Melody
Entry for EPMOW by Philip Tagg
melody, from Greek melos (meloV = a song, or the music to which a song is set) and ode (wdh = ode, song, poem): [1] a monodic tonal sequence, accompanied or unaccompanied, perceived as a musical statement with distinct rhythmic profile and pitch contour (see monody, parallel intervals, homophony); [2] the monodic musical foreground to which accompaniment and harmony are, at least within most popular music traditions of Europe and the Americas, understood as providing the background; [3] all such monodic tonal sequences and/or aspects of musical foreground within one complete song (e.g. ‘Auld Lang Syne is a popular Scottish melody’).
It should be noted in the latter case that mélodie, Melodie, melodia, melodi (French, German, Latin and Scandinavian languages respectively) can in popular parlance sometimes denote the entirety of any tune or song (including lyrics and accompaniment) in which melody, defined according to [1] and [2] above, is a prominent feature.
1. Defining parameters
1.1. General characteristics of popular melody
1.2. Metaphorical nomenclature
2. Melodic categorisation
2.1. Structural
2.2. Experiential
1 Defining parameters
1.1 General characteristics of popular melody
It is difficult to be precise or consistent about which characteristics constitute melody since its definition according to [1] and [2] above are contingent on cultural consensus. Nevertheless, the following parameters, most of them documented by Stefani and Marconi (1992: 13-24), seem to determine what is more likely to be popularly understood, at least within a mainstream European or American context, as typically melodic about a monodic tonal sequence:
• easy to recognise, appropriate and to reproduce vocally;
• perceptible as occupying durations resembling those of normal or extended exhalation (the ‘extended present’, i.e. consisting of melodic phrases lasting between about two and ten seconds);
• delivered at a rate ranging from that of medium to very slow speech;
• generally articulated with rhythmic fluidity and unbroken delivery of tonal material within one sequence: legato rather than staccato;
• distinctly profiled in terms of pitch (melodic contour) and rhythm (accentuation, metre, relative duration of constituent events);
• delivered with relative regularity and metric articulation of breathing;
• relative simple in terms of tonal vocabulary;
• exhibiting tendency to change pitch by intervallic step rather than leap;
• spanning rarely more than one octave.
In other words, a monodic tonal sequence is less likely to be considered melodic if it is not clearly tonal, if it is difficult to appropriate and reproduce, if it is too long or too short, if its constituent notes are delivered too fast, if it consists of no more than one or two very long notes, if it is broken up into very short units consisting of just one or two notes, if there is little or no metrical regularity between phrases, if it exhibits no clear tonal or rhythmic profile, if it is too chromatic, contains too many large intervallic leaps or covers too large a pitch range. Indeed, it is for the following reasons that monodic sequences of the following types, even though they may exhibit some important melodic traits, are less likely than nursery rhymes, folk tunes or jazz standards to be considered melodic: rap or hip-hop declamation and Sprechgesang because of unclear tonal articulation, recitative because of irregular metricity, riffs because they are too short. Even so, some riffs are more singable than the melodic lines they accompany (e.g. the ‘verse’ parts of Satisfaction (ex. 1), Layla (ex. 2) and Hoochie Coochie Man (Waters)), while some literally monotonous monodic sequences of tones still qualify as melody (e.g. the verse parts of Samba de una nota só (ex. 3), Un homme et une femme (Lai) and Subterranean Homesick Blues (Dylan)). Moreover, important sections of some well known melodies are based on little more than repetitions or sequential variations of motifs almost too short to qualify as melodic phrases, for example Volare (ex. 4) and La feuille morte (ex. 5).
Ex. 1 Rolling Stones: Satisfaction
Ex.2 Derek and the Dominoes: Layla
Ex.3 A. C. Jobim: Samba de una nota só
Ex.4 D. Modugno: Volare
Ex.5 V. Kosma: La feuille morte
1.2 Metaphorical nomenclature
The nature of melody can also be understood by examining words and expressions either commonly associated or partly synonymous with ‘melody’. For example, ‘melodic line’ emphasises the monodic and sequential (horizontal) aspects of melody while ‘melodic phrase’ and ‘melodic statement’ draw attention to the relationship between melody and human speech or declamation. ‘Motive’ and ‘motif’ denote movement by definition and melodies are thought of as movement in two-dimensional space — forwards, upwards, downwards, etc. —, often with culturally specific patterns of implication (expected or unexpected continuation, see Meyer 1987), while melodic ‘profile’, ‘contour’ and ‘figure’ refer to qualities of distinct linearity, shape and gesture. ‘Strain’, meaning tune, also links melody with notions of distinct characteristics (cf. ‘a genetic strain’) while ‘lay’, another archaic synonym, is defined as ‘a song’ or ‘short poem meant to be sung’ (Oxford Concise Dictionary, 1995).
