"Anchor" - Musical Analysis 1

I moved for the first time when I was nine years old. It was from the east coast to Alaska, somewhere totally unknown to me. But I knew at least one thing would stay the same: I would be joining a dance studio. Among all these changes, I had something familiar to hold on to. So, what a wonderful coincidence that the first ballet dance I learned at my new studio was to the song “Anchor” by Mindy Gledhill.

The first verse is something that’s stuck with me through all these years:

“When all the world is spinning ‘round

like a red balloon way up in the clouds

and my feet will not stay on the ground

you anchor me back down.”

Lyrics

The main idea that I find in the lyrics is the narrator feeling lost, and something is helping them find reassurance and stability. Some more lyrics that jump out to me are “restless soul,” and “when I’m lost, I feel so very found.” I’ve seen that different people relate to this song in their own way, and interpret the “something” anchoring them down as something important to them. Many people view this song through their religion, saying that it is Christ that reassures them. Gledhill herself was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2010, when this song was released, so this may be the perspective she saw her own lyrics from. An article from the Salt Lake Tribune then details her journey of leaving the church, which inspired her later 2013 album. She “writ[es] music to process her experiences,” so it’s interesting that even before leaving the LDS church, she was writing lyrics about feeling lost and directionless (Means).

Not only do the literal words convey this idea, but also how they’re arranged within the song. For one, the title “Anchor” shows up in each verse, rather than many pop songs I know that title themselves based on the chorus. It’s unusual, it feels out of place. The choruses that are intended to be a recurring idea can seem to float away because they’re not tied to the title. To contrast this, the first verse is repeated again at the end of the song. So, after the final chorus, the listener may feel lost, but they are once again anchored by getting to hear something familiar. It gives me a “full-circle” feeling that I enjoy.

Melody and Meter

The melodies throughout the song mirror the meaning behind the lyrics.

This is some ambiguous notation for the melody of the verses. What’s important is visually we can now see how high or low the notes are. At the very beginning, the hollow notes take a step up each time they appear, but in between them, they always return to the same solid note. It’s as if the melody keeps lifting up and floating away, but there is a lower note that it keeps returning to. This down-up, down-up, down-up pattern repeats again in the verse. At the very end, she always says “anchor me back down,” which corresponds to the part of the melody where it stops rising and instead falls down to the lowest note in the whole verse. The specific term is the “tonic,” or the “root note,” basically meaning that ending on that note sounds good to the ear, like the phrase is resolving to its natural conclusion. The whole verse feels like it just isn’t quite over, it’s falling out of your grasp, until we finally get to the last few words.

This is the notation for the choruses. We can hear, and also see, that the chorus has a wider range than the verses--it goes a couple steps higher. This alone contributes to the “lost,” “losing grip” feeling that I mentioned earlier. Additionally, the down-up pattern repeats again, but it’s shorter. There are fewer times that the hollow notes return back down to the same solid note. The concluding lyrics, like the verses, do come back down to the lower end of the range, but they do not end on the same note. Whereas the verses end on the root note and feel complete, the choruses end just one step above the root note. The ear doesn’t quite recognize it as resolved, rather, it pulls us forward into the next section because it just doesn’t feel like it’s over.

The meter of this song also drives the melody forward. It's in 3/4 time, which means that the beats are emphasized as strong-weak-weak, making it inherently uneven. (Most pop songs in recent years are in 4/4, where the beats are strong-weak-strong-weak, and this deviation from the norm supports the lyrics about being unusual and being told to change.) For "Anchor" in particular, the way that these three beats are divided up in the melody tends to be a longer note, held for two beats, followed by a short note, held for one beat. The long-short long-short pattern keeps propelling the melody into the next sequence. The choice of 3/4 time for this song may also give some a nostalgic feel, because this meter “was a staple of many pop hits in the fifties and sixties” (Beta Monkey).

Timbre and Harmonic Texture

Along with a nostalgic feel, I also envision this song as a sort of lullaby. The very beginning starts out just as a low drone on a string instrument, which eases in the listener. Then, the piano enters with minimal chords and a simple rhythm. This is essentially the only accompaniment for the melody, and this homophonic texture continues for the whole song. The soft piano and simplicity of the background instruments sets up a gentle, calming feeling. When Gledhill enters with her vocals, the quality is very light and reminds me of whispers.

Possibly my favorite aspect of this song are the background vocals, beginning during the second verse. They are overlapping voices that create a sustained chord, still very light and quiet. These long notes carry over through the first chorus and following verse, which adds more substance, but it’s not overwhelming because she chose to sing softly. These vocals are almost like an aftertaste–you don’t really notice it until you start thinking about it, but you can still feel its effects.

The background vocals change for the second chorus. In addition to the sustained chords, there are also quick runs up and down, which are at the higher end of the range for this song. The runs are quiet and fleeting to accompany the way that the main melody floats away. This section has the most content sound-wise, which has been building up since the beginning. Then, in the blink of an eye, it’s all taken away and we’re left with the piano and drone that were always lying underneath. Except this time, the piano is an octave higher, as if the disorientation of the last chorus still lingers. The piano does not end on the root note, like how the main melody did. It makes me think that through the lyrics, the narrator is consciously thinking about something that calms them, but there is still the underlying feeling of being lost, floating aimlessly through the sky. The piano falls and falls, but it’s only the voice that ever touches the ground.

Photo by Stacey Goodwin

"Anchor" is a technically simple piece that is carefully thought out and rich with meaning. It's not only the lyrics that tell the story, it's also the musical context in which Gledhill lets us hear them.

Sources

Means, Sean P. “A Provo Musician was a ‘Public Face’ for Latter-day Saints. On her New Album, she Sings about Leaving the Faith.” The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 January 2019, https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2019/01/17/provo-musician-mindy/. Accessed 1 October 2023.

“Mindy Gledhill - Anchor.” YouTube, uploaded by Mindy Gledhill, 5 June 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB3BWmCOW2Y. Accessed 1 October 2023.

“Most Popular Songs Written in 3/4.” BetaMonkey, 11 April 2020, https://www.betamonkey.com/popular-examples-of-music-written-in-3-4/. Accessed 1 October 2023.