Discussing and Writing About Swing Arrangements of Tin Pan Alley Songs

Swinging Tin Pan Alley

Ta: Joanna Rockwell

To participate in discussion, read the following, including the instructions in the “DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT” below— and then click on “Post New Entry” above (login to see the button) to submit your post.

The songs found in the playlists “Kansas City and New York Swing” and “Swinging the Tin-Pan Alley” are characteristic of a great synthesis in music history: new heights in the modern theatrical culture of American songwriting, influenced by Tin-Pan Alley, and the highly evolved state of swing in the (post-depression) 1940s and later.

In the 30s, Tin-Pan Alley songwriters like Cole Porter, and Harold Arlen, and other composers like Duke Ellington, sought to provide a way to resonate with their listeners’ increasingly modern lives, and sometimes to provide a means of escape.  Lawrence Levine’s “American Culture in the Great Depression” (1985) describes a nation affected by anxiety, impatience for social change, and strange elements of passivity and complacency.

But from Stowe’s (1998) chapter “Tempo of the Time,” we begin to see that in the middle of 1930s, musical culture began to reflect a sea-change. The creative seriousness of Chick Webb, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and others transformed the pop-culture success story of early jazz into something widely recognized as America’s classical music. 

Once the 1930s was nearing a close, American culture found itself emerging confidently on a global stage, but many of the same anxieties persisted, as working-class and especially black working-class Americans were far from escaping the Depression, and World War II became a reality that struck American communities personally and directly. As always, audiences yearned for songs that could give them a sense of identity or place in the world, and sometimes sought means of distraction from the troubles or complexities of everyday life. Musicians of the swing era accommodated their audiences in both ways, sometimes through a distant world of glamour and leisure, familiar to the Tin-Pan-Alley aesthetic, but other times through a more immediate or powerful engagement with “universal” human emotions about love and Romantic intrigue.

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DISCUSSION (Due October 29 — or submit by October 25 at noon to get TA guidance toward an essay): Choose one recording from the “Swinging Tin-Pan Alley” playlist and analyze what you hear in detail. Treat two elements of the song separately. 

(1) Arrangement: What is the form of the song, and how would you describe the difference between one part of the form and another? Does the arrangement of the song, in both its melody and accompaniment, help to articulate the song’s basic composition? How do the layers of instruments contribute your sense of the song as a dynamic, changing expression? 

(2) Interpretation: How do the elements discussed in (1) above contribute to your sense of the song’s overall meaning? Do changes in instrumentation support, or detract, from the melody and lyrics? How?

Overall, your thoughts should address how what the different instruments play provoke different feelings in the music. Try to pick out a few instruments you hear (for now, don’t worry to much if you name them incorrectly) and share what feelings they contribute to the song.

Your thoughts, in about 150-250 words, should be posted to this webpage, by clicking on the “create new post” button on the upper left corner. (You’ll have to login to see it.)

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ESSAY (Due October 29 — if you choose to write an essay in this unit): For your assignment, select two of the following songs: [from the “Swinging Tin Pan Alley” playlist —] “It’s All Right With Me,” “I got rhythm,” or “Stormy Weather” performed by Lena Horne ; [from the “Kansas City and New York Swing” playlist — ]
 “I Ain’t Got Nothing but the Blues” performed by Ella Fitzgerald, “Do Nothing till You Hear From Me,” or “Solitude” performed with the Duke Ellington orchestra.

Consider your own visceral responses to the role of arrangement, rhythm, and form in these two recordings. How does the arrangement in each recording affect your experience as a listener? You should think about aspects of the music such as tempo, lyrics, and how listeners might be affected differently by the roles of different instruments, in different parts of the form. What do the instruments seem to be saying? Do the lyrics correspond to the feeling of the melody and instrumentation? Or do the lyrics seem to contrast the orchestration? Try to be as specific as possible about how the instrumentation changes throughout the song. Feel free to uncover other versions of the same song, using web resources, in order to get a sense of how this  arrangement differs from the core identity of the song.

Your essay, in the form of a post to the Swinging Tin Pan Alley Essays page, is due on October 29 at noon.  It should be about 600-800 words long.  Double-check your facts, and proof your work to make sure your peers will understand your argument and your ideas.  Please write clearly and concisely — big ideas count more than big words.

When you are done, please take time read your peers’ posts and essays, compare and contrast your thoughts, and continue discussion.

