Formal structure of [76] "Girl"
Verse 1 0:00-0:21* C minor Chorus 0:21-0:31 E-flat major Verse 2 0:31-0:51 C minor Chorus 0:51-1:01 E-flat major Middle 8 1:01-1:20 F minor Chorus 1:20-1:30 E-flat major Verse 3 1:30-1:50 C minor Chorus 1:50-2:00 E-flat major Solo 2:00-2:20 C minor Coda (chorus) 2:20-2:30 E-flat major Comments: The most interesting aspect structurally speaking is the tonal relationships: the verses are in C minor, while the choruses are in the relative major of E-flat. The Beatles have used the parallel major and minor in four other tunes to date ([33] "I'll Be Back", [35] "Things We Said Today", [63] "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", and [71] "Michelle"), but the only tune to play with the relative major and minor so far has been [61] "Wait". “Girl” uses no introduction - it just launches right into first verse (like [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", and [68] “We Can Work it Out”). Additionally, the middle 8 is in F minor, an unusual relationship to the home key of C minor.
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Formal structure of "You Won't See Me"
Intro (verse) 0:00-0:04 Verse 1 0:04-0:41 Verse 2 0:41-1:18 Middle 8 1:18-1:34 Verse 3 1:34-2:12 Middle 8 2:12-2:28 Verse 4 2:28-3:06 Coda (verse) 3:06-3:18 Comments: Third quarter of each verse is different: When I call you up, your line's engaged, I have had enough, so act your age, We have lost the time that was so hard to find, And I will lose my mind if you won't see me. Lines 1 and 2 share identical chord progressions and melodies, with line 4 being very similar. Line 3, however, differs in both melodic content and chord progression. "You Won't See Me" is preceded by many other Beatles tracks to date which pull the same trick: [6] “I Saw Her Standing There”, [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [35] "Things We Said Today", [40] "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party", [42] "No Reply", [43] "Eight Days a Week", [49] "I Need You", [51] "The Night Before", [70] "I'm Looking Through You", and [74] "Wait". Verses 3 and 4 share identical lyrics Formal structure of [74] "The Word":
Intro (chorus) 0:00-0:05 Chorus 0:05-0:29 Verse 1 0:29-0:36 Chorus 0:36-1:00 Verse 2 1:00-1:08 Chorus 1:08-1:31 Verse 3 1:31-1:39 Chorus 1:39-2:03 Coda 2:03-2:42* (Verse) 203-2:14 (Chorus) 2:14-2:34 (Verse) 2:34-2:42 Comments: Technically speaking, "Wait" has a 2-part intro. The piano plays, then the rest of the backing instrument join in before the vocals enter. However, in this case the piano playing at the start is so brief that I cannot consider it a separate part. Rather, the piano notes at the start are merely pick-ups, and thus "Wait" does not have a 2-part introduction. ([72] "What Goes On" features the same thing except with guitar instead of piano.) Many Beatles tracks to date ([31] "A Hard Day's Night", [35] "Things We Said Today", [40] "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party", [42] "No Reply", [43] "Eight Days a Week", [49] "I Need You", [51] "The Night Before", and [70] "I'm Looking Through You") have employed verse structures in which the third quarter is noticeably different from the other three quarters. "Wait" pulls a similar trick, but this time in the chorus: Say the word and you'll be free, Say the word and be like me. Say the word I'm thinking of, Have you heard the word is love. It's so fine, It's sunshine, It's the word love. The first, second, and fourth lines are very similar, with the third line providing a brief contrast. Lastly, the coda of "Wait" is intriguing. At 39 seconds, its duration is one of the longest coda on a Beatles track to date - only 3 other tracks are of roughly equal or longer length: [13f] "Please Mister Postman" (49 seconds), [13c] "Money (That's What I Want)" (48 seconds), and [29b] "Long Tall Sally" (38 seconds). (Interestingly enough, all of those are covers - not originals.) Because of its length, the coda has distinct subsections: The verse is heard but with backing instruments only (no vocals), followed by the chorus with greatly simplified lyrics ("Say the word love, Say the word love, Say the word love, Say the word love"), followed in turn by another iteration of the verse without vocals which fades out. Formal structure of [73] "Think For Yourself":
Intro (verse) 0:00-0:04 Verse 1 0:04-0:26 Chorus 0:26-0:41 Verse 2 0:41-1:03 Chorus 1:03-1:18 Verse 3 1:18-1:41 Chorus 1:41-1:55 Chorus 1:55-2:09 Coda (chorus) 2:09-2:18 Comments: About as clear as can be. Having recently completed my 13-part blog history of "Strawberry Fields Forever", now it is time to start putting it all together and draw conclusions. To aid in this, I have created a diagram illustrating how the structure of "Strawberry Fields Forever" evolved from Lennon's initial recordings in Spain, through the release. (Click to enlarge.) Sections are indicated by where they appear on the released recording (which is why Abbey Road Take 1 concludes with the introduction). New structural developments are shown in italics
