Formal structure of [146] "Birthday":
Intro/Tag (v) 0:00-0:22 A major Verse 1 0:22-0:43 A major Break (drums) 0:43-0:56 A major Transition 0:56-1:10 (E major) Middle 8 1:10-1:28 C major Tag (verse) 1:28-1:48 A major Break (guitar) 1:48-1:55 (transitional) Middle 8 1:55-2:12 C Major Verse 2 (ext) 2:12-2:35 A major Coda (ind.) 2:35-2:42 A major Comments: "Birthday" has an unusual and fascinating structure. The verses, which are often one of the primary formal sections of a pop song, in this case carry significantly less structural weight because the two verses (and really it's the same verse heard twice - the lyrics are identical each time) are heard first at the beginning and once again at the end, and nowhere in between. The only other Beatles song to date that do anything similar is [97] "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", but "Pepper" employed a very deliberate formal design (it's palindromic) while "Birthday" is anything but deliberate - the novel and unpredictable structure yields no obvious patterns, which helps provide the song with an improvisatory feel, much like [111] "All Together Now". Additionally, the second verse features a one-measure extension at the very end, that helps segue to the coda. Tonally, it uses two keys a minor third apart (A and C) - something the Beatles had done previously on [48] "Another Girl", [55] "You're Going to Lose That Girl", [91] "Here There and Everywhere", [96] "A Day in the Life", [103] "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", [122] "Lady Madonna", and to a much lesser extent [90] "Good Day Sunshine". In this case, the middle 8s are both in C major, while the rest of the song is in the "primary tonic" of A major. Bridging these sections, of course, are a series of transitions. After the first verse, a drum break leads to a transitional passage ("Yes, we're going to a party, party...") that culminates in the middle 8, with it's new tonality. That transition is implemented again but in a very different way at 1:48. This time instead of a drum break followed by a transition, the bass and lead guitar play the break. But despite the switch in instrumentation, the structural function is the same: they both lead to the middle 8. (Consideration of how these two transitions function tonally will be saved for a later harmonic analysis blog.)
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Formal structure of [145] "I Will": Verse 1 0:00-0:17 Tag 0:17-0:22 Verse 2 0:22-0:38 Tag (abbr.) 0:38-0:40 Middle 8 0:40-0:59 Verse 3 (ext.) 0:59-1:24 Tag (ext.) 1:24-1:34 Coda (m8) 1:34-1:45 Comments: The structure of "I Will" is very basic and clear. The tag's function is textbook in that it could easily be interpreted as part of the verse. With that in mind, verses 1 and 2 can be seen as contiguous, just as they were in [1] "Love Me Do", [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", [82] "Doctor Robert", [84] "Taxman", [88] "Yellow Submarine", [89] "I Want To Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", [95] "Penny Lane", [96] "A Day in the Life", [99] "Fixing a Hole", [100] "Only a Northern Song", [101] "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", [105] "Within You Without You", [111] "All Together Now", [114] "All You Need Is Love", [116] "I Am the Walrus", [122] "Lady Madonna", [126] "Don't Pass Me By", [128] "Blackbird", [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", [135] "Sexy Sadie", [138] "Mother Nature's Son", [139] "Yer Blues", [140] "Rocky Raccoon", [143] "Dear Prudence", and [144] "Glass Onion". Also, notice how different in duration the tags are - the tag following verse 1 is 5 seconds, while the tag following verse 2 is abbreviated (just 2 seconds), and the tag following verse 3 is extended (10 seconds). The tag following verse 2 is half as long and the notes are slightly different (to reinforce the different harmonies) than the original. Conversely, the tag following verse 3 is twice as long as the original and, though clearly related, also uses different pitches to reinforce the underlying chords. Similarly, the third verse is also extended, which propels the song to its conclusion. These subtle, organic changes (to both the tag and the verse) prevent the very simple macro-scale formal structure from becoming too predictable or repetitive.
