How Can I not Love You
This transcription is homophonic in nature, with the right hand playing the melody and left hand accompanying with regular quaver beats. There is a rather generous use of tied notes-- where the last quaver of the beat is tied to the first quaver of the next beat. Interestingly enough there are no tied-over notes across the barline.
Verse is made up of S-S-L phrase structure with each phrase beginning on the first beat.
For the chorus, the phrase begins on the last beat of the previous bar. Each phrase has approximately equal length.
LYRICS
Verse I
Cannot touch, Cannot hold, Cannot be together
Cannot love, Cannot kiss, Cannot love each other
Must be strong and we must let go
Cannot say what our hearts must know
Chorus
How can I not love you
What do I tell my heart
When do I not want you here in my arms
How does one walks away
From all of the memories
How do I not miss you when you are gone
HARMONIC PHRASE MODEL
I-----iii-----vi-------IV / iii---IV---iii---vi---V
T----PD---------------------------------------------D
I------iii----vi-----V-----I
T----PD - - - - - - D---- T
vi----V----IV-----vi----IV-----V---I
(T)--D----PD-----------------D-----T
Verse is made up of S-S-L phrase structure with each phrase beginning on the first beat.
For the chorus, the phrase begins on the last beat of the previous bar. Each phrase has approximately equal length.
LYRICS
Verse I
Cannot touch, Cannot hold, Cannot be together
Cannot love, Cannot kiss, Cannot love each other
Must be strong and we must let go
Cannot say what our hearts must know
Chorus
How can I not love you
What do I tell my heart
When do I not want you here in my arms
How does one walks away
From all of the memories
How do I not miss you when you are gone
HARMONIC PHRASE MODEL
I-----iii-----vi-------IV / iii---IV---iii---vi---V
T----PD---------------------------------------------D
I------iii----vi-----V-----I
T----PD - - - - - - D---- T
vi----V----IV-----vi----IV-----V---I
(T)--D----PD-----------------D-----T
What I find interesting about Verse 1...
I noticed that every time the word "cannot" is used, a chord change occurs.
For example: Cannot love/ Cannot kiss/Cannot love each (etc)
This means that the word "Cannot" becomes emphasised due to a new chord being established. Of course, it being at the start of the phrase helps alot too. This emphasis adds on to the meaning of the lyrics as it signifies the determination of the persona to avoid or not do something.
The dominant at the end of Verse I also signals the continuation to the tonic, which happens on the first beat of the Chorus.
What I find interesting in the chorus....
Even though the sections in yellow and the sections in red are both 3 lines each (both also end with perfect cadence), the section in red experiences more chord changes.
As seen from ( vi-V-IV-vi-IV-V-I ), the chords seesaw among chord IV, V and vi before finally going back to I. By linking back to the lyrics, it is easier to see this dragging out of chords as reluctance/difficulty for the persona to walk away from the memories.
It is also interesting that the above section contains (T-D-PD-D-T), a deliberate reversal of the traditional (T-PD-D-T) structure, which we do eventually get to see at the end of the chorus.
This reversal occurs during the lines:
How does one walks away
From all of the memories
Perhaps, to emphasise on the memories which have to be left behind (ie: memories which are at the top of the mind have to be suppressed, reversed and forgotten), the composer of the song had chosen to write it in such a way that even the traditional harmonic phrase structure is reversed.
To conclude, the extract appears to follow the harmonic phrase model structure, and it's only at the end of the chorus when this is tweaked to suit the meaning of the lyrics.
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Post Analysis Thoughts:
P.S: I faced the problem of how I should identify chord iii. I have lumped it under Predominant because it leads towards the predominant. Is this correct? Or should I be lumping it under Tonic? Hmmm.
Post Analysis Thoughts:
P.S: I faced the problem of how I should identify chord iii. I have lumped it under Predominant because it leads towards the predominant. Is this correct? Or should I be lumping it under Tonic? Hmmm.
P.P.S: I am hoping that by color-coding the extract in sections, it will make this analysis slightly more organised. Feedback to me please if it is too blinding/confusing.
P.P.P.S: While analysing this piece, I spotted this in the lyrics "How does one walks away".
Try saying: "How does she jumps down" or "How does he dies" and it might become more apparent how grammatically unsound the phrase "how does one walks away" is...
3 comments:
hey, nice song!
i like the way u talk about the "chords seesaw" around V, vi and IV, implying hesitance. Never thought about it that way. cool!
MT
hey! your partner Joyce here (: nice song u have chosen, oh and yes the colour coding is absolutely fine (:
i agree with you about the homophonic texture. To add on, i feel that it has a peaceful effect due to the small range it has,ie the highest note being the high (x2) c and lowest note being a high d. Also, there are rarely leaps with many passing notes and neighbouring notes to suggest a sense of fluidity. The accompaniment is simple broken chords, but to create rhythmic interest, the last quaver of the beat is being tied to the next quaver.
Melody is rather repetitive with scalic motif such as in bar 1&2 vs bar 5 &6, Bar 11 to 13 vs Bar 15 to 17.
Harmonic progression wise, i personally would lump chord 3 to be under tonic as chord 3 would be sharing 2 same notes(A, C)as the tonic chord. I would suggest it as a tonic expansion. so its from a T-PD. The change from chord 1 to 3 to 6 in between would just serve as a change in mood..from major to minor chords. Just my thought (:
ZQ, not a bad start here. Hope you didn't lose any "clumpfuls of hair".
You are right in identifying the sentence structure in the opening, but note that not all the subsequent phrases have this s-s-l rhythm. Also, if you apply our classical definition of a phrase (i.e. demarcated by a standard tonal cadence), then some of the phrases here don't qualify.
You seem to be aware of a certain degree of unconventionality in the harmonic progression when you speak of "a deliberate reversal" of harmonic-functional syntax; I agree. However, I hear your 'seesaw' passage differently. Hear it again in the context of the melodic phrasing and see if that changes your interpretation.
The issue about chord iii is a little tricky. Joyce does have a point re the common tones (hence justifying iii as tonic in function) but I would not say it's wrong to hear it as predominant in function either. But in the first place, a I-iii progression is not that common (remember the classical preference for roots descending by thirds?). In a I-iii-V progression, for example, I would take iii to be somewhat ambivalent in harmonic function.
Your observation of the grammar 'mistake' is interesting. The singer seems to sing the 's' as well. Not sure who sings this in the movie, could it be the Thai King in his not-so-perfect English?
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