Pharyngitis, Darkness

I spent most of last week resting at home, after having been diagnosed with pharyngitis. As part of the public service, "Learn something new each day", I discovered that pharyngitis and tonsillitis are both infections in the throat that cause inflammation. If the tonsils are primarily affected, it is called tonsillitis. If the throat is primarily affected, it is called pharyngitis (I didn't know what the difference between the two types of infection was).

My throat had felt like it was participating in a sword-fight every time I swallowed; funnily enough, talking seemed to alleviate the pain (and I had to talk a lot last Sunday and Monday). But by Tuesday I was feeling very weak so I managed to drag myself to the clinic where I was diagnosed (without a throat swab, I note). The doctor prescribed antibiotics and pseudoephedrine, which was supposed to act as a nasal decongestant.

Fortunately, I didn't run a high temperature; most of the time I simply felt weak, along with great difficulty in swallowing and producing large amounts of mucus from my nose. I could also barely speak.

I spent the time by working from home, reading and by completing a new cover version of a Van der Graaf Generator song, "Darkness". I found a version which I had sequenced once, which was about 90% complete. Unfortunately, I apparently had aimed at sequencing the song as it was played (including double sax parts) as opposed to creating my own version of the song, so after I completed the copy, I then started a new version which borrowed only slightly from the original. This alternate version is much lighter than the original, which is just as well, as one couldn't really create a darker version had one tried.

Looking at this song now, some 41 years after having heard it for the first time, I am struck by how much it displays Peter Hammill's unconventional approach to chord sequences. There is nary a minor chord to be found, but there are almost all the major chords based on the white keys; the song is in E and features E, F, G, A, C and D. Note that the dominant fifth chord, B, does not appear. 

When I sequence a song, I first get its structure correct, then start adding fills and solos. This latter stage can last a long time, as I listen to the song repeatedly and get new ideas. When taking the dog for a walk (I was feeling a little better at that time), I played the song once more in my head and noticed a similarity between a few bars of 'Darkness' and 'Something in the air' (Thunderclap Newman). I immediately took the instrumental part of SITA for those bars and pasted them in to the corresponding place in 'Darkness'; that part has always reminded me of the Marseillaise, which I took as a musical joke aimed at 'All you need is love'. If so, then I am prolonging the joke. I don't know whether the casual listener would be aware of the quote; at the moment, my ears are sensitised to this lick and so it stands out.

Due to my illness, I have yet to record a vocal, although paradoxically the sound emanating from my throat might sound better than my normal singing voice.