Miss Saigon’s “The Sacred Bird”

“The Sacred Bird”

What could be more important to a plot then the death of the heroine. Powerful maternal devotion exercised through self sacrifice portrayed through the complexity of music and lyrics.

The introduction is composed of four measures in 4/4 time performed by a full string section playing low notes that sound almost like a death march even more enhanced by the accent of consistently single pulse of a bass drum. Although the music changes with the entrance of the vocals, the introduction foreshadows the end of the song; suicide. Chimes and a flute introduce the vocals, the flute holds a high note to merge the vocals into the song which has changed from four beats to five. Melodic motive can be heard on either a guitar or electric piano beneath the calm, soft, high pitched voice of the female(Kim)singer. A wood wind sounds at certain points in the lyrics with angelic intent in lines such as “spirits know when to fly,” displaying a heavenly effect.

After the first stanza is sung, the introduction is repeated, but only for 2 measures, a drastic musical change compared to the beginning. The second time the vocals emerge the dynamics and timbre of her voice change as the pitch and volume increase especially during the first two lines of the stanza with emphasis on the end + internal rhyme of rise and wide. The vocals return to the calm sweet consonance of the first stanza. Once again the introduction repeats, but this time it has grown fainter and replaced the powerful heart beat of the bass drum with the more timid tapping of a stick on perhaps a high hat. I believe the change in this pulse is also a foreshadow of the upcoming cease of the singer’s own pulse.

In the next set of lyrics the dynamics of the vocals change dramatically with a plunge to a lower pitch and the lyrics seem to be more spoken then sung. This particular change has to do more with the text in which she is now ordering her son to give all that he has to his father, remember her maternal devotion always, and say his last good byes. The only words in which she holds the notes are ending rhymes in the last lines of the stanza: gone…on/me…see. Although there is a break in lyrics, the introductory music no longer intrudes, there are short notes between stanzas as not to take away from the meaning of the lyrics. This conveys that time is running out for our heroine and the death like march is no longer needed for death has already arrived hence the last line “I’ll give my life for you.” A soft flute follows the final line and leads the music into a spectacular change as the full orchestra explodes into a dramatic storm of chaos with the over powering sound of trumpets announcing the final moments of her life. This is a depiction by the orchestra of life flashing before one’s eyes ended by the echo of a single gun shot.