The Beatles never recorded "I'm in Love", but Lennon did record a demo.

Formal structure of "Only a Northern Song":
          Intro (ind)               0:00-0:09
          Verse 1                      0:09-0:32
          Verse 2                      0:32-0:54
          Middle 8                    0:54-1:12
          Break (ind)               1:12-1:33
          Middle 8                    1:33-1:51
          Verse 3                       1:51-2:12
          Break (Middle 8)    2:12-2:23
          End of Middle 8      2:23-2:29
          Coda (Break, M8)  2:29-3:23

Comments: Contiguous verses, as found 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", and [99] "Fixing a Hole".

This song also uses different breaks - the first being independent from the rest of the song, the second replacing all but the last bit of the middle 8, and then the coda consists of a combination of both breaks.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney co-wrote "I Wanna Be Your Man" as a song for Ringo to sing (Ringo sung lead on at least one song on each album). Shortly after composing the song, they decided to give it to the Rolling Stones to record, as well. Quoting Paul: "John and I were walking along Charing Cross Road when passing in a taxi were Mick [Jagger] and Keith [Richards]. We were each other's counterparts in many ways because they became the writers in the group and were the twosome, the couple, as it were. So they shouted from the taxi and we yelled, 'Hey, hey, give us a list, give us a lift,' and we bummed a lift off them. So there were the four of us sitting in a taxi and I think Mick said, 'Hey, we're recording. Got any songs?' And we said, 'Aaah, yes, sure, we got one. How about Ringo's song? You could do it as a single.' Ad they went for it and Bo Diddleyed it up a bit" (Miles, page 154).

"I Wanna Be Your Man" became the Rolling Stones' second single (with "Stoned" as the B side), released 1 November 1963.

The Stones' release actually preceded The Beatles own recording, which was done in September and October 1963, and included on the album With the Beatles, released 22 November 1963.

CITATIONS
Miles, Barry. Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. Henry Holt and Company, Inc, New York, NY, 1997.

Formal structure of "Fixing a Hole"
          Intro (verse)    0:00-0:06*
          Verse 1               0:06-0:25
          Verse 2              0:25-0:42
          Middle 8           0:42-0:59
          Verse 3              0:59-1:16
          Solo (verse)    1:16-1:33
          Middle 8           1:33-1:50
          Verse 4             1:50-2:06
          Coda (verse)   2:06-2:36

Comments: Verses 1 and 2 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", and [96] "A Day in the Life").

The solo is an iteration of the verse, just with the solo guitar replacing the vocals. Additionally, both the introduction and coda are based on verse. This shows that "Fixing a Hole" is very heavily based on the verse (7 of the 9 sections are verse-based). The only contrast to the verse are the two middle 8s (which is, of course, the whole point of middle 8s).

Yesterday's blog was a structural analysis of "Good Morning Good Morning" in which I commented on the fact that the solo replaces a verse (meaning that the solo section is an iteration of the verse, but with the guitar solo replacing the vocals). That is an aspect of Beatles music I have noticed quite frequently, and has sparked an idea for a series of analyses of how instrumental solos fit into the formal structure of Beatles songs. The goal of this series of posts is to find patterns in how the Beatles use solos in a structural sense. Do they usually replace verses? Or choruses? Middle 8s? Or do they tend to be structurally independent entities? Only one way to find out for sure...

One thing is worth pointing out prior to beginning: I use the term "solo" to describe any instrumental break that is more than a brief riff or motive. So, for example, in the songs "Baby It's You" and "From Me To You", the so-called solos are actually duets - two instruments sharing the spotlight simultaneously. Despite the fact that the term solo literally means a single instrument, for simplicity and consistency I will refer to them all as solos.

[1] "Love Me Do" features a harmonica solo played by John Lennon. The solo section is in essence a second middle 8 with the harmonica replacing the vocals. In addition, the solo is extended: The middle 8 lasts 8 bars, while the solo lasts 12. This difference of 4 bars is found at the end of the solo, when Lennon improvises rather than imitates the previously heard vocals.

