Melodies of Love: an Exploration of Popular Love Songs and Love Styles According to the Ancient Greeks
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Belmont University Belmont Digital Repository Recital Papers School of Music Spring 4-30-2021 Melodies of Love: An Exploration of Popular Love Songs and Love Styles According to the Ancient Greeks Kevin Blackmon [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.belmont.edu/music_recitals Part of the Composition Commons, and the Music Performance Commons Recommended Citation Blackmon, Kevin, "Melodies of Love: An Exploration of Popular Love Songs and Love Styles According to the Ancient Greeks" (2021). Recital Papers. 15. https://repository.belmont.edu/music_recitals/15 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Music at Belmont Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Recital Papers by an authorized administrator of Belmont Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MELODIES OF LOVE: AN EXPLORATION OF POPULAR LOVE SONGS AND LOVE STYLES ACCORDING TO THE ANCIENT GREEKS By KEVIN ANTONIO BLACKMON A PRODUCTION PAPER Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Commercial Music Composition and Arranging in the School of Music of the College of Music and Performing Arts Belmont University NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE December 2020 Submitted by Kevin Blackmon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Commercial Music. Accepted on behalf of the Graduate Faculty of the School of Music by the Mentoring Committee: ____________3/21/21 ____________________________ Date Mark Volker, Ph.D. Major Mentor __________________________ Tony Moriera, Ph.D. Second Mentor __________________________ Jeff Kirk, Ed.D. Third Mentor ____________4/30/21 ____________________________ Date Kathryn Paradise, M.M. Assistant Director, Graduate Studies ii Table of Contents Presentation of Material Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Eros .......................................................................................................................... 5 Storge ..................................................................................................................... 12 Agape ..................................................................................................................... 18 Pragma .................................................................................................................. 23 Philautica .............................................................................................................. 29 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 34 References ............................................................................................................. 36 Appendices Appendix 1: Liner Notes ....................................................................................... 38 Appendix 2: Scores ................................................................................................ 39 Figures Figure A. “Red Light Special” lead line .................................................................. 8 Figure B. “Red Light Special” Chorus .................................................................... 9 Figure C. “Make Love To Me” lead sheet .............................................................. 9 iii Examples 1. Liner Notes ............................................................................................................ 38 2. Original Love Songs Scores .................................................................................. 39 3. “Red Light Special” Lyric Sheet ........................................................................... 47 4. “Make Love To Me” Lyric Sheet .......................................................................... 49 5. “These Three Words” Lyric sheet ......................................................................... 50 6. “Daddy Sang Bass” Lyric Sheet ............................................................................ 52 7. “Jesus Is Love” Lyric Sheet .................................................................................. 53 8. “What The World Needs Now is Love” Lyric Sheet ............................................ 55 9. “Just The Way You Are” Lyric Sheet ................................................................... 56 9. “Autumn Leaves” Lyric Sheet ............................................................................... 57 10. “The Greatest Love of All” Lyric Sheet ................................................................ 58 12. “Don’t Give Up” Lyric Sheet Lyric Sheet ............................................................ 60 iv Introduction I conducted an investigation and application of how different types of affection, as expressed in Classical Greek philosophy, are conveyed in commercial music with love songs. I also analyzed how various love songs demonstrate these different meanings of affection. Through my discoveries, I applied the standards of these ideas to my music. I focused on the common characteristics that each love song shares. I divided each analysis of musical ideas and concepts that contain similarities into the six subsections of Jan LaRue’s SHRMGT framework: SHRMG(T) stands for sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, growth, and text. The focus for each song will be on one Classical Greek love type, for example, Storge, a brotherly love. I will match two commercial love songs from five categories of the types of love emotions delineated by ancient Greeks. First, I will select two love songs from each decade between 1950-2010. I chose these love songs because of the lyrical associations and how they express the Greek love style. Each decade will include the two chosen love songs and a mix of the five selected ancient Greek love styles to which each love song is connected. Each commercial love song is from periods ranging from the 1950s to the early 2000s, making a total of ten songs. The span of fifty years of Rhythm & Blues (R&B), gospel, country, jazz, pop, and rock love songs are covered. I will also write, compose, and arrange original love songs from each of the five selected love categories that share the same characteristics as commercial love songs. I will accomplish this through comparison and analysis of each commercial love song and how it relates to the 1 2 Greek types of affection. The five love types that I chose are Eros, Agape, Philautia, Pragma, and Storge. With the use of this pre-existing musical material, I will analyze the sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, and lyrics. I discovered that the Classical Greek love categories were unique. In modern Christian literature (particularly in popular theological publications, on Christian websites, and also in homilies), the threefold differentiation of love, referring to the ancient Greek linguistic reality, frequently appears: it is said that the lowest, selF- interested love corresponds to the Greek term of eros, the higher love, based on mutual sympathy, corresponds to the term philia, and the highest, selfless, unconditional love was allegedly called agape by the ancient Greeks. Cenuskova compares these findings with the situation in the Septuagint and the New Testament (Cenuskova 2014). I compiled two songs from each era and matched them with their corresponding love types. In each pair, both songs were different in many ways, but both shared some of the same musical features. I will also succinctly utilize the methodology of Jane LaRue SHMRG(T) analysis in my evaluation of each song. In David Temperly’s, The Musical Language of Rock, SHMRG(T) stands for sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, growth, and text (LaRue 1973, 3). I will cover only the large dimension of the overall sound, instrumentation, timbre, form, musical growth, and lyrics. I will make comparisons and assess how different musical characteristics express different types of love, and how effective they are to the song. This project is a qualitative analysis. I am searching for similar musical elements that express the mood or emotion of each song through different styles of music. These consistent themes, for example, comparable chromatic propensities; consonant thoughts; instrumentation; cadenced abnormalities; verses; and 3 are consolidated inside melodic creations that I have made. In this project, I want to demonstrate emotional creativity through music by expressing myself and showcasing my original compositions. This project will also challenge my songwriting, arranging, and composition skills that I have developed through Belmont University. This project will include recordings of five original love songs that I will compose and perform as a recording recital, inspired by the ten selected love songs. According to its relationship, every unique love melody is placed into one of the five Greek love classifications by love type. There are five musical genres to demonstrate how they all show similar musical features. The musical genres are R&B, gospel, country, jazz, and rock. I have included a list of commercial love songs from the 1950s to 2000s and original musical compositions. Eros, Sexual songs: “Red Light Special,” by TLC 1994 “Make Love To Me,” by Jo Stafford 1954 Original composition: “Feel So Good” Agape, Love of the soul: “What the World Needs Now is Love,” by Jackie DeShannon 1965 “Jesus is Love,” by the Commodores 1980 Original composition: “His Love” Storge, Familial