Analysis I

Joy Enriquez
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

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.

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...

Joy Enriquez- How can I Not Love You

This song is actually the theme song from Anna and the King (starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fat).

Context: Both Anna and the king have fallen hopelessly in love with each other but...
(cue opening lines of song)

cannot be together because:

How can a yellow-skinned king (who has tons of wives and children already) marry an angmoh governess, whose beliefs are too radical for the urban society of Siam?

*smacks forehead*

At the end of it all, this movie stops just short of transcending racial boundaries and societal norms.. *yawn* Come on !! I remember watching this in the cinema and thinking, "What?? Sad ending? They are not together eventually?? GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY!!"

So, just to remind us that we cannot expect happy endings all the time (like how we always anticipate perfect cadences), I have decided to use this piece for my first analysis!

The analysis is sure proving to be challenging compared to the movie...

Geeking out

Finally, a blog for me to geek out on music and my thoughts on music!

And of course, to submit my music analysis homework (cough-cough)

Just some food for thought, pun intended.. I have spent much of my life avoiding the close scrutiny of "daogeys" (beansprouts) in general, choosing instead to close my eyes, lump them in one pile and swallow them whole. Perhaps, it is time to take a brave step forward and slowly chew upon "daogeys", tasting them right down to the last morsel?


Is it true that "daogeys" when eaten in a clump, add to the taste of the overall dish, but on their own, they are potentially health threatening? We'd see.

Perhaps we won't see a clumpful of "daogeys" but clumpfuls of hair at the end of it all....