‘Tune’ (Middle English variant of ‘tone’) highlights melody’s tonal nature, while ‘air’, in the sense of tune, suggests speech, gesture and movement that have metaphorically taken off (‘melody hath wings’, ‘volare - cantare’, see ex. 4), thereby emphasising the notion of melody as heightened discourse transcending speech.
These transcendent notions of melody can in turn be related to the connotations of monodic pitched declamation necessitated, in the interests of comprehension and before the invention of microphones and PA systems, by acoustic settings characterised by long reverberation times, for example the chanting of prayers and biblical texts in cathedrals and large churches, or the muezzin’s call to prayer from the minaret across the town in the relative stillness of dawn or dusk. They are also related to the everyday observation that emotionally heightened speech exhibits greater variation in pitch and resembles melody more than does talking in a normal voice.
In short, melody is tonal monodic movement, temporal and spatial, which is inextricably connected with human utterance, both gestural and vocal.
2 Typologies of melody
Structurally, melodies resemble or differ from one another according to several factors: [1] pitch contour, [2] tonal vocabulary, [3] dynamics and mode of articulation (incl. phrasing), [4] rhythmic profile, [5] metric and periodic organisation. They can also be categorised in ‘experiential’ (perceptual, semiotic) categories (Stefani and Marconi, 1992: 111-229). Structural and experiential typologies are interrelated.
2.1 Structural typologies
2.1.1 Pitch contour
Figure 1 shows the basic pitch contour types used by ethnomusicologists in the classification of melody (Skog 1977).
Fig.1 Melodic contour categories
Each contour type is illustrated by the following examples: [1] rising – ex. 6, 21 (phrase 1); [2] falling – 7, 21 (phrase 2) and [3] tumbling – ex. 8, 9, 10, 20 (bars 1-2); [4] V-shaped – ex. 11, 12 (bars 3-4), 15 (bar 1); [5] centric – ex. 13, 14; [6] terraced (falling) – ex. 12 (bars 1-2), 15 (bars 3-4) and [7] (rising) – ex. 15 (bars 2-3), 20 (bars 4-9); [8] oscillatory – ex. 16 and the double V-shape of ex. 11; [9] arched – ex. 17, 19 (phrase 2); [10] wavy – ex. 18, 19 (phrases 4-6).
Ex.6 Cole Porter: I Get A Kick Out Of You (1934)
Ex.7 The Raggle Taggle Gypsies (English trad.)
Ex.8 Muddy Waters (cited by Miani, 1992)
Ex.9 Nashville Teens: Guitar intro. to Tobacco Road (Loudermilk, 1964)
Ex.10 Beatles: Can’t Buy Me Love (1964)
Ex.11 Ellington: Satin Doll (1953, start of middle 8)
Ex.12 Warzawjanka (Polish trad.)
Ex.13 Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas: From A Window (1964)
Ex.14 Mark Snow: X-Files Theme (1996)
Ex.15 The Grand Old Duke of York (English trad.)
Ex.16 Beatles: If I Needed Someone (1965).
Ex.17 Ack Värmeland du sköna (Swedish trad.)
Ex.18 P. De Rose: Deep Purple
Ex.19 Beatles: Yesterday (1965).
Ex.20 Vigneault/Rochon: Je chante pour (1978)
Boundaries between melodic contour types are fluid. For example, the double V-shape of ex. 11 has an oscillating character while parts of ex. 16’s oscillatory profile have the shape of a flat V. Similarly, many centric contours (ex. 13-14) can also be heard as oscillating, while some ‘wavy’ phrases can be heard as short arcs (ex. 18, bars 2-4, 4-5). Moreover, a ‘tumbling strain’ is little more than an overriding melodic descent with initial rising anacrusis or with intermediate, subsidiary rises in pitch (hence ‘tumbling’). It should also be noted that certain styles show a predilection for particular contours, for example blues-related styles for the ‘tumbling strain’ (ex. 8-10). However, pitch contour alone is not enough to distinguish the style or character of one melody from another: example 21 illustrates how tonal vocabulary, rhythmic profile and metricity, not pitch contour, can be the operative distinguishing factors.
