Melodic Metaphors for Dreams in Three Classic Songs from the Disney Catalog

Bridgewater Review Bridgewater Review

Volume 34 Issue 1 Article 5

5-2015

Melodic Metaphors for Dreams in Three Classic Songs from the Melodic Metaphors for Dreams in Three Classic Songs from the

Disney Catalog Disney Catalog

James Bohn

Bridgewater State University

Follow this and additional works at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev

Part of the Music Commons

Recommended Citation Recommended Citation

Bohn, James (2015). Melodic Metaphors for Dreams in Three Classic Songs from the Disney Catalog.

Bridgewater Review

, 34(1), 9-11.

Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol34/iss1/5

This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State

University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

May 2 015 9

In my analysis of the tunes in ques-

tion, I investigate the melodies in terms

of Schenkerian analysis. Heinrich

Schenker (1868-1935) was an accompa-

nist, teacher, critic, and music theorist

(Pankhurst, SchenkerGUIDE [2008] 3).

During the nineteenth century,

the typical approach to music theory

was harmonic analysis. Schenker’s

major contribution to music was a

system of analysis that focused on

melodic features.

To Schenker, the fundamental organiz-

ing principle of music is the elaboration

of resolved melodic tension. In this sys-

tem, tension is defined as distance from

the tonic, which is the first note (or

Do) of any musical scale. This tension is

established by an initial arpeggiation or

stepwise ascent to a Kopfton (head tone).

In Schenker, the Kopfton is a promi -

nent, structural melodic note, most

commonly scale degree three (Mi) or

five (Sol), which embodies the concept

of tension. This tension can be pro-

longed through melodic elaboration;

that is the use of musical tones that are

subservient to the structural melodic

line, such as neighboring tones, linear

progressions, unfoldings, or arpeg gia -

tions. Ultimately, this tension is

resolved through stepwise descent from

the Kopfton to the tonic. In Schenker,

such resolution must occur in the

obligatory register; that is, in the same

range where the original tonic appears,

before the initial arpeggiation or ascent.

Occasionally, Schenker allows for

substitution of a tone in a structural

melodic line in order to express

a descent, or express a tone in its

proper register.

These melodic formations can be

elaborated through embellishments,

building a layered structure. A piece of

music can exhibit any number of levels

from the surface to the deepest layer,

the Ursatz (fundamental structure). To

Schenker, the Ursatz is an embodiment

of a given piece’s unity.

Perhaps more than any other approach

to analysis, reception of Schenker’s

approach is strongly divided between

supporters and detractors. Followers

find the emphasis of melodic concerns

to be intuitive and meaningful. Many

critics find the Ursatz to be inaccessible

to nearly all listeners, and thus non-

intuitive. Further criticism of Schenker

can be found in the way it ignores

rhythm as a musical element, and in

the way that it can be characterized

by reducing music to common,

simplistic formations.

Schenker based his theory on an

extremely limited body of music. Fully

80 percent of the musical examples

in his book Free Composition (1935)

are from only eight composers: Bach,

Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven,

Schubert, Chopin, and Brahms

(Pankhurst, 180). Thus, Schenkerian

analysis can be characterized as per-

taining to a limited body of Western

art music. Even so, Schenker can be

an effective tool for examining the

functions of melodic structures.

One of the most renowned melodies

from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(1937), the first feature film to come

out of the Disney Studios, is “Some

Day My Prince Will Come.” All of the

songs from the movie featured music by

Frank Churchill (1901-1942) with lyrics

by Larry Morey (1905-1971). Part of the

dreamy quality of the song comes from

its emphasis of the dominant, the fifth

note of the scale (or Sol). The promi-

nence of a tone most typically associ-

ated with the tension of a Kopfton lends

the melody an unresolved quality. This

unsettled nature can be interpreted as

complementary to the idea of dreams;

that is the anticipation of an as-of-yet

unachieved objective.

