Incongruent, Naturally

            I first heard the song “Alone Again” by Gilbert O’Sullivan when I was in college. It had been out for a few decades at that point, but my friends and I were discovering “older” music and found this gem. It is a relatively upbeat song with easy rhythms and tones, but the lyrics make it an incongruent in my opinion. I especially find the repeated, matter-of-fact tone, notes, and rhythms to be somewhat incongruent with the message of the song. Still, in some ways the straightforward beat, vocals, and notes add to the resolve the lyrics convey. 

 

I do not know at what point while singing the song that I realized he was singing about possible suicide and the death of a parent. At first, I was drawn in by the music. In the first verse the song uses tragic lyrics with dramatic illusion to describe his plans while the phrasing gives a little intensity then ends in a release with the phrase “alone again, naturally.”

In a little while from now
If I'm not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower
And climbing to the top
Will throw myself off
In an effort to
Make it clear to whoever
Wants to know what it's like when you're shattered

Left standing in the lurch at a church
Were people saying, My God, that's tough
She stood him up
No point in us remaining
We may as well go home
As I did on my own
Alone again, naturally

 

            The second verse switches to poetic illusion but sticks with tragic lyrics. In this verse he looks back at when he was “cheerful, bright and gay,” but then explains how he “truly [is] indeed alone again, naturally.” The same tune with mild intensity that resolves in a release pattern is used. During the bridge he asks the question “what do we do” with a dissonant unresolved tonality. The phrase is then echoed, “what do we do” but is resolved musically giving a release pattern again. The message through the music and lyrics show that he is alone and resigned to that state.

            Have you ever sung along to a song and been entertained by the melody only later to realize the words you have been singing? What song?