Update on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 1:00 PM by JordanKungGunion

Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s “Cheek to Cheek,” begins with a piano which is soon accompanied with a light drum percussion as Louis Armstrong begins to sing.  This track has a very uprising and upbeat sound and meaning to the words.  Armstrong and Fitzgerald are in “heaven” which is the immediate hint that it is a happy song that coinsides and complements the happy tune and instrumental sounds. When listening to this recording, it appears to me it consists of AABBCA.  I found it somewhat difficult to determine this configuration but by listening to the instruments I found that I was able to hear differences that I was not as easily able to hear through the singing of Armstrong and Fitzgerald.  The piano begins with a simple sequence which is A and as Armstrong continues the piano no longer follows the same tune (B) and again changes (C) but then comes back around to A.  The piano, drums, and trumpet all play an uprising tune which accompanies the singing very well.

Billie Holiday's Easy to Love by Duke Ellington

Unit 2 discussion of Billie Holiday’s “You’d be to Easy to Love”

The song starts out with the piano and maybe a bass. The prevalent instrument is the saxophone while the piano plays in the background. The saxophone’s melody plays the same notes through out the song while Billie is singing. But improvisation is the best part of the song; the saxophone’s solo was different from the same notes being played at the background of the words. The saxophone was hitting high and low pitches to create a different tone for the improvisation. Billie Holiday’s voice is mellow and not over powering. The layering of the saxophone over the piano presents a good tone so there’s not a lot of rhythm going on, non-chaotic rhythms. I think the song is very limited to two instruments and mellow voice because it’s represents the life of people during the Great Depression. The voice presents the passivity of society at that time; the voice isn’t confrontational or hostile. The lyrics are romanticized with feelings of love towards a man that doesn’t want the woman, a typical love story that entertained people. In this generation, the songs provided comfort, leisure, or escape for people in poverty or unemployed. Often the songs projected the universal human emotions by romanticizing the economic decline thus providing temporal escape for the working class passive people.

Lena Horne's "It's All Right With Me"

In this swing song, Horne tells the story of meeting a man while trying to forget a former lover and the clash between her new feelings and her old memories. I believe the form of this song is AA’BA. The B section is separated differently by breaks and breaths than the A lines. The song is very upbeat. While this does portray the excitement of meeting a new suitor, it does not portray the struggle the narrator is feeling between her old love and her new love. Horne does say that her new feelings are all right with her but she still recognizes that this man is not her old love and that this feels slightly wrong but the rhythm does not portray that. At the end of the song, when Horne invites the man to see her if he is ever free, the instruments climax along with the lyrics and give the listener an accurate image of what is occurring in the lyrics. The instruments in no way detract from the lyrics or melody. In the beginning of the song, each line is emphasized with a trumpet (?) sound that adds drama to what Horne is saying. Horne gives in to her new suitor as the song progresses and the instruments become less dramatic and more upbeat with this progression. Overall the lyrics, melody, and accompaniment work well together to express Horne’s feelings although there is some clash of feeling in the lyrics that is not expressed in the instrumentals of the song.

Lena Horne's "It's All Right With Me"

  The form Lena Horne’s “It’s All Right With Me”  is AA’BA. The B section consists of a higher pitch and more breaks in the line. The first verse of the song begins with one trumpet and then each line it adds another trumpet- first line, one trumpet; second line- two trumpets,etc. The song tells the story of a women who is  excited by a new love interest but torn because she is trying to forget her old lover. She uses lines such as, “Though your face is charming, it’s the wrong face” to illustrate the  struggle that she is faced with. The songs melody is upbeat which parallels the excitement of a new lover but does not portray the internal struggle she is dealing with.However it is interesting that when she talks about parts about her new lover being “wrong” the pitch is lower with more breaks or variation in the tone of her voice.  In the last verse the instruments begin to pick up which parallels the decision that the women has made,accepting her new lover. Near the end of the song the instruments become more fluid with less breaks and pitch changes. The song shows the journey of the women in the beginning she has mixed feelings between her old and new lover. This is illustrated in the song by its shift from breaks in the fluidity of the instruments and tone of the singers voice to an overall upbeat resolution in the last verse. 