Ex.21 (a) Misirlou; (b) E. Y. Harburg: Brother, Can You Spare A Dime
2.1.2 Tonal vocabulary
The popular device of putting major-key tunes into the minor and vice versa testifies to the fact that changing tonal vocabulary can radically alter the character of a melody. Example 22 shows the first six bars of the UK national anthem’s melody: (1) as is, in the major key (ionian mode) and with the same melodic contour, rhythm, metre, etc., but in the following modes — (2) aeolian (or dorian); (3) phrygian; (4) Hijjaz; (5) major pentatonic; (6) minor pentatonic (see modes). All these variants would most probably be heard by members of the UK cultural mainstream as ‘ethnic’ or ‘folksy’: (2), (5) and (6) as possibly ‘Celtic’, (5) and (6) conceivably also as ‘Chinese’, (3) as vaguely ‘Spanish’, and (4) most likely as ‘Arabic’. The same six bars could also be changed, without altering other factors, to create a dodecaphonic tone row producing an unsettling effect on most ears.
Ex.22 God Save the Queen: commutations of tonal vocabulary.
2.1.3 Dynamics and mode of articulation
The structure and character of a melody are determined also by [1] how loud or soft it is presented in part or as a whole (yelling and crooning the same tune produces radically different effects); [2] what timbre or instrument is used to articulate it — imagine Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love delivered bel canto, or your national anthem played on kazoo; [3] in what tessitura it is executed (influences whether it will sound growled or screeched, squeaky and strained); [4] if lyrics are included, what kind of accent and diction are used — imagine Queen Elizabeth II delivering a Grandmaster Flash ‘message’, or a stirring union song crooned by Crosby or mumbled in the manner of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke in Creep (1993).
The characteristics of a melodic line are also determined by [4] its phrasing and accentuation. Examples 23(a) and (b) are of identical length, melodic contour and tonal vocabulary, but differ so radically in phrasing that ex. 23b needs notating alla breve. Whereas the original version (ex. 23a), with its staccato punch and syncopation, is well suited to the funky trickster character played by Eddy Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop, ex. 23b resembles more some lyrical or pastoral theme with an archaic flavour and would be more appropriate played by strings than by a synthesiser of mid nineteen-eighties vintage.
Ex.23 Faltermeyer: Axel F (1984) – (a) original; (b) as legato tune
2.1.4 Rhythmic profile
As much as showing difference in phrasing, example 23 also illustrates how difference of rhythmic profile influences the affective character of melody. But rhythmic profile is also related to bodily movement and posture, as well as to patterns of language.
2.1.4.1 Body and melodic rhythm
Example 23a’s rhythmic profile — its staccato quality with short pauses, its lack of anacruses, its sudden disjunct leaps for agogic effect, its anticipated downbeats (especially bar 4) — corresponds much more closely with skipping or jumping movement than with the flowing, legato, constant type of movement immanent in the regularly measured downbeat dotted crotchets, crotchets and upbeat quavers of example 23b.
Ex.24 Song of the Volga boat men (Russian trad.)
Similar links between melodic rhythm and body movement can be found in work song. For example, the slow, heavy task of hauling barges, with its repetitive to-and-fro of body and arms, is better helped by the kind of steady, measured rhythm and short phrases (as well as restricted oscillatory pitch contour) evident in ex. 24 than by the brisk 2/4 or 6/8 call-and-response patterns of continuous melody spanning an octave which can be found in numerous British shanties sung to help with nautical work involving quicker, more circular types of movement (‘capstan’ and ‘windlass’ songs, the latter sung when hoisting sails with a winch). A-Roving, Billy Boy (ex. 25), Bound For The Rio Grande, What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor, Fire Down Below and Johnny Come Down To Hilo all belong to this category.
Ex.25 Capstan Shanty Billy Boy (Northumbrian Trad.)
Clear links also exist between body and melodic rhythm in dance music. The mazurka, polka, schottische, jig, reel, slow waltz, Viennese waltz, samba, cueca, cha-cha-cha, rumba, tango, etc. exhibit unique and easily identifiable traits of melodic rhythm. Similar observations can be made about differences between the melodic rhythm of lullabies, marches, dirges, cattle calls, field hollers etc. whose melodic rhythm tallies with the relevant type of bodily activity and/or acoustic conditions of that activity.
