Formal structure of "Eleanor Rigby":
Chorus 0:00-0:14* Verse 1 0:14-0:31 Bridge 0:31-0:46* Verse 2 0:46-1:03 Bridge 1:03-1:17 Chorus 1:17-1:31 Verse 3 1:31-1:48 Chorus 1:48-2:00 Coda (bridge) 2:00-2:05* Comments: Opens with chorus (instead of introduction), just like [12] "She Loves You", [14] "It Won't Be Long", [23] "Can't Buy Me Love", [34] "Any Time at All", [36] "When I Get Home", [48] "Another Girl", [55] "You're Going to Lose That Girl", and [69] "Nowhere Man". The first bridge does not lead to the chorus, but instead to verse 2. The other Beatles tunes to date that also pull this trick are [4] "Ask Me Why" (in which the first bridge leads to the second verse, and the second bridge leads to the middle 8 before the third bridge finally resolves to the chorus), [5] "There's a Place" (in which there is no chorus for the bridge to lead to), [12] "She Loves You" (in which the first bridge leads to the second verse, but each subsequent bridges leads to the chorus), and [78] "Got To Get You Into My Life" (in which the first bridge leads to the second verse, but each subsequent bridges leads to the chorus). The coda consists of the same five melodic notes that conclude the bridge (g, e-flat, b-flat, a, g), but in slightly different rhythm
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Formal structure of "I'm Only Sleeping":
Verse 1 0:00-0:21 Chorus 0:21-0:35 Verse 2 0:35-0:56 Chorus 0:56-1:10 Trans. 1:10-1:15* Middle 8 1:15-1:24 1st half of Verse 3 1:24-1:33* Break/Solo 1:33-1:45* Chorus 1:45-1:59 Trans. 1:59-2:04* Middle 8 2:04-2:13 Verse 4 2:13-2:34 Chorus 2:34-2:38 Coda (ind.) 2:48-2:59 Comments: No introduction - it simply starts right up with the first verse (as did [15] "All My Loving", [19] "Not a Second Time", [29b] "Long Tall Sally", [42] "No Reply", [46b] "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", and [58] "I'm Down", [61] "Wait", [68] “We Can Work it Out”, and [76] "Girl"). The break/solo following verse 3 is simply the second half of the verse, just with the backward guitar playing replacing the vocals. Verses 1 and 4 share identical lyrics. Choruses generally share identical lyrics in each iteration, but in this case the first and fourth choruses are the same ("Please don't wake me, no don't shake me..."), which differ from the second and third choruses ("Please don't spoil my day, I'm miles away..."). Each of the transitions following the choruses are extensions of the chorus - the last two bars of those choruses are repeated (though the repetition is not exact). This alerts a listener that something different is happening, and propels the song into the the middle 8s. Formal structure of "Taxman":
Intro (ind., verse) 0:00-0:09* Verse 1 0:09-0:32* Verse 2 0:32-0:55* Middle 8 0:55-1:11* Solo 1:11-1:25* End of Verse 1:25-1:35* Verse 3 1:35-1:58* Verse 4 1:58-2:30* Coda (ind., solo) 2:20-2:38* Comments: Yet another 2-part intro, with first the count-off, then the back beat. This follows [6b] "A Taste Of Honey", [11] "Thank You Girl", [17] "Little Child", [14b] "Roll Over Beethoven", [24] "You Can't Do That", and [31b] "Matchbox", [37] "Baby's in Black", [38b] "Mr. Moonlight", [45] "I Feel Fine", [46e] "Honey Don't", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [62] "Run For Your Life", [63] "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", [65] "Day Tripper", and [66] "If I Needed Someone", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", and [79] "Love You To", [81] "Paperback Writer", and [82] "Rain", which employ similar 2-part introductions. The coda, too, is in two parts: the lyrics "And you're working for no one but me" is entirely independent from the rest of the song (both melodically and chordally), then the guitar solo is heard again. The Middle 8 is less "middle-8-like" than usual because it uses very similar chords to the verse. Often the middle 8, in order to establish a strong contrast to the verses will instead employ very different chords. In "Taxman", however, that is not the case: The middle 8 uses just two chords - D7 and C7 - of which D7 (the tonic chord) is used extensively in the verse, and C (comparable but not identical to C7) is used once in the verse as well. In other words, the middle 8 in "Taxman" is more similar to the verses than is typical in Beatles music. McCartney's vicious solo replaces the first part of the verse. Solos often take the place of an additional verse, but in this case the solo replaces only the first part of the verse, with the end of the verse ("Cuz I'm the taxman ...") sung as usual. That same trick was used on [10] "From Me To You", [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [51] "The Night Before", [52] "You Like Me Too Much", and [67] "In My Life". Lastly, verses 1-2 and 3-4 are contiguous. Many