Suzanne Vega wrote a wonderful post over at Measure for Measure, looking quite in depth at the creation, production, and reception of her first (of two) major hits, "Luka." The level of detail she goes into is really interesting. Recommended reading.
So, when you hear the song, it’s not just one melodic idea presented the same way three times — that fourth verse tells a story, makes an arc the same way a good narrative does, and when the song concludes you feel as though you have been somewhere emotionally. This is the purpose of an arranger — to take what’s there musically and arrange the music like a puzzle — to tease out the emotions of the song and present it to the public in a way that they are “hit” emotionally. More on that later.
We did a lot of other work as well. We kept it in a major key. I had written it that way deliberately, because the stereotype of a sad little boy on a doorstep suffering in a minor key made me furious. It seemed to me that most children who are abused regularly are sad and scared in the beginning but also eventually accept it as a fact of life, as something you might even expect. There is a matter-of-factness that develops. So I chose a major key, which we kept.
Totally agree. I thought about writing a post myself.
Posted by: Alfred Soto | June 22, 2008 at 07:27 PM