Not a Day Goes by- A Close Look

8/10/2019 Not a Day Goes by- A Close Look

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Not A Day Goes By A Close Look

By Joe Romanini


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Though originally a finan ial an! artisti flo"# $te"hen $on!heim%s Merrily We Roll

Along has ha! a num&er of re'i'als in (hi h some remarka&le "erforman es ha'e surfa e!) *f

these "erforman es# the a tresses (ho "lay the role of Beth ha'e hea'y loa!s to &ear) T(o

"arti ularly remarka&le "erforman es of Beth%s most (ell kno(n song Not A Day Goes By are

that of Ja +ueline Dank(orth an! Betsy ,olfe) ,hile &oth "erformers ha'e their o(n uni+ue

inter"retations of the song# &oth are 'ali! in their e-"ansion u"on the ri h an'as (hi h

$on!heim "ro'i!es them)

.n Merrily We Roll Along (e follo( the frien!shi" of /rank# a song(riter# Charley# a

lyri ist# an! 0ary# a "lay(right# o'er the ourse of a&out o'er 2 years) The most interesting

feature of this musi al# though# is the fa t that time mo'es &a k(ar!s (e meet the frien!s at the

en! of their frien!shi" an! slo(ly mo'e to (hen they first met) The most gri""ing an! emotional

song in the s ore is Not A Day Goes By) The hara ter (ho sings Not a Day Goes By is Beth

$"en er# /rank%s soon to &e e-3(ife) $he sings this song to /rank at a &reak from their !i'or e

ourt hearing after he has 4ust aske! her if she still lo'es him# to (hi h she e-"lains that there is

not a !ay that "asses in (hi h she !oes not still lo'e him) Though she lo'es him# she annot

o'erlook that he heate! on her (ith another (oman Gussie) 1

A &eautiful feature of $on!heim%s (ork is his a&ility to reate su h a 'ast lan!s a"e for a

"erformer sim"ly &y his hoi e of rhyme# 'o a&ulary# an! tone) The song itself utili5es 'ery little

rhyme# &ut the t(o rhymes it !oes use are onstant un hanging rhymes !ay6stay6a(ay6"ay an!

s(eating6forgetting6 rying !ying 7Lines 2# 8# 19# 1:# 1;# :#


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there%s 7Lines @# 8# :# 1 # 1:# 1;# 2 =) A!!itionally# as the song arries on# a moment (here her

her "re'iously set rules of s"ee h hange is (hen she lea'es a out of the "hrase someho( "art

of my life 7Line 1 =) This omission# as o""ose! to the similar earlier "hrase some(here a "art

of my life# signifies that she is &e oming less on erne! (ith ho( she a""ears at this "oint an!

more on erne! (ith the emotions she is trying to on'ey to /rank sans grammati al

on'entions 7Line @=) .t is also (orth noting that (hile she lea'es the a out of the "hrase# she

a!!s still &efore the "hrase 7line 1 =) This su&stitution "ut more em"hasis on /ranks

onsisten y of "resen e in her life# though she longs for that not to &e the ase)

/rom the first (or! of the song# the tone set is alrea!y negati'e a theme (hi h is

e-"an!e! on until the en!) ,hen the ti" of our tongue meets the &a k of our front teeth# our

mouths &e ome lose! off) Not sur"risingly# in the nglish language# (hen this a tion is

'o ali5e! (e are left (ith the n soun! the same soun! (hi h !enotes su h negati'e (or!s as

no# ne'er# negati'e# an! the first (or! of our song Not 7Line 1=) This lose! off

"hysi ality of the n is then om"lete! &y the om"lete &reak of soun! at t in not) To &egin

(ith the "hrase Not a !ay goes &y also imme!iately reates a feeling of em"tiness 7Line 1=) By

fo using on the negati'e as"e t of !ays not seeming to "ass# Beth is inferring that other more

"ositi'e moments in her life are &eing misse! out on) Continuing through the first stan5a# (e also

fin! the (or!s single an! stay 7Lines 2# 8=) ,hile single an! stay reate a 'ague i!ea of

s"e ifi ity# a s"e ifi ity (hi h Beth feels like she !oes not ha'e# they are still &eing use! (ithin

the onte-t of "ain an! false ho"e the i!ea of /rank staying e'ery single !ay is heart3

(ren hing &e ause he has only ause! her to hurt in the "ast)

*ther strong (or! hoi es (hi h !enote Beth%s anger in lu!e forgetting# ursing#

rying# an! &lesse! 7Lines :# 1 # 19=) a h of these (or!s arry harsh onsonants (hi h


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further !e'elo" the i!ea of anger) .n the (or! forgetting the tongue "ushes against the to" of

the mouth at g an! ontinues to "ush air for(ar! an! out(ar! to om"lete the ett soun! the

for(ar! motion "uts the energy of the s"eaker for(ar! onto the listener# (hi h is e-a tly (hat

Beth (ants to ha""en) Then# in &oth ursing an! rying (e are onfronte! (ith the an!