Beatles songs have put the first two verses consecutively ([1] "Love Me Do", [6] “I Saw Her Standing There”, [7] "Do You Want to Know a Secret", [8] "Misery", [9b] "Anna (Go To Him)", [9c] "Boys", [9d] "Chains", [9f] Twist and Shout, [10] "From Me To You", [13e] "Till There Was You", [17] "Little Child", [19] "Not a Second Time", [23] "Can't Buy Me Love", [25] "And I Love Her", [26] "I Should Have Known Better", [28] "If I Fell'', [29] "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You", [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [31b] "Matchbox", [32] "I'll Cry Instead", [35] "Things We Said Today", [40] "I Don't Want To Spoil the Party", [41] "What You're Doing", [42] "No Reply", [43] "Eight Days a Week", [44] "She's a Woman", [44b] "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey", [46d] "Words of Love", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [49] "I Need You", [50] "Yes It Is", [51] "The Night Before", [52] "You Like Me Too Much", [54] "Tell Me What You See", [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", [56c] "Bad Boy", [57] "I've Just Seen a Face", [59] "Yesterday", [66] "If I Needed Someone", [68] "We Can Work it Out", [71] "Michelle", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", and [80] "Paperback Writer", and [82] "Doctor Robert"); but only 5 of these 42 have done the same thing with subsequent verses: [19] "Not a Second Time" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 3 and 4), [31b] "Matchbox" (in which the first three and last two verses are contiguous), [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 4-5), [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows" (in which verses 1-3 are contiguous, as are verses 4-7), and [80] "Paperback Writer" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 3-4). "Taxman", then, is just the 6th. Formal structure of "And Your Bird Can Sing":
Intro (break) 0:00-0:08 Verse 1 0:08-0:22 Verse 2 0:22-0:36 Middle 8 0:36-0:51 Break 0:51-1:05 Middle 8 1:05-1:20 Verse 3 1:20-1:34 Break 1:34-1:49 Coda (break) 1:49-2:00 Comments: Both the intro and coda are based on the break (the part with the exuberant guitar duet). The only other Beatles recording to date to do so is [80] "Paperback Writer". (It is much more common for the intro and/or coda to be based on the verse instead.) Verses 1 and 2 are contiguous (which is also found in [1] "Love Me Do", [6] “I Saw Her Standing There”, [7] "Do You Want to Know a Secret", [8] "Misery", [9b] "Anna (Go To Him)", [9c] "Boys", [9d] "Chains", [9f] Twist and Shout, [10] "From Me To You", [13e] "Till There Was You", [17] "Little Child", [19] "Not a Second Time", [23] "Can't Buy Me Love", [25] "And I Love Her", [26] "I Should Have Known Better", [28] "If I Fell'', [29] "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You", [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [31b] "Matchbox", [32] "I'll Cry Instead", [35] "Things We Said Today", [40] "I Don't Want To Spoil the Party", [41] "What You're Doing", [42] "No Reply", [43] "Eight Days a Week", [44] "She's a Woman", [44b] "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey", [46d] "Words of Love", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [49] "I Need You", [50] "Yes It Is", [51] "The Night Before", [52] "You Like Me Too Much", [54] "Tell Me What You See", [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", [56c] "Bad Boy", [57] "I've Just Seen a Face", [59] "Yesterday", [66] "If I Needed Someone", [68] "We Can Work it Out", [71] "Michelle", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", [80] "Paperback Writer", and [82] "Doctor Robert"). Formal structure of "Doctor Robert":
Intro (verse) 0:00-0:06 Verse 1 0:06-0:32 Verse 2 0:32-0:58 Middle 8 0:58-1:10 transition 1:10-1:13 Verse 3 1:13-1:40 Middle 8 1:40-1:52 transition 1:52-1:55 Coda (verse) 1:55-2:14 Comments: Verses 1 and 2 are contiguous (which is also found in [1] "Love Me Do", [6] “I Saw Her Standing There”, [7] "Do You Want to Know a Secret", [8] "Misery", [9b] "Anna (Go To Him)", [9c] "Boys", [9d] "Chains", [9f] Twist and Shout, [10] "From Me To You", [13e] "Till There Was You", [17] "Little Child", [19] "Not a Second Time", [23] "Can't Buy Me Love", [25] "And I Love Her", [26] "I Should Have Known Better", [28] "If I Fell'', [29] "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You", [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [31b] "Matchbox", [32] "I'll Cry Instead", [35] "Things We Said Today", [40] "I Don't Want To Spoil the Party", [41] "What You're Doing", [42] "No Reply", [43] "Eight Days a Week", [44] "She's a Woman", [44b] "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey", [46d] "Words of Love", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [49] "I Need You", [50] "Yes It Is", [51] "The Night Before", [52] "You Like Me Too Much", [54] "Tell Me What You See", [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", [56c] "Bad Boy", [57] "I've Just Seen a Face", [59] "Yesterday", [66] "If I Needed Someone", [68] "We Can Work it Out", [71] "Michelle", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", and [80] "Paperback Writer"). Formal structure of "Rain":
