Holiday Magic

[EddMarkStarr]

Merry Christmas Everyone!

In December 1970 my favorite science teacher in middle school was fascinated by a song recorded by Tin Tin.
Toast and Marmalade for Tea was an unfinished song that was only a repeating verse, with no chorus, and was less than three minuets in length.

My science teacher classified Toast and Marmalade for Tea as repeated notes that formed a "musical key".


From 1970, if Toast and Marmalade for Tea is a musical key . . . where is the lock?

 

[Araucaria]

Thanks for posting this delightful melody. It is a pretty song, with wonderful harmonies.

Your statements bring up the question, what makes a song a song, and made me listen to what is actually going on? Lyrically, you don't have much, just two short verses with random thoughts that taken together don't mean anything. But the song is structured so the verses build upon themselves, by increasing volume, instrumentation, and key changes. By doing so, they make the song (two verses) serve as its own chorus at the middle. And then, they build upon that by again making the song serve as the chorus for all that has gone before.

I suspect that the Tin Tin members were playing around with the words and sounds, doing simple things. At some point it must have clicked that they had something here.

You'll notice a sort of distorted sound at the beginning of the song. The story is that the weight of some object placed on top of a tape deck caused that distortion when the tape was played. They liked it, and decided to use it in the song.

 

[Kahaih]

/\ @ random words that don't mean anything


Nope.
"Toast and marmalade for tea" is an expression. It means everything is cool, no dramas, good or bad, it's an average, easy day.

You're probably more familiar with the term "copacetic". As in everything is copacetic.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Thanks for posting this delightful melody. It is a pretty song, with wonderful harmonies.

Your statements bring up the question, what makes a song a song, and made me listen to what is actually going on? Lyrically, you don't have much, just two short verses with random thoughts that taken together don't mean anything. But the song is structured so the verses build upon themselves, by increasing volume, instrumentation, and key changes. By doing so, they make the song (two verses) serve as its own chorus at the middle. And then, they build upon that by again making the song serve as the chorus for all that has gone before.

I suspect that the Tin Tin members were playing around with the words and sounds, doing simple things. At some point it must have clicked that they had something here.

You'll notice a sort of distorted sound at the beginning of the song. The story is that the weight of some object placed on top of a tape deck caused that distortion when the tape was played. They liked it, and decided to use it in the song.

You are amazing!

When we returned to class, after Winter Break, in January 1971, a friend of mine basically said what you said - the unfinished song completes itself. I'm convinced that to add anything to the song would ruin it.
For such a small song, it had staying power as it rose up the Pop Charts all summer and hit the Top of the Charts by September 1970. It still was a radio regular by Christmas 1970.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

/\ @ random words that don't mean anything


Nope.
"Toast and marmalade for tea" is an expression. It means everything is cool, no dramas, good or bad, it's an average, easy day.

You're probably more familiar with the term "copacetic". As in everything is copacetic.

In 2005, I had a crazy dream that humanity would one day face a pandimentional crisis, and the solution was behind a multi-verse doorway sealed by a musical lock.
Of course the key was Toast and Marmalade for Tea, but the music wouldn't work without the lyrics - and only one person knew the lyrics!

It woke me up in a panic, everything seemed so real. Once I realized it was a dream I calmed right down into "Mr. Copacetic".

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Relax with the full version of, "The Snowman".