Billie Holiday- "Solitude"

The trumpet starts the beginning of the song with a dreamy and soft, yet sad melody. The upbeat and classy tune played in the background by the piano is used to uplift the mood of the song. However, Billie Holiday’s solemn voice and the lyrics of song, which are about loneliness, make “Solitude” a slow-paced and jazzy swing song. The form of the song is ABA’B’.  The difference between the forms is the way Holiday sings the lyrics. In A, the tone of her voice can be described as sad. In B, the tone of her voice changes to more upbeat, most likely because of the spoken word lyric. The difference between each form and their prime is that the spoken word lyric is different. The piano and trumpet’s solo in the middle of the song starts to change the tempo, and for the remainder of the song, the instruments become louder. Spoken word lyrics become more common towards the end of the song, and the finishing melody is optimistic.

In the beginning of the song, the instruments support the lyrics, creating a poignant vibe. After the first stanza, the presence of spoken word becomes more common, adding spontaneity because of the fact that it breaks out of the initial impression of the song. The instrument solo makes the song more sanguine, which detracts from the gloominess of the lyrics. When I heard the first part of the song, I was overcome by sadness, but towards the middle of the song, my feelings for the narrator became more optimistic, despite the lyrics. Overall, the song can be considered heartbreaking, mostly because of the lyrics.

Frank Sinatra: “I Get a Kick Out of You” by Cole Porter

Frank Sinatra’s rendition of Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick out of you” relies heavily on Sinatra’s voice and the accompanying instruments are more understated in the background.  Although they do provide emphasis in particular points of the song where the instruments increase volume and punctuate the lyrics.  The accompaniment mainly consists of piano, trumpet, string instruments drums and an electric guitar.  Generally, after every line of lyrics that Sinatra sings the horns or drums jump up in a small burst to accentuate the last lyric sung.  The layering of piano with the horns over it creates a dynamic tone which holds the rhythm thought the song. The changes in the instruments support the melody and lyrics by framing them with short bursts of louder accompaniment.  Generally speaking the overall sound of Sinatra singing the lyrics and the accompanying instruments playoff each other well to create a multi-leveled dynamic sound.

 

"Cheek to Cheek" with Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald

The piece “Cheek to Cheek” with Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald starts out with the piano and then the drums start in. As Armstrong sings the bass joins in with the piano and the drums. About halfway through Fitzgerald starts to sing and is accompanied by what sounds like a trumpet along with the previously mentioned instruments. The accompaniment for Fitzgerald is different from the one with Armstrong. Armstrong’s sounded fairly simply like something you would just tap your feet too. The music accompanying Fitzgerald sounds louder, a little more complex, and seems to build up as she sings until her and Armstrong are singing together. Armstrong’s voice is rougher than Fitzgerald’s, but it contrasts her voice well. The lyrics talk about how even climbing the highest peaks in the world does not give the speaker as much a rush as dancing cheek to cheek with their lover. The music accompanying the lyrics sounds like heaven because of the softness of the instruments. The instruments used in this piece compliment the strong voices chosen to sing. The piece is definitely swinging because anyone that listens has to tap his or her foot or sway along to the music.

 

Andrew Sisters- Bei Mir Bist du Schoen

     The Andrew Sister’s recording of the song “Bei Mir Bist du Schoen” is a part of the songwriting style of Tin Pan Alley. The song’s melody is A A’ B C pretty consistenly throughout the song. The band that accompainies the Andrew Sisters sounds like a normal swing band with a rythm section as well as a brass section. During the verses the up right bass and drums hold a steady beat while the Sisters sing. During the chorus the brass section plays a more prominent role in interescting musically with the singers. The trumpet and trombone both have a prominent role in the song. Near the end of the song it sounds almost as if the singers and the trumpet are having a back and forth conversation. The singer sings and then the instrument plays as a response. This leads to a solo, but I do not believe it is an improvised solo.

     The song is about one person trying to express through various languages how great another person is. The song is pretty upbeat which adds to the joyful feeling of the song. The call and response between the instruments and the singers may represent a conversation between the people in the song.

"Solitude"By Billie Holiday

            “Solitude” by Billie Holiday is a song that portrays a soft and sad melody with the lyrics of loneliness and regret. The song is in the form ABA’B’ which every A being in a sad tone and with every B being in a normal tone. Just based on the lyrics alone one can see the difference between A and B with A being once again sad and B being uplifting. The instruments in the song is what makes the song calm and it is easy to follow her voice and message since the instruments are not clutter, even with having layers of different instruments.  

            Each instrument does a different part in the song from the piano to the trumpet. The piano is able to give a clamming background which is providing as a response to Holiday’s voice, the uplift of the song. The drum set is keeping the easy, calm, and steady tempo of the song. The instruments whether it’s while she is singing or when they are doing a solo, the instruments are backing up Billie Holiday with the melody of a soft dream with a harsh reality (the harsh reality of having to be alone without your loved one).