[2] "P. S. I Love You" contains no instrumental solo.

[3] "Please Please Me" contains no instrumental solo.

[4] "Ask Me Why" contains no instrumental solo.

[5] "There's a Place" contains no instrumental solo.

[6] "I Saw Her Standing There" contains a guitar solo played by George Harrison. Structurally speaking, though it resembles the verses and middle 8s, it is not closely based an any other sections. The progressions, while they do share chords, are not the same as either the verse or the middle 8. Thus, the solo in "I Saw Her Standing There" is independent of the rest of the song from a structural point of view.

[6b] "A Taste of Honey" contains no instrumental solo.

[7] "Do You Want to Know a Secret" contains no instrumental solo.

[8] "Misery" contains no instrumental solo.

[9] "Hold Me Tight" contains no instrumental solo.

[9b] "Anna (Go To Him)" contains no instrumental solo.

[9c] "Boys" contains a guitar solo played by George Harrison. While it bears small differences with the chorus (Paul's bassline and Ringo's fills differ slightly ), it is close enough to say that the solo is based on the chorus, meaning that structurally speaking the solo is the chorus with the guitar replacing the lead and backing vocals.

[9d] "Chains" contains no instrumental solo.

[9e] "Baby It's You" contains a guitar solo played by George Harrison, doubled on the celesta by George Martin. Though not identical to the verse (the solo adds an extra chord in the second measure, which the verses all omit), the solo section it is close enough to say that the solo is based on the verse, meaning that structurally speaking the solo is the verse with the guitar and celesta replacing the lead and backing vocals.

[9f] "Twist and Shout" contains a guitar duet played by George Harrison and John Lennon. In contributing to the solo (duet), Lennon necessarily has to stop playing his guitar chords, and in doing so contributes to a downshift in energy during this section. To further this effect, Paul's bassline is restricted to a slightly lower tessitura, and Ringo's beat moves from a constant 8th note pulse on the ride cymbal to the much drier closed hi-hat. Although the solo section uses an identical chord progression to the verses, the decrease in energy highlights this section as a contrast to the verses. In that way, the solo section blurs the line between solo and middle 8. Regardless, the solo section in "Twist and Shout" is structurally independent of the rest of the song (i.e. it is not an iteration of another section but with the solo instruments replacing the vocals as is the case in many other Beatles tracks).

[10] "From Me To You" contains a harmonica solo played by John Lennon, doubled on bass by Paul McCartney. The duet imitates the vocals, as heard in previous verses, thus the solo functions structurally as a verse. Moreover, the solo only lasts for half of the verse, with the vocals returning for the second half.

[11] "Thank You Girl" contains no instrumental solo.

[12] "She Loves You" contains no instrumental solo.

[13] "I'll Get You" contains no instrumental solo.

Just as I did for my blog series on structural functions of middle 8s, I am including a PDF chart illustrating my findings. This chart will be continued as this blog series continues.

Formal structure of "Good Morning Good Morning":
          Intro (ext)     0:00-0:11
          Verse 1            0:11-0:29
          Extension       0:29-0:33
          Verse 2            0:33-0:43
          Middle 8          0:43-0:54
          Verse 3             0:54-1:12
          Extension       1:12-1:16
          Solo (verse)  1:16-1:25
          Middle 8         1:25-1:37
          Verse 4           1:37-1:55
          Ext/Coda      1:55-2:41

Comments: Another 2-part intro (as was heard in [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", [66] "If I Needed Someone", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", [79] "Love You To", [81] "Paperback Writer", [82] "Rain, and [84] "Taxman", [89] "I Want to Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", and [97] "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band") in that the first thing heard is a rooster call, then the "music proper" begins. Although in this case, because the first part is a sound effect, "Good Morning Good Morning" is most similar to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which also features a 2-part introduction where the first part is sound effects and the second part the music proper.

