Formal structure of [170] "Something"
          Intro/Tag  0:00-0:05      C Major
          Verse 1        0:05-0:34      C Major
          Tag               0:34-0:38       C Major
          Verse 2        0:38-1:14       C Major
          Tag               1:07-1:14        transitional (C Major to A Major)
          Middle 8     1:14-1:42        A Major
          Solo (v)       1:42-2:10        C Major
          Tag               2:10-2:14       C Major
          Verse 3        2:14-2:43       C Major
          Coda/Tag x2   2:43-3:02       C Major (A Major)*

Comments: The tag's structural function is textbook, serving as both the intro and outro, plus serving as "structural glue" to adhere the various formal components together into a composite whole, and also helping articulate the large-scale tonal design of the song through transitional passages.

The coda is the tag heard twice, repeating the version heard from 1:07-1:14, then the version heard from 0:00-0:05, 0:34-0:38, and 2:10-2:14 to conclude the song.

In addition to all of that, the range of the opening tag (a to c) anticipates the macro-scale tonal plan of A major juxtaposed with C major, something the Beatles had done previously in [48] "Another Girl", [55] "You're Going to Lose That Girl", [122] "Lady Madonna", [146] "Birthday", and [154] "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", and would use extensively on the B-side of Abbey Road.

[157] "Dig a Pony""Dig a Pony" is the 60th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, the chorus serves as contrast to the verses.

[158] "I've Got a Feeling"
The middle 8 is used once, lasting 5 measures and 14 seconds, totaling 8.7% (19/218) of the song's duration.

[159] "Don't Let Me Down"
The middle 8 is used once (as the keystone of a palindromic structure), lasting 8 measures and 25 seconds, totaling 11.6% (25/215) of the song's duration.

[160] "Get Back"
"Get Back" is the 61st Beatles original not to use a middle 8. The chorus instead serves as a contrast to the verses.

[161] "Two of Us"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 6 measures and and 14 seconds, totaling 13.0% (28/216) of the song's duration.

[161b] "Maggie Mae"
The middle 8 is used once (although that's debatable), lasting 8 measures and 15 seconds, totaling 37.5% of the song's duration. But, of course, this is incomplete. Had the full song been present, no doubt the middle 8 would not constitute such a significant portion of the track.

[162] "Dig It"
"Dig It" is the 62nd Beatles original not to use a middle 8. The novel structure has no need for a middle 8.

[163] "For You Blue"
"For You Blue" is the 63rd Beatles original not to use a middle 8. The novel structure has no need for a middle 8.

[164] "Let It Be"
"Let it Be" is the 64th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, the chorus serves as contrast to the verses.

[165] "The Long and Winding Road"
The middle 8 is used twice (including the break as a middle 8), lasting 4 measures and 14 seconds each time, totaling 12.8% (28/218) of the song's duration.

[166] "The One After 909"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 16 measures (which can be subdivided into two 8-bar phrases) and 21 seconds each time, totaling 24.1% (42/174) of the song's duration.

[167] "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"
"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is the 65th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. The novel structure has no need.

[168] "Ballad of John and Yoko"
The middle 8 is used once, lasting 8.5 measures and 16 seconds, totaling 8.9% (16/179) of the song's duration.

[169] "Old Brown Shoe"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 12 measures and an average of 20.5 seconds each time, totaling 20.7% (41/198) of the song's duration.

[170] "Something"
The middle 8 is used once, lasting 8 measures and 28 seconds, totaling 15.4% (28/182) of the song's duration.

[171] "Oh! Darling"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 8 measures and averaging 33.5 seconds, totaling 32.4% (67/207) of the song's duration.

[172] "Octopus's Garden"
The middle 8 is used once (although that's debatable), lasting 8 measures and 21 seconds, totaling 30.0% (21/170) of the song's duration.

[173] "You Never Give Me Your Money"
"You Never Give Me Your Money" is the 66th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. It's structure (as part of the massive "Abbey Road Medley") does not need one.

[174] "Her Majesty"
"Her Majesty" is the 67th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. It's structure (as part of the massive "Abbey Road Medley") does not need one.

[175] "Golden Slumbers"
"Golden Slumbers" is the 68th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. It's structure (as part of the massive "Abbey Road Medley") does not need one.

[176] "Carry that Weight"
"Carry that Weight" is the 69th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. It's structure (as part of the massive "Abbey Road Medley") does not need one.

[177] "Here Comes the Sun"
The middle 8 is used once. Due to time signature changes that could be interpreted in any number of different ways, counting the duration of the middle 8 in measures is pointless; however, in seconds the duration is 41 seconds. This totals 22.2% (41/185) of the song's duration. The middle 8 consists of 6 iterations of the same pattern (the part with the lyrics "Sun, sun, sun, here it comes") in the first of which vocals are omitted.

[178] "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is the 70th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, the chorus serves as contrast to the verses.

[179] "Come Together"
"Come Together" is the 71st Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, the chorus serves as contrast to the verses.