Melodic Metaphors for Dreams

in Three Classic Songs from the

Disney Catalog

James Bohn

hree of the most-valued songs from the

Disney catalog are “Some Day My Prince

Will Come,” “When You Wish Upon a

Star,” and “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.”

All three songs come from animated feature films

created during Walt Disney’s lifetime (1901-1966).

Furthermore, all three invoke the idea of dreams or

wishing. The melodies of these songs feature delayed

resolution or a lack of resolution. Such approaches

to resolution are symbolic of the intrinsically

unresolved nature of dreams.

Heinrich Schenker, seated, c. 1919 (Oswald

Jonas Memorial Collection, Special Collections

& Archives, University of California, Riverside

Libraries).

10 Bridgewater Review

“Some Day My Prince Will Come”

begins and ends on fifth-scale degree

(Figure 1). The first sub-phrase is an

elaboration of the submediant chord.

This motif is transposed up a fourth to

create the second sub-phrase, which

elaborates the super tonic. The first

half of the phrase is an arpeggiation to

the dominant. The second half of the

antecedent consists of a sub-phrase that

alternates between root and third of the

dominant chord (scale degrees five and

seven), which is repeated.

The first half of the consequent is the

same as the first half of the antecedent.

The second half of the phrase features a

linear descent from the tonic down to

the dominant, sustaining the tension of

the unresolved dominant. There is also

an interruption of a register transfer of

the supertonic down an octave, elabo-

rated by a chromatic lower neighbor.

While “Some Day My Prince Will

Come” features a harmonic resolu-

tion at the end of the song, the melody

is largely unresolved. Both phrases

begin and end on scale degree five.

Furthermore, both feature a large-scale

one octave. The second halves of both

phrases also emphasize notes from the

dominant, with the end of the first

phrase alternating between the root and

third of the dominant. This consist-

ent melodic emphasis of the dominant

leaves the song feeling unresolved in

much the same way that a dream is

open for resolution by its fulfillment.

The arrangement

of “Some Day

My Prince Will

Come” that appears

at the end of the

film addresses the

unresolved nature

of the melody.

The end of the song

is appended with

trombones playing

a melodic fragment

from “One Song”

ending on the tonic.

The choir further dissipates tension

by having the sopranos move to the

high tonic, and then upwards to scale

degree three.

Heinrich Schenker would almost cer-

tainly have considered “Some Day My

Prince Will Come” to be unsatisfying,

due to its lack of melodic resolution.

However, such unresolved tension

serves as a powerful musical metaphor.

Furthermore, the score’s resolution

to this tension at the end of the film

through the use of the Prince’s melody,

“One Song,” serves as a fitting musical

summary of the story’s narrative.

“Some Day My Prince Will Come”

is a progenitor of a song archetype

that is central to the oeuvre of the

Walt Disney Company. The wish/

dream song instantiates itself numer-

ous times in the company’s creations,

from “When You Wish Upon a Star”

to more recent works such as Tangled’s

“I’ve Got a Dream.” “Some Day My

Prince Will Come,” however, falls

somewhat outside of the archetype in

that it invokes the specific dream of

the protagonist rather than relating

the merits of dreams and wishes on a

conceptual level.

“When You Wish Upon a Star” is

the strongest exemplar of wish/dream

song archetype. The tune, which origi-

nated in Pinocchio (1940), the Studio’s

second feature, was written by Leigh

Harline (1907-1969) with lyrics by

Ned Washington (1901-1976). The

song has transcended the film to

become both the quintessential Disney

song, as well as the company’s unofficial

anthem. Like “Some Day My Prince

Will Come,” “When You Wish Upon

a Star” features melodic motion that

is symbolic of the unfulfilled nature

of dreams.

“When You Wish Upon a Star” is

comprised of four phrases (Figure 2).

The first features a register transfer of

the dominant from the first note up an

octave to the half cadence that ends the

Figure 1. Schenkerian Analysis of “Some Day My Prince Will Come.”

Figure 2. Schenkerian Analysis of “When You Wish Upon a Star.”

