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Structural Weight of the Middle 8s in Beatles Songs Released in 1966

8/3/2013

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[77] "Tomorrow Never Knows"
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is the 22nd Beatles original not to use a middle 8.

[78] "Got To Get You Into My Life"
"Got To Get You Into My Life" is the 23rd Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, the bridge and chorus function as a contrast to the verses.

[79] "Love You To"
The middle 8 is used 4 times, lasting 6 measures and 11 seconds the first and third times, and 4 measures and 7 seconds the second and fourth times (where they meld seamlessly into sitar solos, accounting for their abbreviated length), all of which totals 20.0% (36/180) of the song's duration.

[80] "Paperback Writer"
"Paperback Writer" is the 24th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, the break functions as a contrast to the verses.

[81] "Rain"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 12 measures and averaging 27.5 seconds, totaling 30.6% (55/180) of the song's duration.

[82] "Doctor Robert"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 8 measures and 12 seconds each time, totaling 17.9% (24/134) of the song's duration.

[83] "And Your Bird Can Sing"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 8 measures and 15 seconds each time, totaling 25.0% (30/120) of the song's duration.

[84] "Taxman"
The middle 8 is use once, lasting 9 measures and 16 seconds, totaling 10.1% (16/158) of the song's duration.

[85] "I'm Only Sleeping"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 8 measures and 9 seconds each time, totaling 10.0% (18/179) of the song's duration.

[86] "Eleanor Rigby"
"Eleanor Rigby" is the 25th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, a bridge and chorus functions as a contrast to the verses.

[87] "For No One"
The middle 8 is used three times, lasting 5 measures and 15 seconds the first two times, and 5 measures and 19 seconds the third time (because it also functions as a coda), totaling 41.2% (49/119) of the song's duration.

[88] "Yellow Submarine"
"Yellow Submarine" is the 26th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, the breaks and choruses function as a contrast to the verses.

[89] "I Want to Tell You"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 8 measures and 15 seconds each time, totaling 20.4% (30/147) of the song's duration.

[90] "Good Day Sunshine"
"Good Day Sunshine" is the 27th Beatles original not to use a middle 8. Instead, the choruses function as a contrast to the verses.

[91] "Here There and Everywhere"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 4 measures and 12 second each time, totaling 16.7% (24/144) of the song's duration. This middle 8 modulates from G major to B-flat major, the same tonal relationship (Tonic to flat submediant and back) that was used in [48] "Another Girl" and [55] "You're Going to Lose That Girl")

[92] "She Said She Said"
The middle 8 is used twice, lasting 11 measures and averaging 20 seconds each time, totaling 25.6% (40/156) of the song's duration. This middle 8 employs two sub-sections, changes time signature from quadruple to triple, and tonicizes (but NOT modulates to!) E-flat.

As with the previous chapters of this study, I am including a chart that summarizes all my findings to this point:
middle_8_chart_thru_66.pdf
File Size: 13 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Stereo Panning on Revolver

6/20/2013

2 Comments

 
Taxman
Left:
rhythm guitar
bass
Center:
lead vocals
backing vocals
Right:
lead guitar
drums

Eleanor Rigby
Left:
backing vocals
Center:
strings
lead vocals (bridge)
Right:
lead vocals (verse & chorus)

I'm Only Sleeping
Left:
[nothing]
Center:
lead vocals
backing vocals
(backwards) lead guitar
rhythm guitar
bass
percussion
Right:
[nothing]

Love You To
Left:
[nothing]
Center:
vocals
sitar
guitar
percussion
Right:
[nothing]

Here There and Everywhere
Left:
backing vocals
lead guitar
Center:
lead vocals
Right:
rhythm guitar
bass
percussion

Yellow Submarine
Left:
rhythm guitar
bass
drums
Center:
brass band
Right:
lead vocals
backing vocals

She Said She Said
Left:
bass
percussion
Center:
lead vocals
backing vocals
Right:
lead guitar
rhythm guitar
organ

Good Day Sunshine
Left:
piano 1
bass
percussion (snare drum, bass drum, hi-hat with tambourine)
Center:
lead vocals
backing vocals

Right:
piano 2
percussion (cymbals, bass drum)

And Your Bird Can Sing
Left:
rhythm guitar
Center:
lead vocals
backing vocals
lead guitar
Right:
bass

For No One
Left:
french horn
bass
percussion
Center:
lead vocals
Right:
piano

Doctor Robert
Left:
backing vocals
percussion
Center:
guitars
Right:
lead vocals
bass

I Want to Tell You
Left:
piano
percussion
Center:
lead vocals
backing vocals
lead guitar
Right:
bass

Got To Get You Into My Life
Left:
bass
percussion
Center:
lead vocals
guitar
Right:
trumpets
saxophones

Tomorrow Never Knows
Left:
sound effects
tape loops
Center:
lead vocals
sitar
bass
percussion
Right:
lead guitar
organ
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Formal Structure in Beatles Music: [84] "Taxman"

5/20/2013

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Formal structure of "Taxman":
          Intro (ind., verse)  0:00-0:09*
          Verse 1                      0:09-0:32*
          Verse 2                     0:32-0:55*
          Middle 8                  0:55-1:11*
          Solo                          1:11-1:25*
          End of Verse        1:25-1:35*
          Verse 3                   1:35-1:58*
          Verse 4                    1:58-2:30*
          Coda (ind., solo)  2:20-2:38*

Comments: Yet another 2-part intro, with first the count-off, then the back beat. This follows [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", [77] "Tomorrow Never Knows", and [79] "Love You To", [81] "Paperback Writer", and [82] "Rain", which employ similar 2-part introductions.

The coda, too, is in two parts: the lyrics "And you're working for no one but me" is entirely independent from the rest of the song (both melodically and chordally), then the guitar solo is heard again.

The Middle 8 is less "middle-8-like" than usual because it uses very similar chords to the verse. Often the middle 8, in order to establish a strong contrast to the verses will instead employ very different chords. In "Taxman", however, that is not the case: The middle 8 uses just two chords - D7 and C7 - of which D7 (the tonic chord) is used extensively in the verse, and C (comparable but not identical to C7) is used once in the verse as well. In other words, the middle 8 in "Taxman" is more similar to the verses than is typical in Beatles music.

McCartney's vicious solo replaces the first part of the verse. Solos often take the place of an additional verse, but in this case the solo replaces only the first part of the verse, with the end of the verse ("Cuz I'm the taxman ...") sung as usual. That same trick was used on [10] "From Me To You", [31] "A Hard Day's Night", [51] "The Night Before", [52] "You Like Me Too Much", and [67] "In My Life".

Lastly, verses 1-2 and 3-4 are contiguous. Many Beatles songs have put the first two verses consecutively ([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", and [80] "Paperback Writer", and [82] "Doctor Robert"); but only 5 of these 42 have done the same thing with subsequent verses: [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), and [80] "Paperback Writer" (in which verses 1-2 are contiguous, as are verses 3-4). "Taxman", then, is just the 6th.
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