2.1.4.2 Language and melodic rhythm
Since melody is so often a matter of singing words, melodic rhythm is also determined by the rhythm of the language in which those words are sung. For example, a melodic phrase ending e | e q., especially with descending pitch contour (see ex. 26 at ‘negro’, ‘rojo’, ‘el día’, ‘cantaría’), is less likely to occur in English than in Latin language song, as evidenced by the following trisyllabic words and phrases: ‘volare’, ‘cantare’, ‘amore’, ‘nel cuore’ (Italian), ‘querida’, ‘contigo’, ‘belleza’, ‘te quiero’, ‘llorando’, ‘tristeza’, ‘partido’, ‘destino’, ‘mi alma’, ‘la noche’, ‘y siento’, ‘tan solo’, ‘en pena’, ‘mi vida’, ‘tus ojos’, ‘tu pelo’, ‘me mata’ (Spanish, from tango lyrics, see Vilariño, 1981). On the other hand, phrases starting with the onbeat ‘Scotch snap’ | e q. or | x e. (inverted dotting), especially with rising pitch contour, are unlikely to appear in Germanic or Latin-language song simply because, with the exception of Gaelic and Hungarian, English is the only European language to feature this trait (e.g. ‘mother’, ‘brother’, ‘do it’, ‘hit it’, or, in ex. 27, at ‘Jenny’, ‘body’, ‘pettie’, ‘coatie’, ‘coming’).
Ex.26 Ferlosio: El gallo negro.
Ex.27 Comin’ Through The Rye (Scottish trad.)
2.1.5 Culturally specific melodic formulae
Melodies can also be recognised as belonging to particular cultures not only due to idiosyncrasies of language rhythm (see 2.1.4.2, above) but also because particular turns of melodic phrase have become by convention associated with those cultures. This observation applies not only to patterns of melodic ornamentation, for example the onbeat figure often found in popular notions of Hispanic melody (ex. 28) or in the semiquaver triplets of Irish traditional music (ex. 29), but also to more substantial patterns of pitch contour and rhythmic profile (see exx. 30-39).
Ex.28 Hispanicisms in library music: (a) Cordigliera; (b) Duncan: Wine Festival; (c) Haider: Spanish Autumn
Ex.29 Poitín (Irish trad,) – semiquaver triplets
Major key phrases descending to degree 6 (the final notes of ex. 30) are typical of many traditional melodies from the British Isles, as are pentatonic melodic cadences of the type 8[1]-6-5 (ex. 32 bar 3, first time), 6-1 (ex. 32 bar 3, second time), and those containing repeated final tonics (ex. 31a-c) or final fifths (ex. 31d). Strings of appoggiature, on the other hand, highly unusual in popular melody from the English-speaking and Celtic sphere, are all the more common in popular melody of the European classical tradition (ex. 33) and its pastiches (ex. 34) or of Arabic origin (ex. 35-36). Finally, the (5)-4-1 cadence is typical of traditional Russian melody (ex. 37) while 8[1]-#7-5 patterns are an idiosyncratic trait of certain types of traditional Scandinavian melody (ex. 38-39).
Ex.30 (a) Rossa’s Farewell to Erin (Irish trad.); (b) The Boys of Wexford (Irish trad.); (c) Soldier, Soldier (English. trad.)
Ex.31 Repeated final note cadence formulae. (a) John Barleycorn (English trad.); (b) The Banks of Newfoundland (English trad.); (c) The Kerry Recruit (Irish trad.); (d) The Bonny Labouring Boy (Irish trad.)
Ex.32 Skye Boat Song (Scottish trad., quoted from memory)
Ex.33 Carissimi: Aria ‘I Triumph!’ (Vittoria!)
Ex.34 Abba: Fernando (1975).
Ex.35 Egyptian trad. (quoted from memory)
Ex.36 Mameluk, a.k.a. Aya-Zehn (Egyptian trad.)
Ex.37 Russian 5-4-1 melodic cadences: (a) Podmoskovskoye Vechera; (b) Aturov: Partisan Song
Ex.38 Mikaelidagen (Swedish trad.)
Ex.39 Vårvindar friska (Swedish trad.)
2.1.6 Patterns of recurrence
Melody can also be categorised according to the manner in which constituent phrases or motifs are organised into a larger whole in patterns of variation and recurrence. Middleton (1983) suggests a sliding scale of musical syntaxes stretching from the monadic (circular, mythic, unchanging, etc.) to the infinite set (linear, narrative, teleological, ‘nothing to be heard twice’), a scale along which any type of musical statement, including melody, can be placed.