Intro 0:00-0:10 (2 parts) Verse 1 0:10-0:29 Verse 2 0:29-0:49 Middle 8 0:49-1:16 Verse 3 1:16-1:36 Middle 8 1:36-2:04 Verse 4 2:04-2:35* Coda (verse) 2:35-3:00 Comments: Several Beatles authors and scholars have pointed out that when the Beatles are at their most experimental in one way, the are often simultaneously extremely traditional in others. "Rain" is a prime example: it is the first example of backwards vocals (heard in the coda) in Beatles music, but at the same time the formal structure is very clear and traditional. The intro is in two parts again (like [6b] "A Taste Of Honey", [11] "Thank You Girl", [17] "Little Child", [14b] "Roll Over Beethoven", [24] "You Can't Do That", and [31b] "Matchbox", [37] "Baby's in Black", [38b] "Mr. Moonlight", [45] "I Feel Fine", [46e] "Honey Don't", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [62] "Run For Your Life", [63] "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", [65] "Day Tripper", and [66] "If I Needed Someone", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", and [79] "Love You To", and [81] "Paperback Writer") with the drums ushering in the back beat before the first verse begins. Lastly, the end of the last verse transitions to coda and is therefore a little different than how the previous verses conclude. Formal structure of "Paperback Writer":
Intro (break) 0:00-0:13* (vocal 0:00-0:06) (instr. 0:06-0:13) Verse 1 0:13-0:31 Verse 2 0:31-0:49 Break 0:49-1:02 (vocal 0:49-0:55) (instr. 0:55-1:02) Verse 3 1:02-1:20 Verse 4 1:20-1:38* Break 1:38-1:50 (vocal 1:38-1:45) (instr. 1:45-1:51) Coda (break) 1:51-2:16 Comments: "Paperback Writer" is yet another Beatles tune which uses a 2-part introduction (along with [6b] "A Taste Of Honey", [11] "Thank You Girl", [17] "Little Child", [14b] "Roll Over Beethoven", [24] "You Can't Do That", and [31b] "Matchbox", [37] "Baby's in Black", [38b] "Mr. Moonlight", [45] "I Feel Fine", [46e] "Honey Don't", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [62] "Run For Your Life", [63] "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", [65] "Day Tripper", and [66] "If I Needed Someone", and [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", and [79] "Love You To"). In this case, the 2 parts of the intro are (1) vocal polyphony, and (2) the rhythm section. This 2-part pattern reappears throughout the song as breaks from the verses. In fact, the intro is almost identical to the subsequent breaks - the only difference is that the drums take a few beats longer to establish the beat in the intro than in the breaks. To coda, too, is based on the break, though in this case it stretches out the title lyrics and eventually fades out (as opposed to using the two-part structure discussed above). Lastly, "Paperback Writer" features contiguous verses, which itself is nothing terribly unusual ([1] "Love Me Do", [6] “I Saw Her Standing There”, [7] "Do You Want to Know a Secret", [8] "Misery", [9b] "Anna (Go To Him)", [9c] "Boys", [9d] "Chains", [9f] Twist and Shout, [10] "From Me To You", [13e] "Till There Was You", [17] "Little Child", [19] "Not a Second Time", [23] "Can't Buy Me Love", [25] "And I Love Her", [26] "I Should Have Known Better", [28] "If I Fell'', [29] "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You", [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [31b] "Matchbox", [32] "I'll Cry Instead", [35] "Things We Said Today", [40] "I Don't Want To Spoil the Party", [41] "What You're Doing", [42] "No Reply", [43] "Eight Days a Week", [44] "She's a Woman", [44b] "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey", [46d] "Words of Love", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [49] "I Need You", [50] "Yes It Is", [51] "The Night Before", [52] "You Like Me Too Much", [54] "Tell Me What You See", [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", [56c] "Bad Boy", [57] "I've Just Seen a Face", [59] "Yesterday", [66] "If I Needed Someone", [68] "We Can Work it Out", [71] "Michelle", and [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows" and feature contiguous verses, too). What is unusual, though, is the fact that "Paperback Writer" is just the 5th of these 41 songs - the three previous examples being [19] "Not a Second Time" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 3 and 4), [31b] "Matchbox" (in which the first three and last two verses are contiguous), [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 4 and 5), and [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows" (in which verses 1-3 are contiguous, as are verses 4-7) - to feature contiguous verses other than verse 1 and verse 2. In this case, verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 3-4. Formal structure of "Love You To":
