Texture: The texture between all the instruments is thick. No one instrument follows or assists the other. The piano embellishes throughout the song, and the drums offer a constant beat, while the saxophone provides a deep tone, and the trumpet gives power and a unique tone.
Range: Very limited vocal range. However the piano covers a large part of the piano, with many scales.
Tempo: Relaxed, and slow but with a movable speed.
Meter: The meter is duple, and allows for one to envision couples slowly dancing at the venue in which this song was performed.
Volume: The song has a medium range. She has a few bursts of louder volume, yet for the most part Holiday remains in a soft projection to encourage a relaxed audience.
Repetition: The song follows the 12 bar blues style. With frequent repetition. The first two verses are both, A, A'(A with different lyrics), B (new notes and lyrics), C(A) (new lyrics to same beat as A), and D. C(A) and D are repeated four times throughout the song. "mama may have, papa may have, But God bless the child that got his own, thats got his own."
Meaning: Holiday is singing about how money will not buy happiness, and friends. Yet she realizes that money is crucial for survival, and so she blesses, "the child that got his own." Holiday was an extremely successful female blues singer and clearly has first hand experience in the troubles that money can bring.
Hmmm -- were her troubles related to an excess of money? Or rather --- the need (and the blessing) for an individual to be able to survive on their own? I'm not sure the meaning is "money does not buy happiness" -- but rather "we've got to be able to make it on our own".
ReplyDeleteCould you talk a little more about the relationship between the singer and the (accompanying instruments), and about Holiday's vocal style/quality?
Thanks for this.