Monadic melody is typical for song whose narrative interest resides in other factors than those mentioned so far, such as in changing lyrics or varying metre (e.g. chanted psalms, prayers) or in harmonic progression (e.g. One Note Samba, ex. 3, Hucklebuck, ex. 40). At the other end of the scale are phenomena such as the dodecaphonic tone row, constrained by avant-garde imperatives of non-repetition and absent from popular song. Instead, patterns of recurrence and difference vary from the relatively simple, single-layered (or ‘immediate’) to the multi-layered (or ‘delayed’). Common processual devices in European and North American popular melody are reiteration, recapitulation, sequence, inversion, anaphora, epistrophe and ‘ready-steady-go’. The ordering of melodic segments on a larger scale, for example into the eight-bar sections of a thirty-two-bar (AABA) jazz standard, is a question of song form rather than of melodic typology.
Reiteration — consecutive recurrence(s) of identical motif or phrase — is found in examples 1 and 2 (both melodic line and riff), 24 (bars 1 and 2, bars 5-6 and 7-8), 28b (bar 1), 36 (bars 1-2) and 40 (throughout).
Recapitulation — recurrence of motif or phrase after different intervening material — is illustrated at the musematic level by example 24 in which the motif of bars 1 and 2 recurs in bar 4 after different material in bar 3 and again in the final bar of the song. Melodic recapitulation is, however, more commonly thought of on a larger scale (see form).
Sequence — reiteration of rhythm and relative pitch profile at a different absolute pitch — can be found in Autumn Leaves (ex. 5), El gallo negro (ex. 26), Poitín (ex. 29, bars 1-2, 5-6), Vårvindar friska (ex. 39, bars 1-2), and in Gershwin’s A Foggy Day in London Town (ex. 41) where ‘B’ (bars 1-4) is repeated a fourth higher (bars 5-8) and ‘A1’ (d-a$, bar 3) can be regarded as a sequential variation of ‘A’ (c-e$, bar 1).
Inversion (repeating rhythm profile but substituting up for down and vice versa in pitch profile) also occurs in example 41 whose bars 9-12 are an upside-down variant of bars 1-4.
Anaphora — repeating the same element at the start of successive phrases — is inherent in terms of rhythmic and relative pitch profile in any sequential repetition (see above). It can also recur at the same absolute pitch, as in the d-c#-d q q q figure of ex. 42a or the e q (e) c-d figure of ex. 42b. Even the single note f recurring at the start of each short motif in Axel F (ex. 23) and rising in turn to different pitches (a$, b$, c, d$, f) functions anaphorically.
Epistrophe — repeating the same or similar element at the end of successive phrases — is found at the words ‘far away’, ‘here to stay’ and ‘yesterday’ of bars 3, 5 and 7 in Yesterday (ex. 19).
‘Ready-steady-go’ is a popular melodic device consisting of a motif, either simply reiterated or repeated by sequential transformation (usually once or twice) and followed by new rhythmic material or pitch pattern. For example, bars 1-2 and 3-4 of Akst’s Am I Blue? (ex. 42b) are rhythmically identical (‘ready’ and ‘steady’) but instead of leading to yet another long held note, the same anaphoric figure in bar 5 introduces the tonally and rhythmically different material of bars 6 and 7 (‘go!’). The device can work at several levels, as shown in ex. 43. The function of such repetition is propulsive and similar to that of gaining momentum by circling on the spot before hurling a discus.
Ex.40 Roy Milton: Hucklebuck (1949).
Ex.41 Gershwin: A Foggy Day in London Town (1937) quoted by Middleton (1983:251).
Ex.42 Melodic anaphora — (a) Silvers: April Showers; (b) Akst: Am I Blue? as quoted by Middleton (1983: 250).
Ex.43 Rossini: William Tell Overture (1829), a.k.a. theme from The Lone Ranger (1949)
2.2 Connotative typologies
Families of melody definable according to the kind of structural parameters mentioned above are often grouped together in more connotative, perceptual or semiotic categories. Concepts such as the Arabic maqam, Iranian dashtgah and Indian raga all exemplify the formalisation of links observed in particular cultures between, on the one hand, certain categories of tonal, rhythmic and motivic structure and, on the other, certain regional locations or ethnic groups, or specific moods, attitudes, activities, types of behaviour, times of the day, etc.
