"Who Will Comfort Me"
Melody Gardot is a popluar American Jazz Singer-Songwriter. "Who Will Comfort Me" was released as the lead single for her second studio album My One and Only Thrill. Lyrically the song is very simple. Gardot emphasizes that her heart is bound while the world is free, she asks who will comfort her weary soul that is beaten down from her misery. Her home is a wreck and family drowned in flight and poverty. Everything around her is quenching her and her soul is weary. Musically this simple lyric is combined with finger snapping, scat singing and percussion. This song is has the same melodic pattern 4 times. Each time there is a variation with either snapping, additional lyrics, changed rhythms or scat singing. Each is an element that is layered in. Gardot starts simple then leans into a layering effect that truly enhances the song. The very first thing we hear is Melody's snapping. This is a perfect mood setter, it sets the rhythm and you are lulled into attention. Then the first layer or verse is straight paved with simple lyrics and light accompaniment . The second verse is then ornamentation and each verse following has a different flare, Gardot moves her voice like an instrument playing with the melodic line. She sings very much horizontally, leaning into the Gm scales. Using leading tones to add tension and resolve that grabs listeners attention.
Melody Gardot singing "Who Will Comfort Me" on David Letterman:
My soul is a wearyMy soul is wearyMy soul is wearyI said my soul is weary
My soul is a weary and beaten down from all of my miseryOh Lord who will comfort meMy soul is a weary and beaten down from all of my miseryOh Lord who will comfort me
(scat)
Got a hold on my heart that keeps me boundWhen the whole wide world is freeOh Lord who will comfort meGot a hold on my heart that keeps me boundWhen the whole wide world is freeOh Lord who will comfort me
(scat)
My home is a wreckageA family drowned in flight and povertyOh Lord who will comfort meMy home is a wreckageA family drowned in flight and povertyOh Lord who will comfort meOh Lord who will comfort me (repeat).
Melody Gardot started music lessons at the age of 9 and began playing piano in the local hometown (Philadelphia) bars at the age of 16 on Fridays and Saturdays for four or more hours a night. Yet in 2003 Melody was cycling and was hit by a driver who ignored a red traffic light. In the accident she suffered serious head and spinal injuries as well as her pelvis was broken in two places. Because of the extent of her injuries she was confined to her hospital bed for a year and a half. Gardot had to re-learn walking, brushing her teeth and other simple motor skills. Yet it was in the hospital where she learned to play the guitar and truly began writing songs. She has been influenced by blues and jazz artists such as Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz and George Gershwin. As well as Latin music artists such as Caetano Veloso. Overall her music has even been compared to that of Nina Simone. She is a great modern jazz artist to enjoy!
