Hi Alyn.

Outstanding! The B-section took me unawares and made me sit-up and pay attention. That was a very clever arrangement strategy. You are a master at presenting the unexpected!

I notice that you mentioned "America". When it comes to non-rhyming songs, you've picked one of the classics!

Whenever I hear a song that doesn't rhyme and it works beautifully without the rhyme, I always ask myself, "How has this been accomplished? Why does it work?" That's how it was with "Time Runs Out". I'm still pondering those questions now as I type. You've done it incredibly well!

A little more information on not rhyming...

For what it's worth, a song doesn't have to have lyric rhymes to be musical. Rhymes are one way of adding musicality to words but there are other ways, too. For example, Ira Gershwin never shied away from taking a non-rhyming approach when writing lyrics for George's melodies if that's how it worked out. Have a look at the following sections of lyrics for "I Got Rhythm". I've highlighted the rhymes so that it's easier to identify them.

Quote:
Here's Ella singing...

Ella Fitzgerald: I Got Rhythm

Here are the lyrics...



Notice that in Section B, the section that is the memorable and defining section of the song, there are no rhymes. The only 'nearly a rhyme' comes from repeating line 4 as line 8.

It's also worth noting the following...

1. Ira used a very heavily rhymed section to lead into a non-rhyming section. This is guaranteed to make the non-rhyming section stand out.

2. The first 6 lines of Section A have a very sophisticated 3-line rhyme scheme that pulls lines 1 and 2 together by rhyming both(!) in the third line. How cool is that!

3. Section C with its XAAB rhyme scheme is left hanging unclosed from a rhyming perspective. This drives this section headlong back into the repeat of Section B.

4. The lyric comes to a close when the unrhymed and hanging word "door" in Section C meets its aural complement "more" at the end of the repeated Section B. This produces a satisfying sense of completion.

Summarising... after very heavily rhyming the introductory Section A, Ira is minimalistic with his use of rhyme for the rest of the lyrics. He also does not have any rhymes in the lyrics of the song's signature section (Section B) except for the final line of lyrics rhyming with the final line of Section C. At no time do any Section B lines rhyme with other Section B lines.

"Why do these lyrics of Gershwin's work? How has Gershwin added musicality to words without using rhymes?" are very eye-opening questions to think about!



Seems like you're in good company!

After all that, I'm now heading back for another listen to your excellent work!

All the best,
Noel



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