So here we have one of the more sad songs Sondheim has written. “Not a Day Goes By” from Merrily We Roll Along takes place when Beth, Frank’s wife is in the midst of their divorce. She is also dealing with the fact that Frank is cheating on her with Gussie. In this song, Beth is essentially saying that she will never be able to live with herself knowing that Franks has cheated on her.
Merrily, musically speaking, is generally built off simple motifs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many simple, pure melodies and accompaniments in another Sondheim show. I think this is because the show is about growing, and learning. Think about the songs in the show- pieces like “Growing Up,” “Good Thing Going,” “Not a Day Goes By,” are all simplistic because the characters haven’t learned something yet. Now when I say “learned something” I mean that they haven’t reacted to a situation, and have become wiser because of it. Songs like “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” are complex because they character, in this case, Charlie, has experienced something, and is explaining his experience. In a way, he almost becomes the teacher in that song. Complexity of the writing also relates to the timeline of the show. As the play goes on, time goes backward. The characters become younger, less experienced, and thus, the songs become (generally speaking) less complex. “Not a Day Goes By” is simplistic because it is an outpour of emotion, not a lesson-learned type of song.
Now, not much goes on here musically, because it’s a fairly simple song by Sondheim’s standards, but there are some basic characteristics of his writing that appear in this piece, so I figured I would bring attention to them. My version is in Bb, then transitions to C, because I have the Piano/Conductor Score MTI rents out, which is the revival of the show. So that’s the key I’m following.
The songs starts with a simple melody sung by Beth. “Not a day goes by…” the notes that are on each word are C,D,F,Eb,D. As simple a melody as Sondheim can make. The movement is also sparse throughout the song. This is because, just like in “Send in the Clowns,” the character is so hurt, or so angry, that it is beyond words. Under this melody, the flute plays the accompaniment theme, which ends on a major 7th, an A. Any time a major 7th is present, there’s going to be a certain level of dissonance, which makes sense for this song, because Beth is clearly is in pain. The song continues with, “But you’re somewhere a part of my life…” and when it gets to “and it looks like you’ll stay” the accompaniment shifts to an Ab major 7th chord. Not only is this a modal mixture, (borrowing flat-7 from the natural minor), but it is again, a major 7th chord. This implies that Beth is not happy about the fact the Frank will be staying. It is clear that she does not mean this in a lovey-dovey sort of way.
Before we continue I just want to mention the repetition of the phrase “day(s) go by.” This phrase comes up ever 4 or 5 measures in this song. This is no accident. It s a rhetorical device in the literary sense(we’ll get to repetition as a rhetorical device in the musical sense later). The fact that Beth is singing “day(s) go by” over and over, gives the sense that the song is prolonged, because the listener gets used to hearing it. When an audience member hears something over and over again, it generally grates on them, because they get bored (the reason I can’t stand Les Mis, but that’s another argument for another day). This was Sondheim’s intention because it forces the listener to relate to Beth, even if it is subconsciously.
Ok, so now we’ve come to “I keep thinking, when does it end?…” The songs has now come out of this ambiguous state as far as the lyrics are concerned, and we have this definite statement of anger and sadness in Beth. What happens here is a secondary dominant (in this case, V/vi) with the third in the bass, creating a chromatic pull, and some harmonic instability on “thinking.” Once again, the music implies sadness in Beth’s character. The secondary dominant resolves, as usual, back to the chord it tonicized, a G minor on “when does it end?.” A sad chord for a sad statement. Now, one of the most important parts of the song, the triplets. Beth sings, “but I just go on thinking and sweating and cursing and crying and turning and reaching an waking and dying…” Starting on “thinking” the rest of the line is sung all in quartet note triplets. This gives the less grounding, especially when you consider the fact that the accompaniment is just half note chords. When this sense of grounding is gone, the listener’s ear goes up in the air, and the sense of time goes away. This is the perfect time to add repetition, and of course, Sondheim does. Once the sense of time is gone (generally speaking) this list, “thinking and sweating…” seems to go on forever, mirroring Beth’s attitude towards the rest of her life. This technique also occurs on “day after day, after day…” towards the end of the song to get the same effect.
One of the last little techniques in this song is the melody/lyric relationship on “blessed day.” Before that, Beth sings “not a day goes by” on the notes F, G, Bb, Ab, and G. after that, she sings the same figure on “not a bless-ed day.” However, this time, instead of a Bb, she sings a B natural, creating augmented sixth, as opposed to a major sixth. This gives the feeling that Beth is reaching for the heavens with “bless-ed.” Just another little trait of Sondheim’s writing that makes him great.
So that’s what I think of the song. Agree, disagree, whatever you’d like. Thanks for reading!!
