The Melody Lingers On: No Rhyme Nor Reason
Tony Thornton detests the moronic melody lines, repetitive phrases and almost-rhymes in most of today's popular music. In this brilliantly tuneful column he compares the music of the vintage years, when songwriters worked hard to perfect rhyme and melody, to the products of today's scribblers.
I recently received a complimentary e-mail from Pete Farrell who asked if there was any chance of my ‘organising a revolt against today's music industry’. Well, I don’t think it would do any good even though I do detest most of today’s popular music. I weary of the monotonic melody lines and the repetitive phrases. But most of all I hate the almost-rhymes.
Here’s an example from Noel Gallagher of Oasis.
She’s electric
She’s in a family full of eccentrics
She done things I never expected
And I need more time
She’s got a sister
God only knows how I’ve missed her
On the palm of her hand is a blister
And I need more time
Leaving aside the pathetic sister/missed her/blister rhyme, you can only gulp at the incompetence of the first three lines. But the almost rhymers have a neat solution. When Oasis sing the song it comes out as:
She’s electri
She’s in a family full of eccentri
She done things I never expecti
By comparison, here is a lyric by Lorenz Hart that is crammed with perfect rhyme and aliteration.
I’m wild again, beguiled again
A wimpering, simpering child again
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I.
Eric Maschwitz wrote These Foolish Things, a song that contains imagery that remains matchless.
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
Those stumblin' words that told you what my heart meant
A fairground's painted swings
These foolish things remind me of you
And the heartbreaking:
Oh how the ghost of you clings...
This is said to be the greatest-ever line, but for me it was Cole Porter who produced that. In Every Time We Say Goodbye, the line is:
But how strange the change from major to minor...
Not only do the words work well, the line is also a metaphor for ‘being together and then being apart’. At the same time the music changes from a major to a minor chord. This is exquisite perfection.
The most audacious rhyme ever was pulled off by Cole Porter in the song You’re The Top. To rhyme with... The nose of the great Durante (Jimmy) ... he inverted the title of the 15th century epic poem and wrote... You’re Inferno’s Dante!
These fine songwriters worked endlessly to perfect their rhymes. Today’s scribblers slap down any old thing. Sadly, they have lost both their rhyme and their reason.
