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".
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During last Fall's LifeLearn Beatles class, someone asked me to define "avant-garde". That is a task I have been attempting to answer for quite some time - if I am researching the Beatles and the avant-garde, I had better know very clearly what avant-garde is!
A brief and hardly formal online search provided the following definitions and characteristics:
Literally speaking, "avant-garde" is a French term meaning "advance guard", and has been widely interpreted as "cutting edge" (meaning new and innovative). This definition proves a difficult one, however, because something can only be "new" or "innovative" for a relatively short period of time before it comes standard practice. Thus, what was cutting edge last year/decade/century will necessarily differ from what is cutting edge today. In that sense, Beethoven (1770-1827) was an avant-garde artist because he was innovative for his time, even though contemporary ears do not hear his music as such. In trying to do something new, avant-garde experimentation is doomed to failure in the vast majority of cases. Thus, the benefit of this type of aesthetic experimentation is almost always the journey (the learning process), and not the destination (the product). The American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) summarized this notion by saying, "A creator often learns as much from his miscalculations as he does from his successes" and citing "the immemorial right of the artist to be wrong" as essential to that learning process (Music and Imagination, page 76). Copland used these words to describe the development of all creators, but it is the avant-gardist who takes that notion to extremes. The price paid for that, though, is audience alienation. In their pursuit of innovation, avant-gardists often estrange their patrons. In that way, the term "avant-garde" has earned a rather negative connotation. Another commonly accepted and often discussed distinction between pop and classical (and in this case I am extending the term "classical" to include "avant-garde") is financial: Pop music seems to consider financial success more important than classical music does. Since avant-garde music inherently challenges its listeners, it will never be able to reap the same degree of financial rewards as pop music. Nor does it try to. Thus, when I say "the Beatles and the avant-garde", I am referring to the experimental and innovative aspects of the Beatles' output (musical and otherwise) - much of which is centered around the band's later years, when finances were no longer a concern and the band and its members were therefore free to create without concern for financial success. And, because the journey is often more important than the destination, I refer to unreleased and unpublished creative efforts that reveal the Beatles' willingness to experience and experiment, exercising that "immemorial right of the artist to be wrong". CITATIONS Copland, Aaron. Music and Imagination. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1980. 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. 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. 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. A Comparison of the Chord Progressions of "It's Not Too Bad" Spain Take #3 with "In My Life"4/20/2013 John Lennon's third take of "It's Not Too Bad" (the original title of "Strawberry Fields Forever") is the first instance of what would ultimately evolve into the chorus. But at this early point, it merely consists of a chord progression - no lyrics or melody. That progression features similarities to the chord progression Lennon used a year previously in "In My Life". The graphic below illustrates these similarities. (Click to enlarge.)
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!) |
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