r soun!s) ,hile the is similar to g soun! in its +ui k e-"ulsion of air from the mouth# it

is shar"er &e ause the "la ement of the tongue is more for(ar!) /urthermore# (hen (e "ro!u e

the r in &oth of the (or!s a rattling soun! is reate! in the throat similar to the gro(l of a (olf

or !og a 'ery "rimal soun!) /inally# in &oth ursing an! &lesse! (hen the teeth lose at the

front of the mouth an! the tongue ar hes an s soun! is forme!# this s is largely reminis entof a snake rea!y to "oun e) Erogressi'ely through (or! hoi e# Beth is &e oming more

aggressi'e an! animalisti an! she &erates /rank)

Throughout the song# $on!heim also has an ingenious (ay of hol!ing time still or

mo'ing it along) This is first e'i!ent in the &eginning stan5a (hen (e seem to &e hel! hostage &y

the i!ea that time is not mo'ing Not a !ay goes &y6 not a single !ay 7Lines 1# 2=) ,e ontinue

through the first stan5a (ith Beth as she looks for /rank some(here in her life an! tries to

figure out (hy he only a""ears to &e "resent# looks like you%ll stay 7Lines @38=) .n the se on!

stan5a# though $on!heim starts to mo'e time along# As the !ays go &y# (e are still hel! a"ti'e

&y the e'er looming "resen e of /rank in Beth%s life . kee" thinking# (hen !oes it en!F 7Lines

93 =) This "ara!o-i al nature of Beth%s "light ontinues in the "hrase .%ll ha'e starte! forgetting

7Line :=) Through the "hrase%s intri ate use of tense# $on!heim sho(s Beth as hol!ing herself

a"ti'e an! una&le to mo'e for(ar!) This is so &e ause to say . (ill ha'e "uts intention into

the future# &ut this "hrasing re+uires use of a "ast tense 'er& in this ase starte! to

om"lete the "hrase) Therefore the future also referen es the i!ea of the "ast# reinfor ing Beth%s


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struggle of not es a"ing her "ast e'en (hen looking into the future)

.n the follo(ing line# $on!heim has Beth 4ust go on thinking a mu h sim"ler a tion

for her to !o almost a rest for her after the stressful thoughts of the last stan5a 7Line ;=)

/ollo(ing this# $on!heim a""ears to reates mo'ement an! momentum (ith an!s inter4e ting

&et(een Beth%s emotions 7Lines


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signifi ant of the three "eo"le (ho are "er ei'e! &y Beth to &e in her marriage relationshi"

Beth# /rank# an! Gussie)

The ri hest use of lyri s to e-"lain (ho Beth really is# ho(e'er# falls in the thir! stan5a)

The 4ourney (e go through (ith Beth from thinking to s(eating to ursing to rying to

turning to rea hing to (aking to !ying takes us through a gauntlet of emotions 7Lines


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(hen she sings the (or!s &y 7line 9=# no 7line 1@=# an! !ie 7line 1


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ina!e+ua y on the "art of her &reath su""ort) Though Dank(orth%s &reathing (as au!i&le

throughout the "ie e# this !i! not influen e the "ronun iation an! !i tion# (hi h is lear an! easy

to un!erstan!) The "ronun iation !oes not get in the (ay of lines# though (hen the (or!s

&e ome harsher an! shar"er 7lines 1 # 19# 22= it an &e slightly !istra ting)

.n ontrast to Dank(orth%s "erforman e is another from the 2 12 Ne( >ork City Center

n oresK Re or!ing the a tress "erforming the role of Beth $"en er in this re or!ing is Betsy

,olfe) ,olfe%s%s 'oi e is lighter than Dank(orth%s &ut it still arries a great amount of (eight)

,olfe is a&le to sing the entirety of the song 'ery freely an! o"enly from her hest) By !oing so#

she a'oi!s either a &reathy or a nasal tone) ,olfe is also a&le to a'oi! s(it hing registers &e ause

the range sits 'ery omforta&ly in her 'oi e an! she has su h (on!erful 'o al "la ement in her

soft "alate) This allo(s for &eautiful resonan e an! in tune singing throughout) .n terms of

"hrasing# ,olfe%s !eli'ery of the song is almost i!enti al to Dank(orth%s !eli'ery) The only

!ifferen e omes in that (hile Dank(orth (oul! take su&stantial &reaks at the en! of almost

e'ery line# ,olfe%s &reaks (ere less noti ea&le like at line 1;) 8

A slo(er tem"o in this onte-t allo(s ,olfe to &e 'ery !efiniti'e an! "re ise in (hat she

says) er tem"o a""ro"riately in reases at line < (hen she &egins to e-"an! on her ailments this

slightly faster tem"o ontinues throughout the song only to &e slo(e! for a fe( moments to hel"

a entuate her a tion of !ying 7Line 12=) A!!itionally# ,olfe%s !ynami s are fairly se+uential

through her "erforman e# sa'e a fe( out&ursts) $he starts softly 7line 1= an! "rogresses to a mi!

range !ynami 7line


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Not a Day Goes by- A Close Look