been re-listening to Andy Partridge's song 'experiments'--one very quirky, yet very compelling--Living in Another Cuba.

The word "Cuba" starts on a downbeat. Starting on an upbeat is Cu-BA. No one says "I had a chance to take a trip to Cu-BA". Partridge sings it by melismatically lengthening the first syllable Cu________________, then sings an explosive BA! on the upbeat of the 4th beat.

I'm the type of writer that sings only if he has to. But now I understand how the quality of words is not just their meaning but some are just more fun to sing or manipulate rhythmically, like Cu-BA!

After writing last week's post, I was thinking about and pronouncing the word "echt", I realized it is a very percussive word and is also an oronym, where one syllable gets tacked on the beginning of the next: E-chta-mer-i-can. Interestingly, it is also a homonym as "act" American, i.e. be authentically American--which is what "echt" means.

An interesting rhythm emerged which could potentially be the rhythm that drives a piece of music, and I actually wrote it down. Ultimately I may not use that phrase, but the music wouldn't have been possible without it.

Life in Cuba is probably better in some ways.