Lastly, a less common tactic employed in this tune is basing the coda on the middle 8, something only found previously in [15] "All My Loving", sort of in [67] "In My Life", and [142] "Back in the USSR". Formal structure of [144] "Glass Onion": Verse A 1 0:00-0:18 Verse B 1 0:18-0:31 Verse A 2 0:31-0:48 Verse B 2 0:48-1:01 Middle 8 1:01-1:20 Verse A 3 1:20-1:38 Verse B 3 1:38-1:49 Coda (ind) 1:49-2:17 Comments: "Glass Onion" features two distinct verses, labeled above as verse A and verse B. The only other Beatles song to date to use two different verses in the same song was [116] "I Am the Walrus". The large-scale formal design is thus in three iterations of verse A + verse B, the second and third of which are separated by a middle 8, all of which is followed by a completely independent coda.
Even though there are two parts to each verse, verse 1 and 2 are contiguous, following many previous Beatles songs to use that same pattern: [1] "Love Me Do", [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", [82] "Doctor Robert", [84] "Taxman", [88] "Yellow Submarine", [89] "I Want To Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", [95] "Penny Lane", [96] "A Day in the Life", [99] "Fixing a Hole", [100] "Only a Northern Song", [101] "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", [105] "Within You Without You", [111] "All Together Now", [114] "All You Need Is Love", [116] "I Am the Walrus", [122] "Lady Madonna", [126] "Don't Pass Me By", [128] "Blackbird", [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", [135] "Sexy3 Sadie", [138] "Mother Nature's Son", [139] "Yer Blues", [140] "Rocky Raccoon", and [143] "Dear Prudence".
Formal structure of [143] "Dear Prudence":
Intro (coda, tag) 0:00-0:18 Verse 1 0:18-1:03 Part a 0:18-0:44 "Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play..." Part b 0:44-0:50 "The sun is up, the sky is blue..." Part c 0:50-0:57 "Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?" Part d 0:57-1:03 Tag Verse 2 1:03-1:48 Part a 1:03-1:28 "Dear Prudence, open up your eyes..." Part b 1:28-1:35 "The wind is low, the birds will sing..." Part c 1:35-1:41 "Dear Prudence, won't you open up your eyes?" Part c 1:41-1:48 Tag Middle 8 1:48-2:05 "Look around..." Tag 2:05-2:11 Verse 3 2:11-2:55 Part a 2:11-2:37 "Dear Prudence, let me see you smile..." Part b 2:37-2:44 "The clouds will be a daisy chain..." Part c 2:44-2:50 "Dear Prudence, won't you let me see you smile?" Part d 2:50-2:55 Tag Verse 4 2:55-3:39 Part a 2:55-3:19 "Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play..." Part b (aug) 3:19-3:30 "The sun is up, the sky is blue..." Part c 3:30-3:39 "Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?" Coda (intro) 3:39-3:55 Comments: "Dear Prudence" uses one of the most interesting formal designs of any Beatles song. One on hand, it's structure very simple: 4 verses halved by a middle 8, all bookended by an introduction and coda. This results in contiguous first and second verses - a structural aspect the Beatles had used previously in [1] "Love Me Do", [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", [82] "Doctor Robert", [84] "Taxman", [88] "Yellow Submarine", [89] "I Want To Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", [95] "Penny Lane", [96] "A Day in the Life", [99] "Fixing a Hole", [100] "Only a Northern Song", [101] "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", [105] "Within You Without You", [111] "All Together Now", [114] "All You Need Is Love", [116] "I Am the Walrus", [122] "Lady Madonna", [126] "Don't Pass Me By", [128] "Blackbird", [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", [135] "Sexy3 Sadie", [138] "Mother Nature's Son", [139] "Yer Blues", and [140] "Rocky Raccoon". What is much less common is finding a