![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/johnesimpson.com\/images\/butler_roalddahl_sm.jpg?resize=275%2C345&ssl=1\" "\\"Roald")
The scene: an elegant restaurant.<\/p>\nThe scene: an elegant restaurant.<\/p>\n
A waiter crosses the floor, headed your way. His dress is formal, his manner both imperious and humble. As he approaches, you can’t help admiring the grace with which he avoids other diners, other staff, furniture placed apparently where he’s most likely to collide with it. You wonder — you doubt<\/em> — whether you could ever move with such assurance.<\/p>\n The waiter arrives at your table. He raises an eyebrow, ever so slightly. He bends at the waist. The beverage is yours for the taking; he will not presume to touch it or place it before you.<\/p>\n A pause.<\/p>\n You raise your hand to the serving tray. Your fingers close around the stem of a glass…<\/p>\n What I don’t know about music theory could fit in a stadium, if I was lucky. (Yes, be patient, I’m not really changing the subject.) And as you know if you’ve been around here for even a few weeks, my hearing presents some obstacles when listening to anything at all.<\/p>\n But with music, the obstacles are minor as long as there aren’t any words involved. I can hear the instruments and the notes and rhythms just fine. And every now and then, I think I hear music do something interesting. And then I hear it again, in some other piece. And then I wonder if there’s a name for this something, or if I’m just imagining things…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The latest noticed-it-twice phenomenon I think of as a “serving it up” silence, and I’ve observed it in two pieces so far: “A Home,” by the Dixie Chicks, and “For the Good Times,” the original version of the Kris Kristofferson song. The only way I can think to describe it goes something like this:<\/p>\n Now, it’s true that the songs in question are both country-western tunes (ballads of heartbreak, dealt with in different ways but heartbreak nonetheless). Maybe that counts as an important bit of common ground. In any case, I’ve been listening for the serving-it-up silence in other music for a couple months now and (when not distracted by the music itself) haven’t heard it anywhere else.<\/p>\n (You can hear both songs below, preceded by their lyrics. The little red “[ding!]<\/em><\/span>” things mark the points of interest.)<\/p>\n So I put it to you:<\/p>\n Prizes may be awarded for the best answers. Or, well, they may not be.<\/p>\n First, the Dixie Chicks and “A Home”:<\/p>\n A Home<\/strong> I mistook the warnings for wisdom [ding!]<\/em><\/span>Not a night goes by Guess I did what I did believing [ding!]<\/em><\/span>Not a night goes by Four walls, a roof, a door, some windows [ding!]<\/em><\/span>Not a night goes by …And second, Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times”:<\/p>\n For the Good Times<\/strong> Don’t look so sad — I know it’s over. [ding!]<\/em><\/span>Lay your head upon my pillow. I’ll get along; you’ll find another. [ding!]<\/em><\/span>Lay your head upon my pillow. The scene: an elegant restaurant. A waiter crosses the floor, headed your way. His dress is formal, his manner both imperious and humble. As he approaches, you can’t help admiring the grace with which he avoids other diners, other staff, furniture placed apparently where he’s most likely to collide with it. You wonder — you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[410,247,74],"tags":[558,559,560,561,562,563],"class_list":{"0":"post-1230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-hearing","7":"category-ruminations","8":"category-music","9":"tag-waiter","10":"tag-silence","11":"tag-roald-dahl","12":"tag-music-theory","13":"tag-dixie-chicks","14":"tag-kris-kristofferson","15":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-jQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1230"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1256,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions\/1256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n(words and music by Maia Sharp and Randy Sharp;
\nperformed by The Dixie Chicks)<\/em><\/p>\n
\nFrom so-called friends quick to advise
\nThough your touch was telling me otherwise
\nSomehow I saw you as a weakness
\nI thought I had to be strong
\nOh but I was too young, I was scared, I was wrong<\/p>\n
\nI don’t dream of wandering
\nThrough the home that might have been
\n[ding!]<\/em><\/span>I listened to my pride
\nWhen my heart cried out for you
\nNow every day I wake again
\nIn a house that might have been
\nA home<\/p>\n
\nThat love is a dangerous thing
\nOh but that couldn’t hurt anymore than never knowing<\/p>\n
\nI don’t dream of wandering
\nThrough the home that might have been
\n[ding!]<\/em><\/span>I listened to my pride
\nWhen my heart cried out for you
\nNow every day I wake again
\nIn a house that might have been
\nA home
\nA home<\/p>\n
\nJust a place to run when my working day is through
\nThey say home is where the heart is
\nIf the exception proves the rule I guess that’s true<\/p>\n
\nI don’t dream of wandering
\nThrough the home that might have been
\n[ding!]<\/em><\/span>I listened to my pride
\nWhen my heart cried out for you
\nNow every day I wake again
\nIn a house that might have been
\nA home
\nA home<\/p><\/blockquote>\n[audio:ahome_dixiechicks.mp3|titles=A Home|artists=The Dixie Chicks]<\/div>\n
\n (words, music, and performance by Kris Kristofferson)<\/em><\/p>\n
\nBut life goes on, and this old world will keep on turning.
\nLet’s just be glad we had some time to spend together;
\nThere’s no need to watch the bridges that we’re burning.<\/p>\n
\nHold your warm and tender body close to mine.
\nHear the whisper of the raindrops
\nBlowin’ soft against the window,
\nAnd make believe you love me one more time —
\nFor the good times.<\/p>\n
\nAnd I’ll be here if you should find you ever need me.
\nDon’t say a word about tomorrow or forever;
\nThere’ll be time enough for sadness when you leave me.<\/p>\n
\nHold your warm and tender body close to mine.
\nHear the whisper of the raindrops
\nBlowin’ soft against the window,
\nAnd make believe you love me one more time —
\nFor the good times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n[audio:forthegoodtimes_kriskristofferson.mp3|titles=For the Good Times|artists=Kris Kristofferson]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"