Forum Overview :: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. :: Lay Down Your Weary Tune

[quote name="Fullofkittens"][quote name="Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"]The song is in the key of A major, and begins with the chorus:[10][13] <i>Lay down your weary tune, lay down Lay down the song you strum And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings No voice can hope to hum.</i> The text alternates between lines of four and three feet, which is a metric pattern shared by ballad stanzas and many hymns, referred to generally as common measure.[14] The song's chorus and five verses share a similar fourteen bar melody, although the melody is varied slightly each time.[10] The version of the melody used for the chorus has greater guitar accompaniment than the verses, based on the chords of A major, D major and E major, providing a literal "strength of strings" to the chorus.[10] The verses do not attempt to tell a story, but provide a series of images of nature.[8] The chorus is in the second person, and apparently is someone—possibly a deified personification of music—offering Dylan rest and freedom from his burdens.[8] In the verses, sounds from nature are contrasted with man-made sounds, particularly in lines such as "The morning breeze like a bugle blew," "The crashin' waves like cymbals clashed," "The cryin' rain like a trumpet sang," "The branches bare like a banjo moaned" and "The water smooth ran like a hymn."[10] But the chorus continually reminds us of the divide between natural and man-made sounds with the line "No voice can hope to hum," carrying the implicit meaning "No human voice can hope to hum."[10] "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" echoes some of the Elvish songs in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.[2][10] The tune precisely fits the words to the song Legolas sings about the maiden Nimrodel.[10] The themes are similar as well, particularly in the fourth verse of Legolas' song:[10] <i>Beside the falls of Nimrodel By water clear and cool Her voice as falling silver fell Into the shining pool.</i>[/quote]