Update on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 10:10 AM by Lynne Lu

Simply listening to the melody, I do not think this song is that sad.  Especially with the clarinet and I assume the trumpet or cornet, seem to forecast hope.  The piano and the saxophone match her voice encouraging her to be sad, but the clarinet and cornet seem to be suggesting that her love will be sent back to her.  I looked up the lyrics to clarify what she was trying to say, because the melody seemed too hopeful to be about something so sad.

Lena Horne-"I Got Rhythm"

Lena Horne’s recording of the song, “I Got Rhythm” is in the form AABA.  During the A parts of the song Lena Horne is singing the melody only with a drum set playing the beat in the background and trumpets playing a little melody quietly accentuating what she is singing.  When the B section starts with the words, “Old man trouble, I don’t mind him…” the wind instruments come into the accompaniment and add to the melody that she is singing.  The recording changes expression after the first verse sung by Horne.  Up until this point the music has been very quiet in the background but now all of the instruments, most noticeably the trumpet come in and play the melody of the first verse.  The band plays the melody with a pumped up and energetic volume, changing the song to a more exciting pace.

            The strong instrumentation adds to the meaning of the song by exemplifying the carefree attitude that Horne is singing about.  She is singing about having rhythm and a man being all she could ask for, alluding to the happy-go-lucky nature of the accompaniment.  The change in the instruments supports the lyrics because the loud music that is easy to tap a foot to exemplifies the lyrics about having rhythm and having fun dancing.  

Lena Horne "It's Alright with Me"

In the song “It’s alright with Me” Lena Horne expresses the internal struggle one may experience when meeting someone new when your you still miss a previous lover. She wishes this new man was someone else, however settles for him because she is still attracted to him. The lyrics present a bittersweet tone, switching from being happy to have met this man to missing her old love. The instruments create an exciting and lively feel, that comes off as seductive as her low pitch and steady melody of her voice match the entrancing lyrics. The spirited tone of the music does not match the possible regret the lyrics seem to poses, however it sets the mood as one that someone could be seduced into a possibly lustful and regrettable situation with. The lyrics, melody, and instrumental background music remain supportive of each other, as the tone shifts throughout the song.

Fred Astaire: Cheek to Cheek

Fred Astaire song “Dancing Cheek to Cheek” that is preformed with Ginger Rogers is a beautiful and engaging song about a man explaining his happiness and love for a woman.  The songs content already strengthens the connection with its listeners by using the topic of love, something that anyone can relate to.  The instruments throughout the song match the lyrics well, in a slow tune without many of the loud brass instruments. The song seemed to have an unusual form, which gives it complexity when played.  This melody truly reflects its “heavenly” lyrics by using many different soaring notes.  There also seemed to be many dramatic downward leaps throughout the piece, not necessarily used to convey sadness, but to build a kind of intensity.

The song is also a wonderful example of a song in the Tin Pan Alley play list that was meant to “distract” from the everyday troubles.  This song came around in the 1930’s during the tough days of the depression and provided its listeners with an escape to see how the “other half lived”.

Accentuating the Positive

        The song “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” sung by Bing Crosby and the Andrews sisters has the form AABA’. This is clear because Crosby sings the A parts and the Andrew sisters sing the B part, altering the length of the A lines to shorter and quicker lines. The Andrew Sisters’ parts are also emphasized with a quick blast of what sound to me like trumpets, giving a punch to their lines. Otherwise, Crosby’s lines have a feeling of consistency and stableness; the instruments behind Crosby sound more like background music rather than showcasing their sounds. During the Andrews sisters’ parts, the song gains a feeling of excitement, as if the instruments are eager to play and be heard as well. The song feels like it progresses over time and can be broken down into different parts. After Crosby sings his last set of three lines and begins to almost speak “No do not mess with Mister In-between, do you hear me?” the song picks up speed and the piano begins to signal the change of rhythm. At this part, Crosby and the Sisters switch their sets of lines that they previously sang, also echoing each other’s parts.

            The song’s arrangement, with a specific rhythm and change in instrumental harmony and rhythm helps to express the song’s basic composition. Because of the changing instrumental harmony, the expression of the song changes, changing the song into a more lighthearted and exciting tune; the singers almost mock their own lyrics. The change of instrument seemed to emphasize the laughing matter of the lyrics to me. However, this is characteristic of Tin Pan Alley songs, for the songs are supposed to allow the reader to escape and enjoy the song.