Stefani and Marconi (1992: 111-229) expound several connotative categories of popular melody in Western culture. These include ‘dream’, ‘desire and tenderness’, ‘meditation’, ‘supermusic’, ‘recitation’ etc. For example, the authors characterise ‘dream’ structurally in such terms as slow movement, smooth articulation, arched or waved pitch profile spanning a large range, phrase length well in excess of normal breathing, continuous transformation of main motif(s), unexpected intervals, lack of hard scansion and accentuation, etc. More connotatively they note similarities with slow motion camera work, soft focus, suspended animation, large spaces, fluid gestures like unpredictable flight, beauty, the unreal, etc. This melodic category, including its connotations, is exemplified by Schumann’s Träumerei (ex. 44), Deep Purple (‘When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls’, ex. 18), Stardust (ex. 45), The Dream of Olwen (ex. 46) and In A Monastery Garden (ex. 47).
Ex.44 R. Schumann: Träumerei (1838).
Ex.45 Carmichael. Stardust (1929).
Ex.46 C. Williams: The Dream of Olwen (1947)
Ex.47 Ketelby: In A Monastery Garden(1915)
‘Supermusic’, on the other hand, exemplified by the main themes from Superman, Star Wars, Dallas, Dynasty, Kojak, The FBI, Counterspy, The Gun Fight at O.K. Corral, How The West Was Won, The Champions, etc., uses staccato articulation at brisk pace, favours rising leaps of the fourth, fifth and octave, etc. (see also Tagg, 1979: 124-132).
‘Recitation’ as an experiential rather than formal category of melody in popular song is usually articulated metrically rather than parlando rubato (recitative). It is characterised structurally by a reciting tone to which most of the phrase’s syllables are set, as well as by a cadence formula and, sometimes, an initial lead-in motif. Recitation tunes are generally of a declamatory character. For example, the underlined syllables in ‘How many roads must a man walk down before they can call him a man?’ from Dylan’s Blowing in the Wind (1963) are all declaimed at the fifth (a in D major). The principle of lead-in motif (intonatio/initium), reciting tone (tuba or tenor) and cadence formula (terminatio) is illustrated in example 48. ‘Once the voice is activated’ (intonatio)… ‘it stays still in a manner of speaking, giving no further information about itself and drawing the listener’s attention to the “message”, i.e. to the words’ (Stefani & Marconi, 1992: 132).
Ex.48 ‘Recitation’ melody — (a) Latin psalmody, tone 2 (plagal); (b) Brassens: Le gorille (1952); (c) The Who: Pinball Wizard (1969).
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Musical references
Abba. Fernando. Epic EPC 4036 (UK); Atlantic 45-3346 (USA) (1975).
‘Ack Värmeland du sköna’. Vi gör musik, p. 74.
Akst, Harry. Am I Blue? New York: M. Witmark & Sons (1929).
‘A-Roving’. Songs that will Live for Ever, p. 158.
Aturov, T. ‘Partisans’ Song’. Sånger för socialismen, p. 31.
‘The Banks of Newfoundland’. The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, p. 17.
Beatles, The. ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’. A Hard Day’s Night. Parlophone PCS 3058 (1964).
— ‘From A Window’: see Kramer, Billy J (1964).
— ‘Yesterday’. Help!. Parlophone PCS 3071 (1965).
— ‘If I Needed Someone’. Rubber Soul. Parlophone PCS 3075 (1965).
‘Billy Boy’. Songs that will Live for Ever, p. 160.
‘The Bonny Labouring Boy’. Irish Street Ballads, p. 18.
‘Bound for the Rio Grande’. Songs that will Live For Ever, p. 161.
Brassens, George. ‘Le gorille’ (1952). Mauvaise Répuation. As quoted by Stefani and Marconi (1992: 134).
‘The Boys of Wexford’. Irish Street Ballads, p. 96.
Carissimi, Giacomo. Aria ‘I Triumph’ (‘Vittoria!’). A Golden Treasury of Song, vol. 1, p. 44-47). London: Boosey & Co. (1903).
Carmichael, Hoagy. Star Dust. New York: Mills Music (1929).
‘Comin’ Thru’ the Rye’. Robert Burns: Poems and Songs, ed. James Kinsley. London: Oxford University Press. (1969)
Cordigliera. Creazioni artistiche musicale CAM 004 (n.d.).
‘Counterspy’ (anon. US radio signature). Themes Like Old Times, vol II (n.d.)
