By Hoshino Sakura
Humans have been communicating with words, but also without them for millennia. Body language is the most obvious example of non-verbal communication, but grunts, gasps, sigh, pants, and any number of other sounds we make all convey some sort of meaning.
So to begin, the range of these possible sounds is perfectly shown in Yello’s Oh Yeah which opens the list.
Betty Carter is best known for jazz scat singing. Bridges is a tremendous example but the breath she takes just before the soaring end to the song is not just her preparing, it also triggers great anticipation in the listener. We know from that breath that something great is about to happen!
Determination is also an emotion that can be conveyed without words and Miles Davis’s croak at the start of Full Nelson shows us he is not going to let his throat injury stop him!
Funk makes great use of the human voice in a non-verbal way to help communicate a whole range of feelings. The Chakachas’ Jungle Fever and The Brides of Funkenstein’s Just Like You are great examples of this.
Of course sounds can be used to support the message in a song in a very obvious way. Sweet Honey in the Rock use a cough to highlight the damage to miners’ health in More Than a Paycheck.
Many of this week’s nominations start with some kind of sigh, or breath and often this serves as way of setting the mood. No one does an opening breath like Prince and the track Cream is a perfect example.
There is a definite gulp in The Mixtures’ Push Bike Song, which just made me think of my dad gulping down a cold beer on a summer’s day. It’s a very unusual song to invoke summer but very effective!
Of course nature’s wind featured on many tracks this week and Yoko Ono uses wind sounds to perfectly create an intimate feeling in Listen, The Snow Is Falling, and this perfectly complements breaths just before the final phrase.
Acceptance is signified in the inhalations before the phrases in the wonderful Tiny Sun by Bad Daughter.
I came to realise this week how important breathing is in phrasing, and ironically this is really well illustrated in Ryo / Supercell feat Hatsune Miku’s Odds & Ends. The band even programmed in breathing for vocaloid persona Hatsune Miku.
Timing is everything in humour and Jerry Lee Lewis has perfect timing for his sigh in Breathless.
Sigh !
The Inhale-Exhale A-List:
Yello – Oh Yeah
Betty Carter – Bridges
Miles Davis – Full Nelson
The Chakachas – Jungle Fever
The Brides of Funkenstein – Just Like You
Sweet Honey in the Rock – More Than a Paycheck
Prince – Cream
The Mixtures – Push Bike Song
Yoko Ono – Listen, The Snow Is Falling
Bad Daughter – Tiny Sun
Ryo / Supercell (feat Hatsune Miku) – Odds & Ends
Jerry Lee Lewis – Breathless
The Breathy B-List:
Salt N Pepper – Push It
Destiny’s Child – Lose My Breath
Mischief Brew – O, Pennsyltucky!
Deep Purple – Fireball
ELO – Mr Blue Sky
Seiko Oomori – Shinpin
Mungo Jerry – In The Summertime
The Monkees – Daydream Believer
Kraftwerk – Tour De France
Spirit – Why Can't I Be Free
Simon Dupree & The Big Sound – Kites
Daniel Herskedal – The Vernal Equinox
The NSFW (Not Safe For Work) Sexy’n’Stoned C-List:
Armando Trovajo – Sesso Matto
Ottomix – OK, Let's Go!
Bette Midler – Marahuana
Guinney Pepper – Lick The Chalice
Santa's Farting Elves – Jingle Bells
Ian Dury – You're More Than Fair
Sandra Jullien and Miki Sugimoto – Live Sex
Cypress Hill – Hits From The Bong
The Grateful Dead – Casey Jones
Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin – Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus)
Guru’s Wildcard Pick:
LiSA – Homura
LiSA is one of my favourite singers and songwriters. She is very versatile and performs in wide range of styles but outside Japan she is best known for Anime theme songs and she wrote and performed the theme for the super popular Demon Slayer Anime.I really recommend her.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Aeolian airs: songs with audible breaths, breathing, wind or breeze. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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