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Article Terry
Walstrom reflects on THE ME I NEVER KNEW
These
things are entirely subjective, naturally, but -- I've always had
a very special place in my heart for Barry's melody to the Alice's
Adventures tune to THE ME I NEVER KNEW in its instrumental form
not to mention the Matt Monro vocal.
The
construction of the thematic material has some unexpected turns
which never fail to elicit a strong response from me. Normally in
a song we would have the first line repeated in the second line
identically or pivoted up an interval of a fourth. But, Barry --
the second time the phrase "The me I never knew" appears--works
a bit of magic and injects a poignant twist to the direction of
the theme. It goes up instead of down at an odd interval and--as
if that were not enough--elevates the entire mood in a transcendent
manner when the phrase "without a word of warning" occurs.
Now
-- I'd like to call your attention to what is NORMAL in a song.
You introduce a theme or melody line and repeat it. Then you bridge
in something of contrast in the middle eight bars. Back to the same
original theme with a change in it to top off the feeling of completeness.
But -- in THE ME I NEVER KNEW there is no resting place and return
until the ENTIRE first and second lines/bridge phrase have spun
through to completion. Rather, a transformation process is applied
throughout. The emotional core transmutes mood after mood climbing
in intensity reframing the "feeling" in greater and greater tensions
which cry out for some sort of release. "You smiled and I discovered..."
on the word "discovered" a remarkable feeling of interior transformation
rushes forward. The discovery is imbedded inside the melody itself.
And a wonderful one it is too!
The
orchestral version of this song is just a joy. The tension and release
is masterful. The conflict is never overpowered by the instrumentation.
It is kept personal yet significant. A grandness and nobility is
present when the horns and the strings sing full out.
I
simply wish there had been an alternate lyric written for this melody
which would be more universal; allowing singers an avenue of expression
less reflective and more declarative. Nobody sings about interior
transformation it seems--unless they are holding a guitar!
The
long and the short of it---this may be my favorite Barry melody.
Dunno, there are so damned many!!
Terry
Walstrom. |
