Friday, July 25, 2008

All night long...at the Paradise Cafe

I wish I understood music. I mean REALLY understood it. I love it. I like to sing. I enjoy listening to all the nuances of each song. The musical instruments. The lyrics. The hidden things Barry slides into some of the songs just for fun. I enjoy listening to songs I've heard over and over again and finding hidden gems in them. Sometimes I wonder if he does this just to see if we are listening.

I've been listening to 2:00AM Paradise Cafe all week long. It's been rather comforting to focus on the songs. It's definitely kept my mind off of the sadness that has been my constant companion these past few days. Tonight I was listening to it again while I was catching up on some work and I noticed something. Now I could be wrong, and if I am, I stand corrected. But if you listen to the first song, Paradise Cafe, a few bars into the introduction, right after the saxophone intro, the notes seem remarkably similar to the last song on the album, Night Song. And then, exactly halfway thru the songs the intro to What Am I Doin' Here has the same notes as the melody to Paradise Cafe.

If that truly is the case...what genius. To tie the first and the last song together like that. And then halfway thru remind us of the beginning. It's like taking us on a journey and it has to have an affect on our listening and tying all the songs together in our minds.

I'd love to hear from you 2:00AM Paradise Cafe aficionados. Those of you who love this album and perhaps have listened to it endlessly and have come to love it as much as I have.

Truly amazed,
Texas Fan


1 comment:

Stevie Marie said...

It is true. It's a melodic connection that Barry keeps the listener in tune with the entire album. The entire album took Barry to another place and every song stands on it's own, but has a melodic intepretation to keep the album connected.

"Paradise Cafe" is Barry's soul. He put everything he has musically and even some personally into this music. It is his "BEST" by far. This is "BARRY MANILOW"

Steph

 
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