Hi again, Janice and Bud.

I hope you don't mind me popping back in. I'm excited and wanted to share a discovery I've just made.

Tonight, while driving around through Youtube, I came across Michael Bublé sing “Softly as I Leave You”. It's such a great song (and one I haven't heard for a couple of decades). I was pleased when I discovered this clip because this song shows the emotional power of using a minimum amount of rhyme in non-conventional ways.

I particularly like how the last line of the song, 'So softly as I leave you there', seems to dangle without any obvious rhyme. To my ears, this lack of resolution makes this last phrase the single most emotionally charged phrase in the entire song; very powerful. (Looking at the lyrics, there is a potential sonic link between "bear" and "there" but I didn't hear that when read through the words nor when I played the song. It would be interesting to know if others hear it.)

  • Prior to playing the below link, it's well worth reading the lyrics aloud.
  • By doing this, it's possible to feel how the length of phrases and the unusual rhyme scheme work in partnership to present a journey of words that does not need music to create an emotional experience. (Putting an accompaniment to these words is simply the icing on the proverbial cake.)




Quote:
SOFTLY AS I LEAVE YOU
Giorgio Calabrese and Tony De Vita
(translated into English by Hal Shaper)

Softly
I will leave you softly
For my heart would break
If you should wake and see me go

So I leave you softly
Long before you miss me
Long before your arms beg me to stay
For one more hour
Or one more day

After all the years
I can't bear the tears to fall
So softly as I leave you there

[Instrumental]

Softly
Long before you kiss me
Long before your arms can beg me stay
For one more hour
Or one more day

After all the years
I can't bear the tears to fall
So, softly as I leave you there
As I leave I you there
As I leave I you there


MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2024