Formal structure of [72] "What Goes On":
Intro 0:00-0:06 Chorus 0:06-0:31 Verse 1 0:31-0:48 Chorus 0:48-1:13 Verse 2 1:13-1:30 Solo 1:30-1:55* Verse 3 1:55-2:12 Chorus 2:12-2:37 Coda 2:37-2:48 Comments: Solo replaces a chorus (usually it replaces a verse). (Not much else to say about this one!) Formal structure of [71] "Michelle":
Intro (Middle 8) 0:00-0:08 F minor Verse 1 0:08-0:21 F major Verse 2 0:21-0:33 F major Middle 8 0:33-0:53* F minor Verse 3 0:53-1:06 F major Middle 8 1:06-1:26* F minor Solo 1:26-1:38 F major Middle 8 1:38-1:58* F minor Verse 4 1:58-2:12 F major Middle 8 2:12-2:20* F minor Coda (solo) 2:20-2:42 F major Comments: Personally, I have never been very fond of "Michelle". Revisiting the song for the purposes of this post, however, has given me a new perspective on the tune and in turn a new appreciation for its innovations. Indeed, "Michelle" features a number of interesting characteristics: It plays between the parallel major and minor (in this case F major and f minor), just like [33] "I'll Be Back", [35] "Things We Said Today", and [63] "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Verse 1 and Verse 2 are contiguous. Though to this point I have not kept a running tally of other Beatles songs to date that also feature contiguous verses, it is worth starting. They are [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" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 3 and 4), [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" (in which the first three and last two verses are contiguous, separated by a solo which replaces another verse), [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" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 4 and 5), [56c] "Bad Boy", [57] "I've Just Seen a Face", [59] "Yesterday", [66] "If I Needed Someone", and [68] "We Can Work it Out". Of these 38 songs, all feature verse 2 immediately following verse 1. [71] "Michelle" may be added as the 39th. There is no chorus. Verses 2 and 3 share identical lyrics. The solo replaces the verse (the backing chords are the same, but the vocalist is omitted, replaced by a guitar solo). The middle 8 is actually 10 bars long (instead of 8). Also, the middle 8s appear with greater frequency than is typical: four times throughout the song. The last iteration, however, is abbreviated, using only the last 4 measures of an other 10-measure section. The vast majority of Beatles songs use no more than two middle 8s. In fact, only a few to date have used three or more: [13d] "Devil in her Heart", [33] "I'll Be Back" - which actually uses two distinct middle 8s, and [69] "Nowhere Man". Of these three, none of them use more than three. Formal structure of [70] "I'm Looking Through You"
Intro (verse) 0:00-0:07* Verse 1 0:07-0:28 Extension 0:28-0:33 Verse 2 0:33-0:53 Extension 0:53-0:59 Middle 8 0:59-1:10 Verse 3 1:10-1:31 Extension 1:31-1:37 Middle 8 1:37-1:48 Verse 4 1:48-2:09 Coda (extension) 2:09-2:26 Comments: 2 part intro (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"). Third quarter of verse differs from the other three quarters (like [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [35] "Things We Said Today", [40] "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party", [42] "No Reply", [43] "Eight Days a Week", [49] "I Need You", and [51] "The Night Before") in which the third part differs substantially from the rest of the verse: I'm looking through you, Where did you go? I thought I knew you, What did I know? You don't look different, But you have change, I'm looking through you, You're not the same. In this case, vocal harmonies are added (in parallel thirds and sixths) which are noticeably absent from the other lines. The first and fourth verses share identical lyrics. Each verse also has an instrumental extension characterized by brief guitar licks, the last of which turns into a coda as McCartney improvises additional lyrics and the music fades out. Formal structure of [69] "Nowhere Man":
Chorus 0:00-0:17* Verse 1 0:17-0:32 Middle 8 0:32-0:48 Solo (verse) 0:48-1:04 Verse 2 1:04-1:20 Middle 8 1:20-1:36 Verse 3 1:36-1:51 Middle 8 1:51-2:07 Chorus 2:07-2:23 Coda (chorus) 2:23-2:42 Comments: Opens with chorus (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", and [55] "You're Going to Lose That Girl"). Coda is an extension of the chorus. Formal structure of [68] "We Can Work it Out"
Verse 1 0:00-0:19* Verse 2 0:19-0:37 Middle 8 0:37-1:04 Verse 3 1:04-1:21 Middle 8 1:21-1:48 Verse 4 1:48-2:05 Coda 2:05-2:15 Comments: No introduction - just launches right in to first verse (like [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" and [61] "Wait"). Both Middle 8s feature two sections, nearly identical except for lyrics and that the latter both times inserts a D7 chord to transition back to the verses (which is absent from the former). Verses 1, 3 and 4 share identical lyrics. |
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