Music Analysis Narrative Essay
The song ‘Wind beneath my wings’ was written in 1982 by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley and was first originally recorded by Roger Whittaker. In the movie ‘Beaches’ the song is used, however it was re-recorded to perform a female rendition by Bette Midler. Bette Midler’s interpretation of ‘Wind beneath my wings’ is more suited to the atmosphere captured in the movie ‘Beaches’ through the analysis of the musical elements, timbre, dynamics, duration and compositional devices.
The timbre in Bette Midler’s ‘Wind beneath my wings’, portrayed a variety of moods and an overall thematic idea, but the timbre can be best described as empowering, solemn and warm whereas Roger Whittaker’s encapsulates yet again an empowering and warm but lively timbre. Each version uses the same accompanying instruments such as, strings, synthesisers, drum kit, however the main difference are the vocals. Roger Whittaker’s is more bold and manly whereas Bette Midler’s rendition is more suited to the atmosphere captured in the movie ‘Beaches’ as the female vocals portray the character’s emotion and feeling in the particular scene.
As well as the captivating timbre produced from Bette Midler’s version of ‘Wind beneath my wings’, dynamics portrayed a more suitable atmosphere for the movie ‘Beaches’. Bette Midler’s version executed a contrast of dynamics especially in the chorus where it really built in loudness which expressed a strong message from the female character in the movie in comparison to Roger Whittaker which had little change in dynamic and a low, deep male vocal.
Timbre and dynamics in Bette Midler’s version have been analysed to be more suitable in the movie ‘Beaches’ in comparison to Roger Whittaker. From the two songs, the duration was simple quadruple or four crotchet beats per bar. However Bette Midler’s version was expressed more strictly on the beat whereas Roger Whittaker was more free and used the compositional device augmentation on words heard in the chorus – ‘know’, ‘hero’, ‘every’ and ‘fly’ which took away the continuity of the piece.
Bette Midler’s version of ‘Wind beneath my wings’ is more suitable for the movie as it has a strict beat to portray the message in the film. From the analysis of the musical elements timbre, dynamics, duration and compositional devices of the song ‘Wind beneath my wing’, Bette Midler captures the atmosphere in the movie and is more suited to portray the character’s emotions in the movie ‘Beaches’
