Sunday, September 27, 2020

"Octopus's Garden"

I listened to Abbey Road yester-day because it was the anniversary of its release, and I noticed a small feature in "Octopus's Garden."  In the line "We would sing and dance around," "around" is sung with a melisma (B C# E), musically giving a sense of movement.

Monday, September 7, 2020

"Michelle"

I was thinking about "Michelle" this morning, and I realized that the French lines aren't quite the same as the English.  Essentially, the lines "Michelle, my belle / These are words that go together well" are translated into French as "Michelle, ma belle / Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble" (although I'm not sure whether it's really "my" or "ma," since they sound similar when sung).

A more literal translation of the French would be:  "Michelle, my belle / Are some words that go very well together."  To match the English exactly, it would be something like:  "Michelle, ma belle / Ce sont mots qui vont bien ensemble."  In English, it's simply "well," but in French, it's "very well" ("très bien").