Robyn’s class this week4 was all about motif development, and the plethora of ways this can be achieved.
To wrap my head around how motif development can function in pop songs, I looked at the motif development in Keep The Customer Satisfied by Simon and Garfunkel5, as an example of a hook with a strong melody. The chorus features motif extension on the words:
One step ahead of the shoe shine – original motif
Two steps away from the county line – extends motif by a note
In addition, the lyrics moving from “one step” to “two steps” as the motif develops is an example of prosody in Paul Simon’s songwriting, which was interesting as a takeaway to improve how I approach matching lyrics to melody.
4 Habel, Robyn. “Motive Development”. Lecture presented at the course Song Writing and Performance 1B, University of Adelaide, August 12, 2019.
5 Simon and Garfunkel. “Keep The Customer Satisfied”. Bridge Over Troubled Water. By Paul Simon. Produced by Roy Halee. January 26, 1970.
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