Beatles song with contiguous verses other than verses 1 and 2. In fact, "Prudence" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 3 and 4) is just the 11th such example, following [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), [80] "Paperback Writer" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 3-4), [84] "Taxman" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 3-4), [95] "Penny Lane" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 4-5), [96] "A Day in the Life" (in which verses 1-3 are contiguous), [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey" (in which all three verses are contiguous), and [135] "Sexy Sadie" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 3 and 4), and [140] "Rocky Raccoon" (in which verses 1-5 are contiguous, as are verses 6-7). On the other hand, contrasting with the macro-scale structural simplicity, each verse has a complex and sophisticated micro-structure that can be divided into 4 distinct sections: Part a, lasting eight measures and consisting of two phrases (each four measures, and each in turn two iterations of the same two-measure chord progression); Part b, lasting just two measures and using the same two-measure chord progression found in Part a, but increasing the energy with more lyrics (a greater rate of words sung per second), and (in the first verse only) through the addition of percussion; Part c, which repeats the opening lyrics of the verse (usually in slightly modified form) and also employs different chords; and Part d, an instrumental tag which requires its own separate discussion (see below). This micro verse structure is adhered to by verses 1 through 3, but verse 4 breaks the pattern by rhythmically augmenting Part b (it lasts four measures instead of two) and jumping to the coda in place of Part d. Lastly, the tag/intro/coda deserves special consideration. This is not a textbook use of the tag (it might be considered more of an ostinato) because it is heard throughout except for during verse 4 (tags are usually only heard between sections, during the intro, and/or during the coda, but not during the verse proper like this one). I classify it as a tag, however, because of its adhesive quality, which is a defining characteristic of the tag - it bridges and transitions from from formal section to another. In fact, with the exception of verse 4 (and its absence is hardly even noticed there due to the increased energy and density of instrumentation), the tag really never begins or ends because the music both fades in and fades out, although it does change to reflect the underlying chords and structure. More commentary on this when I reach this song in my harmonic analyses. Formal structure of [142] "Back in the USSR": Intro 0:00-0:16 sfx 0:00-0:09 beat 0:09-0:16 Verse 1 0:16-0:30 Chorus 0:30-0:40 Verse 2 0:40-0:53 Chorus (ext) 0:53-1:06 Middle 8 1:06-1:23 Solo (v) 1:23-1:36 Chorus 1:36-1:46 Middle 8 1:46-2:03 Verse 3 2:03-2:17 Chorus 2:17-2:27 Coda (m8) 2:27-2:43 Comments: The second chorus is extended by repeating the words "back in the US" twice before completing the phrase ("back in the USSR"). This elongates the duration of the chorus by three seconds (13 seconds, compared to the 10 seconds of the other four choruses). Given that the solo functions as a verse (the solo instrument replaces the lead vocal, but everything else remains the same as heard in the verses), the macro-scale formal design can be seen as four iterations of verse + chorus + middle 8, with the first such iteration omitting the middle 8:
Lastly, in following this pattern of verse, chorus, middle 8, the coda is based on the middle 8, which is quite rare in Beatles music - something only used twice before in [15] "All My Loving", and [67] "In My Life".