Intro* (cadenza) 0:00-0:35 (verse) 0:35-0:39 Verse 1 0:39-0:58 Middle 8 0:58-1:09 Verse 2 1:09-1:28 Middle 8 1:28-1:35 Solo 1:35-1:55 Middle 8 1:55- 2:06 Verse 3 2:06-2:25 Middle 8 2:25-2:32 Coda (solo) 2:32-3:00 Comments: "Love You To" is the first of several Indian-influenced Harrison compositions that will be difficult to analyze structurally because they are so different from the band's prior recordings. I use the same terms as I have before to maintain consistency, but it is worth noting that what I call a "verse" or "chorus" or "middle 8" here is rather different from how those same terms are used previously. The intro is again in two parts (like [6b] "A Taste Of Honey", [11] "Thank You Girl", [17] "Little Child", [14b] "Roll Over Beethoven", [24] "You Can't Do That", and [31b] "Matchbox", [37] "Baby's in Black", [38b] "Mr. Moonlight", [45] "I Feel Fine", [46e] "Honey Don't", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [62] "Run For Your Life", [63] "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", [65] "Day Tripper", and [66] "If I Needed Someone", and [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows") although here the first section (the sitar cadenza) is much longer than the second (in which the beat is established). Formal structure of [78] "Got To Get You Into My Life":
Intro (coda) 0:00-0:007 Verse 1 0:07-0:21 Bridge 0:21-0:35* Verse 2 0:35-0:49 Bridge 0:49-1:04 Chorus 1:04-1:14 Verse 3 1:14-1:28 Bridge 1:28-1:42 Chorus 1:42-1:49 Coda 1:49-2:28* (extension) 1:49-1:56 (chorus) 1:56-2:06 (verse) 2:06-2:28 Comments: The first bridge does not lead to the chorus, but instead to verse 2. The other Beatles tunes to date that also pull this trick are [4] "Ask Me Why" (in which the first bridge leads to the second verse, and the second bridge leads to the middle 8 before the third bridge finally resolves to the chorus), [5] "There's a Place" (in which there is no chorus for the bridge to lead to), and [12] "She Loves You". At 39 seconds, the coda is longer than usual, with three distinct sections, rather similar to [74] "The Word". Formal structure of "Tomorrow Never Knows":
Intro 0:00-0:12 Verse 1 0:12-0:27 Verse 2 0:27-0:42 Verse 3 0:42-0:57 Solo/Break 0:57-1:27 Verse 4 1:27-1:43 Verse 5 1:43-1:58 Verse 6 1:58-2:18 Verse 7 2:18-2:34 Coda (verse) 2:34-2:59 Comments: The structure of "Tomorrow Never Knows" is unusual in a few ways. First, the verses are two lines each - the shortest of any Beatles song to date (they are usually four lines each). Second, as a result of these brief verses, they can be contiguous. Many Beatles songs have used contiguous verses in the past: [1] "Love Me Do", [6] “I Saw Her Standing There”, [7] "Do You Want to Know a Secret", [8] "Misery", [9b] "Anna (Go To Him)", [9c] "Boys", [9d] "Chains", [9f] Twist and Shout, [10] "From Me To You", [13e] "Till There Was You", [17] "Little Child", [19] "Not a Second Time", [23] "Can't Buy Me Love", [25] "And I Love Her", [26] "I Should Have Known Better", [28] "If I Fell'', [29] "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You", [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [31b] "Matchbox", [32] "I'll Cry Instead", [35] "Things We Said Today", [40] "I Don't Want To Spoil the Party", [41] "What You're Doing", [42] "No Reply", [43] "Eight Days a Week", [44] "She's a Woman", [44b] "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey", [46d] "Words of Love", [47] "Ticket to Ride", [49] "I Need You", [50] "Yes It Is", [51] "The Night Before", [52] "You Like Me Too Much", [54] "Tell Me What You See", [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", [56c] "Bad Boy", [57] "I've Just Seen a Face", [59] "Yesterday", [66] "If I Needed Someone", [68] "We Can Work it Out", and [71] "Michelle". All 39 of these tunes feature verse 2 immediately following verse 1. "Tomorrow Never Knows" is the 40th. Thirdly, and more significantly, "Tomorrow Never Knows" is just the 4th of these 40 songs - the three previous examples being [19] "Not a Second Time" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 3 and 4), [31b] "Matchbox" (in which the first three and last two verses are contiguous), and [56b] "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 4 and 5) - to feature contiguous verses other than verse 1 and verse 2. In this case, verses 1-3 are contiguous, as are verses 4-7. |
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