Preview

All I Could Do Was Song

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
241 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
All I Could Do Was Song
“All I could Do Was Cry” is a great representation of Etta James career. This song represents the doo-wop style of music that she used to making early on in her career. It also represents the rhythm and blues type of music that she began to sing more often as her voice began to deepen and became coarser. The instruments that are present in the song are vocals, a piano, and a guitar.
The form of the music is more like a ballad because she is telling a dramatic story about someone that she lost whom she loved dearly. The chord progression of the music is simple and as she sings her voice goes up and down in order to add more emotion. Certain parts of the song are stressed such as “rice, rice has been thrown over their head,” which is a notable

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    While sappy and slow hits are the usual characteristics of a Carrie Underwood song, she changes her style with a more optimistic tune. It opens with an upbeat rhythm on the keyboard. Then, a bluesy beat is introduced with the sounds of a guitar, violin, and drum set. The tune fades lower to stress the importance of the lyrics when she begins to sing. She uses variations of medium and low pitches to show off her perfect country vocals. She begins with a low and sassy voice, but shifts to a more medium tone at times. While she starts the chorus, the music gets louder and an arrogant attitude is heard through her voice. The music is also very joyful because she resolves the situation in her own terms. This angry, yet cheerful, melody is very different from what Underwood's fans are used to hearing.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is composed of several different lyrical speech-like phrases with rhapsodic emotions with a low level rhythm. The rhythm is based on a syllable count, accents, and long and short vowels. In the background of the piece is the sound of a faint fiddle. It is harmonically accompanying the angelical choir through the highs and lows of the chant. In this recording, there is an added drone accompaniment that was not in the original single melodic line manuscript. At first, the melody seems calm as it proceeds primarily by step within a low register. Then the melody creates a sense of progression and growth as it moves gradually through a wide pitch range. The melody soars up to two and one half octaves, leaping and swirling into a flourish of emotions. The heights of this chant are like the spires of Gothic cathedrals shooting upwards into the sky. The climactic tone is reserved for the concluding phrase, which gently descends by step to the original low…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Joni Mitchell is a notable piano player this song is written for piano and in the original recording the instrumentation comprises only of acoustic piano and a solitary vocal line. The way the piano and vocal melody…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The famous main melody, introduced after a few counts of quarter notes from the lower instruments, is played and repeated by the upper instruments three times with slight changes each time. During this melody, it can be difficult to play the notes short and precise while maintaining the delicacy. It then completely shifts to a moving section with chromatic eighth notes from the upper instruments that through crescendo and decrescendo with the lower instruments playing an interesting part in between repetitions. Eventually, it switches back to the main melody until the song ends with a rich long tone from the lower…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Alvin Ailey Cry Analysis

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Conceived out of a concept devised by Alvin Ailey, Cry took its inspiration from the suffering of the African American Woman. "She represented those women before her who came from the hardships of slavery, through the pain of losing loved ones, through overcoming extraordinary depressions and tribulations. Coming out of a world of pain and trouble, she has found her way-and triumphed." In this three part solo, the dancer, clad in a white leotard and long ruffled skirt, brings the audience on a journey of bitter sorrow, brutal hardship and ecstatic joy. The dancer began the piece in the centre of the stage, towards the back, immediately pronouncing to the audience the fact that the woman will be the principal aspect of the work. The dancer…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Alvin Ailey - Cry

    • 1252 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Alvin Ailey’s renowned choreography, Cry, has become an outstanding success as he represents the hardships of black women that have endured years of slavery and hardship. The piece is a solo performance by Judith Jamison, created for “all black women everywhere – especially our mothers"[1], and has impacted audiences worldwide as he takes them on a touching journey of desolate misery, violent oppression and prideful joy. Ailey uses a variety of dance techniques and elements of dance to portray the suffering of slavery in the African society, including core motifs, costume, music, space, time and dynamics. The motifs presented are manipulated with these elements of dance to create phrases and portray the intent of the work, distinguishing the changes in mood and tone throughout the sections.…

    • 1252 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gothic ballad, being both a ghost story and a story about a woman’s frame of mind in…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    the songs all illustrate; the messages each man is trying to communicate, her relationship towards…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The genre of this piece is a Lyrical Ballad, with elements of Romance and the Gothic. It draws on elements of the Romantic by its recurring themes of nature, extremes of emotion and religion. It also draws on elements of the Gothic as it includes religious imagery, bad weather and supernatural themes.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She is dying from a broken heart and she is welcoming death to take her and free her from the…

    • 840 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Americans have become hypnotized by the trend of lawsuits. If an individual can find anyway to sue then a lawsuit will occur. David Zinczenko introduces this concept in his article, "Don't Blame the Eater." He states that many frequent eaters of fast food are beginning to sue the corporations because they are now considered obese due to the food served to them at the fast food restaurant. I am of two minds about David Zincenzko’s claim that fast food corporations are to blame for obesity in America. On the one hand, I agree that the combination of affordability and availability vs. healthy alternatives and the lack of nutritional information and have been considered a major cause of obesity in America. On the other hand, I’m not sure if the…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The piano melody of the song is very repetitive and only varies when it becomes more syncopated at A5(1:19). The vocal melody for the line ‘Why does my heart feel so bad’ ascends and then descends, reflecting a person’s tone in a question and answer. There is also a counter melody provided by the synth strings and piano, which engages in call and response with the main vocal melody at A6.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Half of the poem is about the relationship between the father and daughter, while the other is about her surroundings and the scenery. She would talk with her father, and then would go into detail about the neighbors or workers that were outside; this gibes you a good visual of what she was seeing along with what her situation was with her father. The father starts telling the daughter what he feels as he is dying. The girl responds sarcastically, I said I was glad for him, that he was lucky (Gluck 319). In response, her father felt weakness and…

    • 575 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Idealism describes the belief or pursuit of a perfect vision often based upon unrealistic principles. This pursuit is often contrasted and opposed by truth. The truth and reality in an individual’s life is what enables this person to remain grounded and down to earth. An individual must set themselves high expectations in order to be their best, but they must also acknowledge the fact that everything they desire is not achievable. The imbalance of idealism and truth in an individual’s life can have calamitous effects. It is significant in an individual’s life because it can lead to the deterioration of an individual’s sanity, destruction of family relationships and ultimately death. This is exemplified in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, by Willy Loman. Willy spends his whole life pursuing the American Dream. This pursuit leaves him in debt and lacking less than a sliver of sanity. This man lacks the capacity to face the truth; the reality of his situation. The negative effect that his dream has on his family and life is simply overlooked and ignored. As Willy’s life swerves out of control, he tumbles deeper into the abyss of his idealism, to a point of no return.…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Catalina Concert Report

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The following pieces are “The way you look tonight,” which composed by Jerome Kers and Lyric by Dorothy Fields, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” by Gershwin&Gershwin, and “Now Or Never” with the composer Holiday, C.R. Lewis. These three melody’s beat was no real difference with the first song, but those three melodies were in a similar theme, which was about the beautiful sad/ romantic love. The singer Patrice Quinn’s singing was really catching to my ear that was really relax and unique. Her voice fully filled this beautiful place until the melody ended.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays