Del Shannon's "Two Silhouettes"

Last month, I learned the chords for Del Shannon's "Two Silhouettes" and noticed a feature with an accidental.

First of all, here are the chords (with the disclaimer that, as always, I might have something wrong):

Intro
|: C major | Bb major :|

First verse
C major | A minor
F major | C major | G major
C major
F major | D major
|: C major | A minor :|
C major | G major | C major

Link
|: C major | Bb major :|

Second verse
C major | A minor
F major | C major | G major
C major
F major | D major
|: C major | A minor :|
C major | G major | C major
F major | C major

Bridge
F major | C major
F major | G major | C major
F major
G major

Third verse
C major | A minor
F major | C major | G major
C major
F major | D major
|: C major | A minor :|
C major | G major | C major

Tag
|: C major | Bb major :|

The song is in C major, and - aside from the Bb major in the instrumental sections - the only chord with an accidental note is D major (with an F#).  In two of the verses, the lyrics above this chord describe a change.  In the first verse, the line there is "And all the rain seemed to turn to tears" and in the third verse, "I know things will never be the same."  That F# accidental helps to musically portray the "turn" and not being "the same."  One of the voices in the backing vocals even goes from an F natural to an F# during that line, emphasizing the accidental.

Del Shannon's "I Won't Be There"

Last month I figured out the chords for Del Shannon's "I Won't Be There," and earlier this month I wrote about some connections between the chords and the lyrics.  I had the opportunity to record some songs a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd do a version of it.

I had to put some notes in a lower octave, and my double-tracking isn't exactly spot-on, but I still think it turned out pretty well.

Del Shannon's "I Won't Be There"

Last month, I learned the chords for Del Shannon's "I Won't Be There," and I found some connections between the chords and the lyrics.

First off, here are the chords (although, as always, there's the disclaimer that I might have something wrong):

Introduction:
|: Eb major | C minor | Ab major | Bb major :|

Following this, there's a chromatic descent with just the root (doubled at the octave) and fifth, so:

D|-8-8-7-7-6-6-
A|-8-8-7-7-6-6-
E|-6-6-5-5-4-4-

First verse

G major | E minor | A minor | D major

G major | E minor | C major | D major

G major | G7 | C major | C minor

G major | E minor | A minor | D major

Second verse

G major | E minor | A minor | D major

G major | E minor | C major | D major

G major | G7 | C major | C minor

G major | D major | G major

Bridge

C minor | G major

E minor | F# major

B minor | C# major

Third verse

F# major | D# minor | G# minor | C# major

F# major | D# minor | B major | C# major

F# major | F#7 | B major | B minor

|: F# major | C# major :|

In the second verse, the C major to C minor modulation occurs immediately after the line "He's only gonna break your heart in two."  Since major chords are often perceived as happy and minor chords as sad, this modulation musically represents the emotional result of the impending heartbreak.

The song is in three different keys: it starts in Eb major, moves to G major for the first two verses and half of the bridge, and then goes to F# major.  To some degree, this peripatetic tonality represents the confusion described in the line "What is my destiny if he's your guy?"

Del Shannon's "So Long Baby"

I've been listening to my two-CD set of Del Shannon a lot lately, and I noticed a couple of little things about the vocal melody in "So Long Baby."

The end of the line "Step by step you put me down" descends, and "down" has a melisma (Bb Ab F), so there's a musical representation (in two ways, actually) of the putting down.

The "hearts" in the line "We tried to break each other's hearts" also has a melisma (Eb F Eb), so the word itself is broken into syllables, mirroring the broken hearts in the lyric.