danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

Those who know me well may know of my particular dislike of certain Christmas songs–and I make clear distinctions between Christmas songs and Christmas carols–and my growing bemusement at the annual crop of disdainful new recordings of standard holiday fare by talentless singers and “recording artists”. In intend to probe deeper into that topic in a future post as part of my War on Christmas series, as well as give a rundown of this season’s favorite melodies. But today I will discuss something else entirely.

Lately (read: this afternoon) I have given some thought to an unfortunate tendency in popular music–even beyond the songs of the Christmas season–to jettison many a lovely preamble, i.e., the generally freer-flowing passage formerly included in many fantastic songs of old, especially standards. A perfect example is the seldom heard preamble to “I’ll Be Seeing You”, which is sung here by Tony Bennett:

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Many, if not most performers, do not sing that introduction, which is a terrible shame. It adds so much to the entire composition. Imagine how less impressive “If I Fell” would be if it began thusly:

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Even when they are not so inspired, preambles still add something special to a song, by framing the melody of the verse between the introduction and the bridge. Consider this well known tune sung by former president James Taylor:

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Sometimes, however, a regularly omitted preamble is so wonderful and so integral to the overall melodic and narrative arc of a song, that dispensing with it is a crime. “I’ll Be Seeing You” above is such an example, and so is “What Are You Doing New Year’s”:

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Can you see how much that adds to an already good song? It gives it another melancholic dimension altogether that it lacks when a singer begins with the first verse alone. I can understand how it has come to pass that nobody sings more than the chorus of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, even though the verses offer the essential story the more tuneful chorus lacks. But I cannot understand why many songs–including some prominent Christmas songs–are so frequently performed in such thoughtless arrangements.

Next time: what’s wrong with “Sleigh Ride”.

Filed under: Popular Music, Rantings on December 6th, 2007