Galileo

GALILEO

by Antonio C. Antonio

September 5, 2014

“In music, an arrangement is a musical re-conceptualization of a previously composed work.  It may differ from the original work by means of re-harmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or development of the formal structure.  Arranging differs from orchestration in that the latter process is limited to the assignment of notes to instruments for performance by an orchestra, concert band, or other musical ensemble.  Arranging involves the adding compositional techniques, such as new thematic material for introductions, transitions, or modulations, and ending… Arranging is the art of giving an existing melody musical variety.”  (Wikipedia)

Musical arrangements are often made for the following purposes and applications: (1) to adjust the pitch of a song to conform to the singer/s voice range; (2) to come up with a new instrumentation sound; or, (3) to come up with a totally different genre and tempo.  Musical arrangers, however, are very careful not to tamper with the original song’s melody in respect for the composer of the song.

So how is arranging song done?  Let’s take the song “Galileo” for example.  “Galileo” was composed by the Sailers sisters (Amy Ray and Emily of Atlanta, Georgia, USA); more popularly known around the world as “The Indigo Girls”.  The song became one of their greatest hits in the 1990s.  I will use two videos of the same song to highlight the changes or arrangement done on the song… again, not tampering too much on the original melody. 

In these unplugged videos, only guitars were used --- two guitars by the Indigo Girls and one guitar by our guest arranger which makes them perfect for comparison purposes.  In the studio version, however, the Indigo Girls used a full band in recording the song.  Another difference in the two versions is that the Indigo Girls are female vocalists while our guest arranger is a man.  Please click on this link to view the Indigo Girls’ version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdr7tkuwlAc then click on this link to listen to a different arrangement of the song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhpO9CUy_BU  Please focus on the instrumentation… how guitars could sound different because of musical arrangement.

I’m posting the lyrics of the song “Galileo” for those who would like to sing along.

GALILEO (Indigo Girls)

Galileo’s head was on the block

The crime was lookin’ up the truth

And as the bombshells of my daily fears explode

I try to trace them to my youth

And then you had to bring up reincarnation

Over a couple of beers the other night

And now I’m serving time for mistakes

Made by another in another life time

How long ‘til my soul gets it right

Can any human being ever reach that kind of light

I call on the resting soul of Galileo

King of night vision, king of insight

And then I think about my dear of motion

Which I never could explain

Some other fool across the ocean years ago

Must have crashed his little airplane

How long ‘til my soul gets it right

Can any human being ever reach that kind of light

I call on the resting soul of Galileo

King of night vision, king of insight

I’m not making a joke

You know me I take everything so seriously

If we wait for the time ‘til all souls get it right

Then at least I know there’ll be no nuclear annihilation

In my lifetime, I’m still not right

I offer thanks to those before me

That’s all I’ve got to say

“Cause maybe you squandered big bucks in your lifetime

Now I have to pay

But then again it feels like some sort of inspiration

To let the next life off the hook

She’ll say, look what I had to overcome from my last life

I think I’ll write a book

How long ‘til my soul gets it right

Can any human being ever reach that kind of light

I call on the resting soul of Galileo

King of night vision, king of insight

How long ‘til my soul get it right

How long ‘til we reach the highest light

How long…

Incidentally, our guest arranger, does guitar arrangements for professional guitarists as a hobby.  This is his simple arrangement just to demonstrate how to arrange the Indigo Girls’ song “Galileo”.

Just my little thoughts…

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