Solved: Song identification: "Come on Up to the Roof" (Title unsure)

Thread: Solved: Song identification: "Come on Up to the Roof" (Title unsure)

Tags: 1960s, identify, motown, roof, song
  1. ahtnamas said:

    Default Solved: Song identification: "Come on Up to the Roof" (Title unsure)

    I'm trying to i.d. a rock song from, I think, the 1960s. I remember a fragment of it, & can't find it on the lyrics search sites.

    It was performed by female singers, sopranos. The group had a primary lead singer. It was likely a small group, maybe a trio.
    The song had very little background instrumentation.
    It is possible it was Motown.
    It was likely the mid- to late-1960s, as I was not in high school when this song was on the radio.

    Below are the lyrics with the melody notes under the lyrics line (designated with the type of musical notation).
    The sheet music form is attached as a jpeg, if you'd like to play it on a piano, virtual or otherwise.

    LYRICA: "Why don't you come on up to the roof / Where we can see hea-ven a-bo-ove / [Oh,] Come on up to the roof / Where we can breathe..." (This may have been the chorus.)

    MUSIC KEY: C Major.
    First Note: F above Middle C.
    TIME: 4/4

    Why don't you come on up to the roof /
    F_quarter F_quarter E_quarter D_8th D_8th E_8th E_16th E_16th F_half /

    Where we can see heav-en a-bo-ove /
    F_8th F_8th E_quarter D_half G_8th F_8th E_quarter E_quarter F_half /

    [Oh,] Come on up the roof /
    [E_8th] D_8th D_8th E_8th E_16th E_16th F_half /

    Where we can breathe /
    F-below-MiddleC_16th F-below-MiddleC_16th F-below-MiddleC_16th Middle-C_6-quarter-count-(whole+half)
    Attached Images
     
  2. Mixalopoulos's Avatar

    Mixalopoulos said:

    Default

    The Supremes - Up The Ladder To The Roof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U83cFKXAihU
    Ρεμπέτικο για πάντα. Μάγκες είμαστε.
     
  3. ahtnamas said:

    Default

    I certainly remembered that wrong.

    But I like my version better - my words and the melody progression! I think that trying to stick "come on up the ladder to the roof", a 10-syllable phrase, into a musical progression that's trying to be only 7 syllables makes the song less effective. It's awkward, they sound like they're rushing to get all the words in before the music runs out.

    I also remember it as a far more robustly-sung number. Now that I hear the recorded version, it sounds rather weak and underpowered - not what I would expect from the Supremes.