Formal structure of [140] "Rocky Raccoon":
Intro (v) 0:00-0:06 Verse 1 0:06-0:30 Verse 2 0:30-0:54 Verse 3 0:54-1:19 Verse 4 1:19-1:43 Verse 5 (abbr.) 1:43-1:56 Middle 8 1:56-2:18 Verse 6 2:18-2:42 Verse 7 2:42-3:06 Middle 8 3:06-3:32 Comments: This novel song has an equally novel structure: 7 verses ties "Rocky Raccoon" with [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows" for the most in any Beatles song to date. Counting verses as 8 measures (4 bars plus a repeat), all the verses are the same length except for verse 5, in which there is no repeat (4 bars instead of 8). In addition, verses 1-5 are contiguous, as are verses 6-7. While it's common to find Beatles songs in which the first two verses are contiguous ([1] "Love Me Do", [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", [82] "Doctor Robert", [84] "Taxman", [88] "Yellow Submarine", [89] "I Want To Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", [95] "Penny Lane", [96] "A Day in the Life", [99] "Fixing a Hole", [100] "Only a Northern Song", [101] "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", [105] "Within You Without You", [111] "All Together Now", [114] "All You Need Is Love", [116] "I Am the Walrus", [122] "Lady Madonna", [126] "Don't Pass Me By", [128] "Blackbird", [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", [135] "Sexy Sadie", [138] "Mother Nature's Son", and [139] "Yer Blues"), it is much less common to find Beatles songs with contiguous verses other than verses 1 and 2. In fact, "Rocky" is just the 10th such example, behind [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), [80] "Paperback Writer" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 3-4), [84] "Taxman" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 3-4), [95] "Penny Lane" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 4-5), [96] "A Day in the Life" (in which verses 1-3 are contiguous), [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey" (in which all three verses are contiguous), and [135] "Sexy Sadie" (in which verses 1 and 2 are contiguous, as are verses 3 and 4). Formal structure of [139] "Yer Blues":
Intro (pick-up) 0:00-0:03 52 bpm Verse 1 0:03-0:32 52 bpm Verse 2 0:32-1:01 52 bpm Middle 8 1:01-1:11 100 bpm Verse 3 1:11-1:30 52 bpm Middle 8 1:30-1:40 96 bpm Verse 4 1:40-2:00 52 bpm Middle 8 2:00-2:09 100 bpm Verse 5 2:09-2:27 100 bpm Solo #1 2:27-2:54 100 bpm Solo #2 2:54-3:18 100 bpm Verse 6 3:18-3:46 52 bpm Coda (v) 3:46-3:59 52 bpm Comments: The intro is more of an anacrusis than an independent section, but since it lasts 3 seconds, I have to account for that some how and the obvious choice is to call it an introduction despite its lack of structural weight. "Yer Blues" is only the second Beatles song to date to use at least six verses ( [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows" was the other, and it uses seven verses). Two of those six are contiguous: verses 1 and 2 (which is very common among Beatles songs, precedents being [1] "Love Me Do", [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", [82] "Doctor Robert", [84] "Taxman", [88] "Yellow Submarine", [89] "I Want To Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", [95] "Penny Lane", [96] "A Day in the Life", [99] "Fixing a Hole", [100] "Only a Northern Song", [101] "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", [105] "Within You Without You", [111] "All Together Now", [114] "All You Need Is Love", [116] "I Am the Walrus", [122] "Lady Madonna", [126] "Don't Pass Me By", [128] "Blackbird", [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", [135] "Sexy Sadie", and [138] "Mother Nature's Son".) What is unusual, however, is to have contiguous solos. In fact, "Yer Blues" is just the second Beatles song to date (behind [38] "I'm a Loser") to use contiguous solos, and just the seventh Beatles song to date (behind [29b] "Long Tall Sally", [38] "I'm a Loser", [46b] "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", [46e] "Honey Don't", [58] "I'm Down", and [119] "The Fool on the Hill") to use multiple solos anywhere in the same song. Lastly, the structure of the song is reinforced by a tempo change during the middle 8s (which is retained into verse 5). The verses (except verse 5) are all approximately 52 beats per minute, while the middle 8s are roughly 100 bpm. The exact tempo rate fluctuates through the song from roughly 94-108 bpm, but it's clearly about twice as fast. This change helps articulate the structure of the song. Formal structure of [138] "Mother Nature's Son":
