Song Interpretation (1)

Interpretation is the presentation of a point of view. This is true both in music and in real life: in the sense of a judge's interpretation of a law or a singer's interpretation of a song. It implies both a personal, individual level ('The way I see it is...') and a reasoned, verifiable response (other people can understand why you have come to it).

The value of an interpretation lies in both of these aspects. If you have no new, or at least distinctive, insights, why should anyone else pay attention? Conversely, if nobody else can follow the line of thought you took to reach your interpretation, they will have no reason to believe that it is valid. Hence, in musical interpretation, as in many other contexts, there is no single right answer, but there are often a number of wrong ones.

So how do we find one of the 'right' interpretations? This often causes anxiety, because so many of our musical decisions take place at an intuitive level, where we can 'feel' musical shapes, but can't explain our understandings to others. So we worry: what if our instincts are wrong?

It is possible, though, to gain access to our intuitions, in order both to interrogate them ('how did I know to shape a phrase like that?') and to develop them. The purpose of this article, and others to follow (I haven't decided how many yet - we'll see how it goes!) is to provide some imaginative tools that will help us understand our songs better. For, the deeper our understanding becomes, the richer our interpretations will be.

Theme is a useful starting point for getting inside a song. The way the term is used in barbershop can be misleading (indeed, the Society are thinking of changing it), but the concept is worth grasping, whatever it ends up being called.

The theme of a song is its primary musical element, that aspect of a song that would hold its identity if all other aspects were taken away. As performers, we need to be able to identify these fundamental characteristics of a song, so we can communicate it effectively to an audience.

There are four main types of theme available in the barbershop repertoire, and the best way to get a feel for them is by thinking through well-known examples.

1. Lyric. 'Irish Blessing' is a good example of a lyric-themed song; I have seen it printed on tea-towels - no tune, no harmonies, but the song's identity still has integrity.

2. Rhythm. 'South Rampart Street Parade' is the quintessential rhythm song. The tune is nondescript, the words are impossible to remember, but you can dum-diddle-um-pum (to use a technical term) the rhythm and have a genuine, if rather abstract, experience of the song.

3. Melody. Songs such as (the appropriately-named) 'Unchained Melody' can hold their own with neither words nor accompaniment.

4. Harmony. This is probably the rarest theme in its pure form, but a song like 'When Day is Done' would be a good example: take out the words, rhythm, even the tune, and that chord sequence is still unmistakable.

The astute reader will have noticed two things. First, a song's theme is not the same as the message of its lyrics, but works at a more fundamental level. Yes, we need to sell the message of every song, but the song consists of more that this - otherwise we would be merely story-tellers, not singers.

Second, not all songs are as clear-cut in their theme as the above examples. Quite often, a rhythm song will be introduced by a lyrical verse ('She Didn't Say No', for example). Other songs may have two (or even three) musical elements which are strongly characterised enough to carry their identity ('Dream a Little Dream of Me' can work as melody, lyric or rhythm themes). In these cases, it is the very process of thinking through the competing claims of the different theme types that gives the performer insight into the song. Sometimes we end up by foregrounding two themes simultaneously, other times we decide to prioritise one of the possibilities. But we do need to come to a clear decision either way. After all, if 'interpretation' implies putting forward a point of view of a song, we have to form a view before we can present it.

Liz Garnett,  January 2000