The solo replaces a verse (i.e. the accompanying instruments play as if it's a verse, but the solo is heard instead of lead vocals). This is something I have noticed quite a lot in Beatles music, but I have not kept track of which songs do so to this point. I will take the opportunity to start - perhaps that can be tomorrow's blog.

Each verse (counting the solo as a verse) is identical in meter and chord progression through the first four measures. Then in the fifth measure, verse 2 and the solo segue to the middle 8s ("Everybody knows there's nothing doing...", "People running 'round it's five o'clock...."), while verses 1, 3, and 4 continue an additional five measures before a two-measure extension that was heard in the introduction ("Good morning, good morning ...").

Counting the solo as a verse, then, the macro-scale formal layout of "Good Morning Good Morning" can be seen as five iterations of the verse, with each successive iteration alternating how long that verse lasts and how that verse concludes (i.e. with either an extension or a transition to the middle 8), as discussed in the previous paragraph. This creates a palindromic structure (and just the fifth Beatles song to do so to date, behind [33] "I'll Be Back", [93] "Strawberry Fields Forever", [94] "When I'm Sixty-Four", and [97] "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"). A visual representation will undoubtedly help illustrate the concept. In the odd-numbered iterations (indicated in green), the verses are all nine measures long and are followed by two-measure extensions; in the even-numbered iterations (indicated in yellow), the verses are all four measures long and are followed by six-measure middle 8s. They are roughly equal in duration, with the odd-numbered verses (including the extensions) lasting a total of 45 beats, while the even-numbered verses (including the middle 8s) lasting a total of 42 beats. This approximate equality contributes to the palindromic balance.

It should be further noted that the extension/coda following verse 4 serves two different functions in this palindromic formal structure: It is both the extension of verse 4 and the coda. There is no clear dividing point where the extension stops and the coda starts since the coda is based on that extension (an extension of the extension in a sense), and for that reason I have listed them as a single section even though they serve as two.

The Beatles released "From Me To You" as a single (with "Thank You Girl" as the B-side) on 11 April 1963. In the middle 8 of "From Me To You" are the lyrics "I got lips that long to kiss you And keep you satisfied", the last three words of which are shared with the song "I'll Keep You Satisfied". It is uncertain when McCartney composed "I'll Keep You Satisfied" (whether it was before or after "From Me To You"), but it would seem most logical that the line in "From Me To You" prompted the birth of "I'll Keep You Satisfied", although I have never encountered a quote from Paul to support this notion.

Regardless of chronology, the tune was given to Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, who recorded the song at Abbey Road Studios on 14 October 1963 under the supervision of producer George Martin. (John Lennon was present at the recording, although why is uncertain because it was primarily Paul's tune.) Their recording was then released the following November 1.

The Beatles never recorded "I'll Keep You Satisfied", not even in demo form.

Formal structure of "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
          Intro             0:00-0:23*
          Verse 1         0:23-0:43
          Break?          0:43-0:56*
          Chorus         0:56-1:26
          Middle 8?   1:26-1:38*
          Verse 2        1:38-1:58
          Coda/Trans. 1:58-2:05

Comments: The introduction is again in two parts (similar to [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", [66] "If I Needed Someone", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", [79] "Love You To", [81] "Paperback Writer", [82] "Rain, and [84] "Taxman", [89] "I Want to Tell You", and [92] "She Said She Said"), with the first 12 seconds consisting of nothing but background noises, and the next 11 seconds featuring the "music proper", which establishes the tempo, tonality, and character for the song and ultimately the rest of the album.

