Tuesday, May 12th

by musicclipoftheday

sounds of Austin

Blaze Foley (aka Michael David Fuller, 1949-1989), “If I Could Only Fly” (B. Foley), live (Duct Tape Messiah, 2011)

 

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Another take.

Merle Haggard, live (TV show, performance starts at 1:15), 1986

 

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What makes this song work? As is often the case, it comes down to small sonic details. Listen, for instance, to the first line of the hook (also the title):  “If I could only fly . . .” Repeated f’s (“If,” “fly”), echoing vowels (“I,” “fly”): so much repetition in so few words, yet it sounds so natural. Listen, too, to the small step up, melodically, from the first to the second syllable of “only,” enacting what it would have felt like to fly—”if . . . only.”

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)