Abstract

Pop songs offer a good opportunity for the study of emotions. The unavoidable presence of the voice — an extension of the singer's body that carries both melody and lyrics — sustains a connection between the enunciator's emotions and his/her work. Such an inherent bond is independent of the classical operations of engagement/disengagement (embrayage/ débrayage), even if they are linguistically marked in the text. Behind the musical form that tends to systematize the melody in a strict frame, there is always a force generated by the intonation of spoken language that disturbs the expected meters by contracting and extending the syllables and, in that way, expresses the intentions of the enunciator.

The melody may achieve its stability through different processes that will enable the articulation of the emotions arising from the text. In a continuous process, the song will have its motifs reproduced over and over or it will evolve gradually throughout its range. The discontinuous process will place emphasis on intervallic jumps or on the introduction of new parts to the song. This article proposes an evaluation of the compatibility between melody and lyrics, through an analysis of the Brazilian song ‘Eu sei que vou te amar' by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.