The section right after verse 1 is clearly a break (which I defined as "a break for the singer") as the band instruments play, temporarily relieving the lead vocals. Tonally, during this break, the song tonicizes C major instead of G major. This same chord progression and thus tonicization also occurs in the section right after the chorus, however in this case the band is replaced with two- and sometimes three-part vocal harmony. Clearly this is not a break since it's not "a break for the singer", but at the same time is equally clearly the same music (i.e. the same chords, same bassline, same drum beats - just with vocals replacing the band). Furthermore, the fact that these sections both tonicize C major suggest that they function rather like a middle 8 (which I defined as "a contrasting section in the middle of a song"). With their location in the middle of the song, and in tonicizing a different key, clearly these passages fit the criteria of middle 8. In this way, the defining characteristics between break and middle 8 are blurred, and for these reasons I have included question marks in the above analysis.

Regardless of choices in diction and defining characteristics of formal sections, the break/middle 8 sections in question are nearly identical, and that relation creates a clear palindromic structure for this track:

"Sgt. Pepper" is the fourth Beatles song to date to employ a palindromic formal structure, the others being [33] "I'll Be Back", [93] "Strawberry Fields Forever", and [94] "When I'm Sixty-Four".

Formal structure of "A Day in the Life"
          Trans/Intro    0:00-0:12    G major
          Verse 1              0:12-0:44    G major
          Verse 2              0:44-1:11    G major
          Verse 3              1:11-1:40      G major
          Transition        1:40-2:15      -
          Middle 8            2:15-3:18      E major*
                    intro                  2:15-2:21
                    verse 1             2:21-2:36
                    verse 2             2:36-2:49
                    retransition   2:49-3:18*
          Verse 4              3:18-3:46    G major
          Transition        3:46-4:20      -
          Coda                   4:20-5:06   E major*
          Dog pitch         5:06-5:10       -
          Run-out groove    5:10-5:37   -

Comments: With later Beatles tracks (and especially those off the White Album and afterwards), analyzing formal structure becomes more challenging because of the fragmentary nature of the songs. "A Day in the Life" is the first of many fragment-based Beatles tunes. In this case, Lennon wrote the verses, while McCartney chipped in the middle 8. Or at least, what I'm calling the middle 8. But it's certainly quite different from any middle 8 in the Beatles' output so far! Nevertheless, its functions as a contrast to the verses and thus functions structurally like a middle 8. Furthermore, its position is in the middle of the song, although at 39 measures in length its duration is far longer than 8. In addition, this middle 8 contains four distinct sub-sections - including two verses (!) for lack of a better term. Lastly, at the end of the middle 8, I've borrowed the term "retransition" from classical sonata form, which refers to the transition from the development section to the recapitulation.

Verses 1-3 are contiguous. Beatles songs often use the first two verses contiguously (examples: [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", [82] "Doctor Robert", [84] "Taxman", [88] "Yellow Submarine", [89] "I Want To Tell You", [92] "She Said She Said", and [95] "Penny Lane"), but it is quite rare to find contiguous verses other than 1-2. In fact, "A Day in the Life" is just the seventh 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), and [95] "Penny Lane" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 4-5). The four verses are nearly identical until the last few measures. This point is most easily understood visually, and for that reason I have created a chart to illustrate (click to enlarge). Melodically, all verses are identical through the seventh measure of each verse (the first measure of the example below); and the chord progressions are identical through the first half of the ninth measure of each verse (the third measure of the example below). But after that, verse 1 repeats the melodic and chordal patterns from two bars earlier - something that does not occur in any other verse; verse 2 adds a trill-like oscillation between B and A-sharp on the words "Nobody was really sure if he was from the"; verse 3 adds the "I'd love to turn you on" tag - clearly related to the trill of the previous verse; and verse 4 combines bits from the previous two verses. In this way, Lennon is able to vary the verses enough to avoid monotonous repetition while still allowing for three contiguous verses.

The coda is both one of the Beatles' longest and shortest because it consists of but one chord (an E major chord, tonally reprising Paul's middle 8), but that chord resonates for 40-some seconds before finally fading into silence.

But of course, that's not actually the end. After that cataclysmic chord are two more events: the dog pitch and run out groove. However, these will be discussed in other blogs as this one is about structural format and both the dog pitch and run out groove are insignificant in terms of the macro-scale formal structure of the song.