Derek and the Dominoes: Layla. Polydor 2058 130 (1970).
Duncan Trevor. ‘Wine Festival’, ‘Orange Grove’: Boosey & Hawkes Recorded Library Music. SBH 298 (n.d.).
Dylan, Bob. ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Columbia 98940 (1963).
— Subterranean Homesick Blues. Columbia 43242 (1965).
Ellington, Duke. ‘Satin Doll’ (Mercer, Ellington, Strayhorn) (1953). Duke Ellington - Take the ‘A’ Train. Success 2140CD-AAD (1988). Also in The Complete Piano Player – Duke Ellington. London: Wise Publications (1992).
Faltermeyer, Harold. ‘Axel F’. Beverly Hills Cop. MCAD-5553 (1984).
‘Fire Down Below’. Songs that will Live for Ever, p. 163.
Ferlosio, José Antonio Sánchez. ‘El gallo Negro’. Sånger för socialismen, p. 139.
Gershwin, George. A Foggy Day in London Town. London: Chappell Music Ltd. (1937). As quoted by Middleton (1983: 251).
Grandmaster Flash: Message. Sugar Hill 1007 (1982)
The Grand Old Duke of York (English trad.); quoted from memory.
Haider Hans. Spanish Autumn. Selected Sounds SL 556/9023.
*Harburg, E. Y. (1931). Buddy Can You Spare A Dime? Quoted from memory of unidentified Tom Paxton recording.
Hatch, Tony. ‘The Champions’ (ATV theme tune). Hit the Road to Themeland. Pye NSPL 41029 (1974).
Hi-Los, The: Suddenly It's the Hi-Lo's. Columbia CL-952 (1957)
Immel, Jerold: How The West Was Won (main title). NBC/MGM TV (1976).
— Dallas (title music) CBS/Lorimar TV (1978).
‘In der Heimat, In der Heimat’ – Erkennungsmelodie für das Programm der deutschen Krigsgefangenen (BBC, 1943). Entartete Musik. BOD 65053 (1988).
Irish Street Ballads, ed. Colm O’Lochlainn. Dublin: Three Candles (1939).
Jobim, António Carlos: ‘Samba de una nota só’. Gilberto & Jobim. Capitol 2160 (1960).
‘John Barleycorn’. The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, p. 56.
‘Johnny Come Down to Hilo’. Songs that will Live for Ever, p. 167.
‘The Kerry Recruit’. Irish Street Ballads, p.2.
Kaper, Bronislau. ‘The FBI’ (Warner TV theme, 1965). Golden Hour of Favourite TV Themes. Golden Hour GH 845 (1976).
Ketelby, Alfred. In a Monastery Garden (1915). 100 Greatest Classics, Part VI. Encanto TRXCD 106 (1987).
Kosma, Vladimir. ‘La feuille morte’ (1956). Édith Piaf - 30ème anniversaire. EMI 827 0972 (1993).
Kramer, Billy J (and the Dakotas). From A Window (Lennon, McCartney). Parlophone R 5156 (1964).
Lai, Francis: ‘Un homme et une femme’ (1966). Movie Memories. Music For Pleasure MFP 50438 (1976); also on Musiques des Palmes d'or. Great Hits 88070 (1997).
Laine, Frankie: ‘Gunfight at OK Corral’ (Tiomkin). On The Trail. CD Bear Family 15480 (1990).
Led Zeppelin. ‘Whole Lotta Love’. Led Zeppelin II. Atlantic 588-198 (1969).
‘Mameluk’. Vi gör musik, p. 330.
Mikaelidagen (Swedish trad.). As quoted in Ling (1964:114)
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix: ‘Auf Flügeln des Gesanges’. As ‘On Wings of Song’ in Golden Treasury of Song, Vol. 1, ed. N. O’Neill. London: Boosey & Co (1903).
Milton, Roy & his Solid Senders. Hucklebuck. Specialty 328 (1949); Fidelity 3001 (1951). Also on This Is How It All Began. The Specialty Story, Vol 1. Specialty SPS 2117 (1969). As quoted by Middleton (1983:254).
‘Misirlou’ (Song Of The Crickets, played by the Kabul Radio Orchestra). Music from Afghanistan. Bärenreiter Musicaphon (1975).
Modugno, Domenico. ‘Volare’ (1958). Dean Martin: Greatest Hits. Capitol 94961 (1998).
