Communication and Popular Culture

 After reading Sellnow’s A Music Perspective: The Illusion of Life on music, I began to think about past music that stuck out in my memory. The ideas and terminology presented in the reading, especially that of the issuing of life, caused me to reflect on musical pieces that stood out in my memory. Perhaps by re-evaluating it using what I learned, would show me some insight into if there was anything deeper going on that helped the piece to stand out in my recollection.

Without a doubt, the song Agony from Into the Woods stands out in my music memory. Here is the performance that I enjoyed during my first listen to the song in the 2014 film adaptation.

For ease of discussion, here are the lyrics in written form to make it easier to examine.

"Did I abuse her
Or show her disdain?
Why does she run from me?
If I should lose her,
How shall I regain
The heart she has won from me?
Agony!
Beyond power of speech,
When the one thing you want
Is the only thing out of your reach.
High in her tower,
She sits by the hour,
Maintaining her hair.
Blithe and becoming and frequently humming
A lighthearted air:
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-
Agony!
Far more painful than yours,
When you know she would go with you
If there only were doors.
Agony!
Oh, the torture they teach!
What's as intriguing-
Or half so fatiguing-
As what's out of reach?
Am I not sensitive,
Clever,
Well-mannered,
Considerate,
Passionate,
Charming,
As kind as I'm handsome
And heir to a throne?
You are everything maidens could wish for!
Then why no-?
Do I know?
The girl must be mad!
You know nothing of madness
Till you're climbing her hair
And you see her up there
As you're nearing her,
All the while hearing her:
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-
Agony!
Misery!
Woe!
Though it's different for each.
Always ten steps behind-
Always ten feet below-
And she's just out of reach.
Agony
That can cut like a knife!
I must have her to wife."

First, it was the humor in the nonverbal communications of the two singing princes that are particularly entertaining. Their gestures and paralanguage highlight the meaning packaged in their song’s words. In true manly fashion, they try to outdo and one-up each other in their ‘agony.’

The song seems to be set musically with release patterns. Lyrically, the song Agony seems to be tragic, but I think it presents a dramatic illusion that looks forward into an unresolved future.

Together, the release pattern and the tragic lyrics in this song form what is known as a congruent interaction. This is an interaction “where the emotional meanings of the lyrics and the music reinforce one another (Sellnow 2001).

In this song's case, the body language aspect of the performance is what gives it a secure spot in my memory. The hidden meaning is in the gestures, which is probably typical for songs written for the specific packaging of a musical play. 

That being the case of works from musical plays, where do typical mainstream songs written for purely auditory enjoyment tend to earn their memorability from?