Intro 0:00-0:19 slow (v) 0:00-0:08 in tempo (v) 0:08-0:19 Verse 1 0:19-0:37 Tag 0:37-0:42 Tag 0:42-0:48 Verse 2 0:48-1:05 Tag 1:05-1:11 Middle 8 1:11-1:33 Verse 3 1:33-1:49 Tag 1:49-1:54 Middle 8 1:54-2:16 Verse 4 2:16-2:33 Tag 2:33-2:38 Coda (tag) 2:38-2:47 Comments: "Mother Nature's Son" is yet another Beatles song to use a two-part introduction (following [6b] "A Taste Of Honey", [11] "Thank You Girl", [17] "Little Child", [14b] "Roll Over Beethoven", [24] "You Can't Do That", [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)", [66] "If I Needed Someone", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", [79] "Love You To", [81] "Paperback Writer", [89] "I Want to Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", [102] "Lovely Rita", [104] "Getting Better", [105] "Within You Without You", [110] "Baby, You're a Rich Man", [114] "All You Need Is Love", [125] "Revolution 1", [126] "Don't Pass Me By", [130] "Good Night", [131] "Ob-la-di Ob-la-da", and [134] "Helter Skelter" ), with the first section being a slow guitar passage that resembles a progression used in the middle of each verse, and the second section establishing the quicker tempo of the rest of the song. The first verse is followed by a double tag - something I have not found in any other Beatles song to date. Counting a tags as part of the verse (or at least a sub-section of the verse, as opposed to an entirely independent structural component), the first two verses are contiguous (as was the case previously in [1] "Love Me Do", [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", [82] "Doctor Robert", [84] "Taxman", [88] "Yellow Submarine", [89] "I Want To Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", [95] "Penny Lane", [96] "A Day in the Life", [99] "Fixing a Hole", [100] "Only a Northern Song", [101] "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", [105] "Within You Without You", [111] "All Together Now", [114] "All You Need Is Love", [116] "I Am the Walrus", [122] "Lady Madonna", [126] "Don't Pass Me By", [128] "Blackbird", [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", and [135] "Sexy Sadie"). Lastly, the coda is based on the tag. Formal structure of [137] "Hey Jude":
Verse 1 0:00-0:26 Verse 2 0:26-0:55 Middle 8 0:55-1:33 Verse 3 1:33-2:02 Middle 8 2:02-2:39 Verse 4 2:39-3:09 Coda/Chorus 3:09-7:08 Comments: No intro, just 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", [58] "I'm Down", [61] "Wait", [68] “We Can Work it Out”, [76] "Girl", [85] "I'm Only Sleeping", [95] "Penny Lane", [118] "Flying"), and [120] "Hello Goodbye"). Furthermore, the first two verses are contiguous (as was the case in [1] "Love Me Do", [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", [82] "Doctor Robert", [84] "Taxman", [88] "Yellow Submarine", [89] "I Want To Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", [95] "Penny Lane", [96] "A Day in the Life", [99] "Fixing a Hole", [100] "Only a Northern Song", [101] "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", [105] "Within You Without You", [111] "All Together Now", [114] "All You Need Is Love", [116] "I Am the Walrus", [122] "Lady Madonna", [126] "Don't Pass Me By", [128] "Blackbird", [129] "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", and [135] "Sexy Sadie"). Lastly, and most significantly, the independent coda/chorus is the largest coda of any Beatles song to date, lasting 240 seconds long and comprising more than half (56.1%) of the song's duration. In fact, the coda is so substantial that the first 3 minutes of the song might well be interpreted as an anacrusis to the last 4 minutes of the song, rather than the other way around. Formal structure of [136] "While My Guitar Gently Weeps":
Intro (v) 0:00-0:14 A minor Verse 1 0:17-0:50 A minor Middle 8 0:50-1:24 A major Verse 2 1:24-1:58 A minor Solo (v) 1:58-2:30 A minor Middle 8 2:30-3:04 A major Verse 3 3:04-3:37 A minor Coda (v) 3:37-4:44 A minor Comments: The structure of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is very clear, helped in part by the dialogue between the parallel major and minor, which recalls the band's use of the same modal juxtapositions in [35] "Things We Said Today", [63] "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", and [71] "Michelle". The solo replaces a verse (everything is the same except that the solo guitar is heard in place of the lead vocals), however I cannot consider it contiguous verses. That being said, however, counting the solo as verse, the structure of the song is palindromic. |
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