 

Frank Sinatra's, "I get a Kick out of You"

While Frank Sinatra’s “I get a Kick out of You” begins with a slow, dramatic, melancholy feel to it, the entire feeling of the song changes when he begins to sing about the one he loves. When the song begins, Sinatra begins almost immediately to sing of his sad story, with slow and soft piano accompanying and contributing to the overall darkness in mood. However, at the lines, “Then i suddenly turn and see your fabulous face” all of the other instruments join in and the tempo increases with a quick steady beat. These instruments include violins, saxophones, trumpets clarinets, drums and it also sounds like there are trombones creating the undertones of the song. It is in this section where it begins to sound happy and joyful. Although the form of the song is difficult to project since there are different forms in the beginning section and the rest of the song, my guess would be that it is AA’B. However, it sounds like this may not be steady throughout the entire song. The song has a bit of irony of it, as both the singing and the instruments give off a happy feel even when he is saying that the one he is singing about does not adore him back. However, the lyrics themselves help to convey the notion that this is a fun, playful song and that what makes him the happiest is just seeing her. The melody is divided into different verses with similar but not identical tunes, many lined with syncopated rhythms in order to to accentuate some of the lyrics. Most lines are followed by a brief burst of saxophone, trumpet and perhaps clarinet which add an upbeat aspect to the song, making it a fun sounding song that’s
easy to listen to. 

Fred Astaire's "Cheek to Cheek"

The version of “Cheek to Cheek” with Fred Astaire (dancing with Ginger Rogers) has an AA’BBC form. The song is very light and is played almost sweetly until the C section where Fred Astaire claims “Dance with me! I want my arm about you”. This section seems demanding, but also has a certain desperation to it, as if the only thing keeping him going is being with his girl. Because the lyrics state “the cares that hung about me through the week seem to vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak,” dancing with this girl could be what’s keeping him going and allowing him to forget all his troubles.  

In the portion of the song where Astaire stops singing, he and Rogers begin their more complex dance number. The brass section of the band steps out of what was originally more of an accompanying role and becomes a dominant force. After the crescendo into the brass interlude that signified the change to dancing without vocals, the saxophones and the clarinets alternate playing the melody. The points which the brass come in strongly and accentuate the melody is returning to the C part of the song which drives home the idea that this part of the song is meaningful and demanding.

Frank Sintara's "I Get a Kick out of you"

Frank Sinatra’s singing of Cole Porter’s “I Get a Kick out of you” is intricately layered in its melody and its accompaniment creating a playful sound. The song begins with Sinatra’s incredible voice and piano in the background, introducing the song with a different rhythm than the one used for the rest of the song. Just as we think that the music will continue on this sad path, we receive a note from the string section, informing us that the beginning was simply there to throw us off. The string section is then joined by a percussion instrument, giving us the more upbeat rhythm known throughout the rest of the song. The brass section is hardly heard at all, except to accent Sinatra’s pauses in the song, making the song more playful, and helping the melody along when there are no lyrics. The percussion and brass section are there to make the form more interesting.

            Aside from the beginning of the song, the melody is quite upbeat, this helped greatly from the brass sections short spurts and the pianos “light” feeling. While some might say that this does not really match the tone of the song because Sinatra’s love interest “does not adore him,” I interpret Sinatra’s tone and his lyrics as playful, much like the instruments. I sense that Sinatra has a sense of humor about his unluckiness. I feel this is exhibited by his statements like “I get no kick from champagne” and “Some they may go for cocaine… I’m sure that if I took even one sniff it would bore me terif-fically too.” The playfulness of the brass section, especially, allows me to interpret Sinatra’s tone not as melancholic, but almost self-deprecating.

Lena Horne, "I Got Rhythm"

Lena Horne’s “I Got Rhythm” song form sounded like AA’AB. The song begins with muted trumpets playing short staccato notes to accent rhythm of the song. Once Horne starts singing, the listener can hear snaps accompanying her, which are also used to emphasize and strengthen her theme: rhythm. The B section of the song begins with “old man trouble…” which is where the rest of the accompaniment joins in, providing some fluidity and layering of sounds. The trumpets are still playing mainly staccato, but also incorporating short phrases to parallel the fluid feeling the piano provides. When Horne begins singing, “I got starlight…” the trumpets fade out and the piano and percussion becomes her main accompaniment.