[180] "The End"
"The End" is the 72nd Beatles original not to use a middle 8. It's structure (as part of the massive "Abbey Road Medley") does not need one.

[181] "Sun King"
"Sun King" is the 73rd Beatles original not to use a middle 8. It's structure (as part of the massive "Abbey Road Medley") does not need one.

[182] "Mean Mr. Mustard"
"Mean Mr. Mustard" is the 74th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. It's structure (as part of the massive "Abbey Road Medley") does not need one.

[183] "Polythene Pam"
"Polythene Pam" is the 75th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. It's structure (as part of the massive "Abbey Road Medley" does not need one.)

[184] "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 6.5 measures and averaging 14 seconds, totaling 23.7% (28/118) of the song's duration.

[185] "Because"
The middle 8 is used once, lasting 4 measures and 19 seconds, totaling 11.5% (19/165) of the song's duration.

[186] "I Me Mine"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 10 measures and 18 seconds both times, totaling 24.7% (36/146) of the song's duration.


Complete Middle 8 chart:

Last Thursday I played cocktail piano music for the Grace Academy Graduation Fundraiser at the Bushnell. Naturally, I played some Beatles rep, and discovered an interesting similarity in the chord progressions of Lennon's "Girl" and Harrison's "Something". Though not identical, there is clearly a strong correlation between the two progressions. This similarity is illustrated by the graphic below (click to enlarge).

On May 26 I wrote a blog about similar chords progressions between "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Something". However, there is actually a stronger similarity between "Something" and BJ Thomas' 1970#1  hit "Raindrops Keep falling on My Head".

These two songs use the same scale degrees and chord qualities for the first 4 chords (whereas "Strawberry" used the same qualities but different scale degrees and only for the first 3 chords).

The first three chords of the verses in "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Something" share a certain degree of similarity. Though in different keys ("Something" is in C Major; "Strawberry" in B-flat major) and using different chords ("Something" uses C; "Strawberry" F) based on different scale degrees ("Something" uses the tonic chord; "Strawberry" the dominant), the qualities of those three chords are the same: major, major 7, 7. Here's a graphic to illustrate the similarity (click to enlarge):

Continuing my January 22 post, which asserted that Harrison's two contributions to Abbey Road ([170] "Something" and [177] "Here Comes the Sun") elevated his songwriting status to a level never previously reached, this blog will further illustrate Harrison's increased compositional sophistication through a comparison of the opening motive and the macro-scale tonal structure of "Something".

The "Something" motive outlines the interval of a minor third between A and C, which is then filled in chromatically (using every tone in between). This can be observed in the graphic below.

The tonal form, then, implements those boundary tones as large-scale tonal areas for the structure of the song. The verses ("Something in the way she moves...") are in C major, while the Middle 8 ("You're asking me will my love grow...") is in A major. Thus, the motive is not only unified with the melody of the verse, but also with overall tonal form - another technical tactic distinctly absent in Harrison's earlier compositions.

While not perfectly matching, the initial chords of [52] "You Like Me Too Much" and [170] "Something" are very similar. Observe the two graphics below. The first is the beginning of "You Like Me Too Much", the second the opening of "Something". Though the two are in different keys, their chord progressions (analyzed in Roman Numerals below the staff) are nearly identical - both concluding with bIII-V (although in the former it's a V7 and in the latter it's just a V)-I.

To make the comparison easier, here is the same excerpt from "You Like Me Too Much" transposed to C (the same key as "Something"):

And to sonically illustrate, here is an audio clip layering the two:

On January 20, I posted a blog titled "Everest" about the album Abbey Road. In it I wrote, "the level of artistic sophistication and achievement [on Abbey Road] surpassed anything the band accomplished up to that point". While admitting the existence of impassioned debate on the subject (some argue - and quite justifiably - that Sgt. Pepper is the better album), what is unanimously agreed upon is that Harrison's Abbey Road songs ([170] "Something" and [177] "Here Comes the Sun") were the best he had written to that point (and possibly ever). Indeed, these two songs show a significantly increased compositional maturity and sophistication.

Take, for example, the motivic unity in "Something": Observe the graphic below (click the graphic to view a larger version of the same image). At the top is the famous opening motive; below are the initial two lines of the opening verse. The melody of the verse is the motive retrograded - meaning the initial note of the motive is the same note at the end of this section of the verse, while the note at the end of the motive is the same note that starts the verse, etc.

This pattern is not exact (notice how there is an extra A in the motive absent from the verse, and how there is a D in the verse absent from the motive; plus the rhythms are completely different), but this does not detract from the compositional sophistication. In fact, it might add to it - a lesser composer might well have insisted on an exact intervallic and rhythmic retrograde at the cost of quality of product just to maintain more exact motivic unity.

Furthermore, I highly doubt this unity was a conscious decision on Harrison's part. (I do not believe Harrison sat down with his guitar one day and thought to himself, "I want to write a song where the motive and the melody of the verse are retrogrades of each other!") Nevertheless, it is there, and it marks a significant development for Harrison's skills as a songwriter.