May 2 015 11

phrase. The first sub-phrase consists of

a linear ascent from scale degree five to

the tonic. The second phrase is identi-

cal to the first, save for the end, which

is altered to accommodate an authentic

cadence. While this resolution is har-

monically satisfying, the lower register

tonic leaves the phrase unresolved in

the obligatory register. The bridge, the

third phrase, features a linear ascent

from scale degree five to the leading

tone, elaborating the dominant, and

furthering the tension of the song.

The final phrase of “When You Wish

Upon a Star” resolves the melodic ten-

sion of the bridge with an ascent from

scale degree five to the tonic resolution

at the cadence. The end of the first sub-

phrase ends here on scale degree three,

while the authentic cadence resolves

the tonic in the obligatory register,

coinciding with the lyrical resolution,

“Your dreams come true.” The version

of the final phrase presented here is the

version sung by Cliff Edwards (1895-

1971) and the chorus at the close of the

film. The final phrase ends differently

in the version of the song from the

beginning of the feature.

The conclusion of “When You Wish

Upon a Star” from the sung version at

the opening of the film changes the

final note to a dominant, a full two

octaves above the first note of the song.

This ending is doubly unresolved due

to its settling on an unstable note, as

well as the high register of its tone. This

lack of resolution allows for a large-

scale closure of the melody at the end

of the film. While the melody of the

song at the end lands on the tonic, a

short tag line sung by the chorus is

appended with the lyrics, “you’ll find

your dreams come true,” settling on

scale degree three. This large-scale

resolution of the melody over the

course of the movie is aided by hav-

ing both the opening and concluding

arrangements in the same key. The ends

of both Pinocchio and Snow White and

the Seven Dwarfs are musically similar

in the sense that the melodic resolu-

tion of the song in question coincides

with the fulfillment of the protagonist’s

dream. Furthermore, both endings land

on a high-register mediant, voiced by

a choir.

After “When You Wish Upon a Star,”

the tune that most closely exemplifies

the wish/dream song archetype is “A

Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.”

This tune originates from Cinderella

(1950), the Studio’s return to single-

narrative animated features after an

eight-year hiatus. Walt Disney hired

the songwriting team of Mack David

(1912-1993), Al Hoffman (1902-1960),

and Jerry Livingston (1909-1987) to

create the tunes. Sung by the film’s

protagonist, “A Dream Is a Wish Your

Heart Makes” expresses her use of

dreams as a means of escapism from a

harsh reality. Like “When You Wish

Upon a Star,” “A Dream is a Wish Your

Heart Makes” coincides lyrical resolu-

tion with melodic resolution.

“A Dream is a Wish Your Heart

Makes” features two phrases (Figure

3). The Kopfton of each is a mediant

approached by an upward leap from

the dominant. Likewise, each phrase

features a stepwise descent to the tonic,

very much in line with Schenker’s

theory. However, the end of the first

phrase actually lands on the mediant

in the low register, with an implied

tonic beneath. This resolution is doubly

unsatisfying due to both its use of a

substitution (the tonic for the mediant),

as well as the lower register of its tone.

The second phrase, however, not only

resolves in the obligatory register, but it

does so coinciding with the lyric “The

dream that you wish will come true.”

The coincidental lyrical and melodic

resolution in “When You Wish Upon

a Star” and “A Dream is a Wish Your

Heart Makes” could be attributed to

good songwriting. However, these

concurrent resolutions function as

effective melodic metaphors for the as

yet unresolved nature of dreams and

wishes. The large-scale resolution of

“Some Day My Prince Will Come”

within Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

and “When You Wish Upon a Star” in

Pinocchio also function as metaphors for

the resolution of dreams. Such large-

scale resolutions also provide closure for

each film’s respective scores, providing

a sense of unity. Finally, the meaning-

ful conclusions of these investigations

point to the potential usefulness of

Schenkerian approaches to analysis out-

side of the narrow band of Western art

music upon which the system is based.

Figure 3. Schenkerian Analysis of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.”

James Bohn is Adjunct Professor in the

Department of Music.