After this verse, and throughout the rest of the song, there are short instrumentals, where the instrument layering becomes more noticeable, the trumpets being the loudest. Layering keeps the rhythm upbeat and the predominant part of the song. Having occasional instrumentals and specific instruments (piano, percussion and trumpet) allows the listener to experience a first-hand sense of rhythm. These instruments make the listener want to snap their fingers, or tap their foot, the exact emotion that Horne wanted to evoke from her listener (hence the song title, “I Got Rhythm”). Without these instruments, the vibe of the song may have changed, and the listener may not have been as excited or engaged, therefore losing all sense of “the rhythm.” Overall, the instruments provide the sense of rhythm, emphasizing the theme of Horne’s song. 

Solitude by Billie Holiday

The song “Solitude” by Billie Holiday is a depressing song about a lost loved one.  Holiday sings her feelings where the audience can feel the emotion of loosing someone they love and the consequences it comes with. When I heard her sing, I could imagine how the person would feel when they lost their love one. The emotions could relate to anyone and she sang the song whole heartedly with sadness. The song describes depressed stance where she misses her love and “prays to the Lord” he comes back to her. The format of the song seems to be in an A’BA’BA form where the A verse is followed by a piano background and the B with a saxophone. Both instruments play a sad tune to accompany the singer’s emotions towards the song. The saxophone and piano fit in well to the slow tempo song which creates a smoothing melody to listen to. This song is slower and soft compared to other songs in the section which had an upbeat tune. I also heard a trumpet which plays softly throughout which tuned in well with the piano and saxophone.  In my opinion I felt as if the beginning was dramatic to introduce the sad song to the audience. The intro had a mixture of tunes ranging from the soft piano to a solo from the saxophone which created a feel of what the melody was going to be like. All the notes were low and not high that corresponded well with the slow and depressing song.  

 

Ac-Cent-Tuchu-Ate The Positive

There are clear elements of impersonation and imitation in this song. After listening to Louis Armstrong’s version of “Cheek to Cheek” it is hard not to notice Bing Crosby’s imitation of his classic vocal improvisations and unique tone. Crosby pronounces “Elim-INE-ate” at one point, enunciating every syllable like Armstrong does. He follows this with ““No, do not mess with Mister In-Between” in an improvisation-imitating voice.

About halfway through the song, the tempo speeds up and the high pitch piano is highlighted as one of the female singers sings “Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear/About the eliminatin’ of the negative,” sounding as if she is impersonating someone (possibly a teacher speaking to children.) After this change in tempo, there is a greater sense of freedom in the singing. They invoke a call and response format, for example Crosby calls, “Well illustrate!” expressing encouragement as he says, “You’ve got the floor.” The Andrews Sisters and Crosby also begin to sing all at once. This freedom invites the listener to sing along.

I Got Rhythm

For this assignment I chose the song “I Got Rhythm,” performed by Lena Horne. This song was a favorite of mine growing up because of Horne’s unique voice and the upbeat confidence of the song. In this tune, she emphasizes that all we need to enjoy ourselves is music, natural beauty, and love.

She uses the common AA’AB within each verse, but if you look at the verses as a whole, she uses the common AA’BA form to give the song forward motion, with B calling for a return to A and A working as the jumping off point into the next section of the song.

I got rhythm [A]
I got music [A’]
I got my man [A] [[A]]
Who could ask for 
anything more? [B]

I got daisies [A]
In green pastures [A’]
I got my man [A] [[A’]]
Who could ask for 
anything more? [B]

Old man trouble, 
I don’t mind him [[B]]
You won’t find him 
‘round my door.

I got starlight [A]
I got sweet dreams [A’]
I got my man [A] [[A]]
Who could ask for 
anything more? [B]

The instruments start off very soft, with a trumpet clear in the background, but the sound starts growing at the line “Old man trouble” and the instruments are at full volume at the beginning of the next verse. The upbeat instrumentation in the background compliments the carefree nature of Horne’s singing. This part of the song is also where Horne begins throwing a lot more attitude into her voice. Throughout the piece, she places a lot of emphasis on the words “I got” and she breaks in between the two words and then finishes the rest of the line without pause. I. Got. My man.

The simple steps of the bass, paired with the smooth, jazzy flow of the piano really help Horne get across her message of rhythm and simple enjoyment. And when she ends the song with that long belt and the strong horn section, we really are able to feel her joy at life and understand the meaning of the lyrics.

Update on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 11:50 AM by AlyssaYoung

Also, I remember talking about hip hop remixes in class once and I came across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSeMLE2XMNg