Nashville Teens. Tobacco Road (Loudermilk). Decca F 11930 (1964). Also on Sixties Beat. Dino Entertainment DINCD 42 (1992).
Newman, Alfred. ‘How The West Was Won’ (main title, MGM/Cinerama, 1962). Twenty Original Soundtracks, Vol 2. Yesterday Gold YDG 74640 (1989).
O’Neill, James (ed.). O’Neill’s 1001 Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes, Airs and Marches. Dublin: Waltons Manufacturing (facsimile, 1986).
The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, ed. A. L. Lloyd and R. Vaughan Williams. London: Penguin (1959).
Podmoskovskoye vechera. Quoted from memory of Midnight in Moscow, played by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. Pye Jazz 7NJ 2042 (1961).
Porter, Cole. I Get a Kick out of You. New York: Harms, Inc. (1934). Also as sung by The Jungle Brothers on Tribute to Cole Porter. Chrysalis CD 1799 (1990) and as performed in the first scene of Blazing Saddles (Warner, 1974).
Poitín (Irish trad.). As sung by Mick Moloney on private recording at the Göteborg College of Music (sämus), 1972; also as ‘Poitín or The Real Old Mountain Dew’ in Irish Street Ballads, p. 128.
Radiohead. ‘Creep’. Pablo Honey. Capitol 81409 (1993).
The Raggle-Taggle Gypsies (English trad.). Quoted from memory.
Rolling Stones, The. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Decca F 12220 (1965).
*Rose, Peter De: Deep Purple (1930s). Quoted from memory (On Hi-Los album c. 1959, probably Suddenly It’s The Hi-Los).
‘Rossa’s Farewell to Erin’. Irish Street Ballads, p. 68.
Rossini, Giacchino. Overture to William Tell (1829). London: Eulenburg (n.d.). Also on Rossini Overtures: RCA Gold Seal AGL 1-5210 (1959). Also as theme tune for ‘The Lone Ranger’ on Themes Like Old Times, Vol I, Viva V-36018 (n.d.)
Rubinstein, Anton Grigorevich: ‘Melody In F’. Motion Picture Moods for Pianists and Organists (under ‘Love Themes’), ed. E. Rapée. New York: Schirmer (1924). reprint 1974 Arno Press, New York.
Sånger för socialismen, ed. Pierre Ström. Stockholm: Arbetarkultur (1981).
Schumann, Robert. ‘Träumerei’. Kinderszenen, Op. 15 (1838). As played by Martha Argerich (piano), Deutsche Grammophon 410653-2.
Silvers, Louis. April Showers. New York: Remick Music Corp. (1921).
Snow, Mark. ‘The X Files Theme’ (a.k.a. ‘Materia primoris’). The Truth and the Light: Music from the X Files. Warner Brothers 9362-46448-2 (1996).
Soldier, Soldier (English trad.); quoted from memory, as sung by my mother.
Songs that will Live for Ever, ed. M. Jacobson. London: Odhams Press (n.d. - c. 1938).
‘Vårvindar friska’ (Swedish trad.). Vi gör musik, p. 72.
Vi gör musik, ed. Bengt Olof Engström & Egil Cederlöf. Stockholm: Ehrlingförlagen (1970).
Vigneault, Gilles. ‘Je chante pour’. Gilles Vigneault, vol. 1. Montréal: Éditions Le Vent qui Vire (1978).
Volga Boatmen, Song of the; as quoted by Ling (1997:41)
Warren, Harry and Dubin, Al: ‘Melody for Two’, a.k.a. ‘September in the Rain’. Fifty Years of Film Music. Warner 3XX 2736 (1973).
‘Warszawjanka’ (Polish trad., arr. K. Kurpinski). Sånger för socialismen, p. 43.
Waters, Muddy. ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’. Goin' Home: Live in Paris 1970. New Rose 5099 (1970). Also on Best of Chicago Blues, Vol. 3. Wolf 120295 (1998).
‘What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?’ Songs that will Live for Ever, p. 162.
Who, The. ‘Pinball Wizzard’. Tommy. Track 613-013/4 (1969). As quoted by Stefani and Marconi (1992:134).
Williams, Charles. ‘The Dream Of Olwen’ (theme from ‘While I Live’, UK, 1947). Big Concerto Movie Themes. Music For Pleasure MFP 4261 (1972).
Williams, John. Star Wars. Twentieth Century 6641.679 (1977).
— Superman - The Movie. Warner Brothers WB 2BSK 3257 (1978).
