Los Doggies

“Song of the Songs” features this bitonal chord. I once dubbed this “the Luciferean Chord” although I don’t think I know what I meant by that. “Luciferean” means something like “beautiful evil,” considering that he’s usually portrayed as an Aryan fop.

Drag over the noteheads to listen to a Luciferean E Chord.

This is a beautifully dissonant chord with a kind of Lydian feel. There is the #4 from the Lydian mode; a Major Seventh in the middle; and on top, the dreaded ♭2 from Phrygian territory. Thus, there is a note cluster of D♯, E, and F, but when spread out over many octaves the dissonance is mitigated, and it almost sounds harmonious.

The other chord featured is an A Major 7 (add ♯4). Following a simple One to Four chord progression in the root, the harmony paints a much different tonality.

Drag over the noteheads below. Switch back and forth between the two chords to hear the full progression.

All in all, the two chords create a kind of Raga with two different scales ascending and descending. It is reminiscent of the Japanese Insen scale, a composite of Lydian and Phrygian tones. E Lydian down low with A♯ Minor Pentatonic up top, and a dissonant mix in between.

Listen to “Song of the Songs” and try to pick out the two chords.

Yes, I am copying Elliot Smith here and his numbered waltzes, #1 and #2. It’s a shame he never got to do a third. “Waltz #1” is a sweet Lydian piano waltz—as perfect as music can be. “Waltz #2” is also great, an Aeolian folk waltz. Both waltzes are backed by strings, as all the big waltzes are.

Elliot Smith was a big influence on me, because I too wrote songs in front of the television while idly picking at a guitar. The old CR tubes in TVs used to hypnotize people, but there was a bit of free will left in the decision. It was nice to set aside hypnosis time each day. As the Inner Game of Music would have it, the TV draws the conscious attention of the Self 1, allowing the Self 2 to flow freely upon the instrument. While the man in the little head is distracted by the shiny box, the God of Muscles takes over and improvises mostly mediocre music with many stumbles and the occasional diamond in the rye.

“Come and see,” said the angel, and a thousand trumpets sounded at once, exploding everyone’s heads. When you hear these words, you better be winding up to Heaven already, or else you’ll have to face the leftover schlock on Earth: double dragons, zombie nephilim, and a sword-mouthed Messiah.

“Come and See” is also the name of a blues song in F#.

F# is a nice modern bluesy key; it actually is blue in a synesthetic way. The F appears as an ocean of Mediterranean blue with the sharp symbol (#) like a metal grating on top to keep the waters from overflowing.

Listen to “Come and See”: