Formal structure of [172] "Octopus's Garden":
Intro 0:00-0:10 guitar (ind) 0:00-0:05 beat (v) 0:05-0:10 E major Verse 1 0:10-0:52 E major Verse 2 0:52-1:34 E major Solo/Middle 8 1:34-1:55 A major Verse 3 1:55-2:34 E major Coda (v) 2:34-2:50 E major Comments: Using a tactic used more by the Beatles in their earlier years, "Octopus's Garden" uses a two-part introduction (as did [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", [134] "Helter Skelter", and [138] "Mother Nature's Son") with a guitar lead in for two measures before the whole rhythm section joins in with a truncated (2 bars instead of 4) statement of the verses' chord progression. Similarly, the verses feature a 4-part structure that was also more common in the band's earlier recordings) in which the first, second, and fourth quarters of each verse are very similar, but the third quarter is substantially different. The Beatles had used similar four-part verse structures in [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", [74] "Wait", and [75] "You Won't See Me". More on this when I do my harmonic analysis of the song. In addition, verses 1 and 2 are contiguous (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", [144] "Glass Onion", [145] "I Will", [149] "Honey Pie", [152] "Long Long Long", [163] "For You Blue", [166] "One After 909", and [172] "Oh! Darling"). All of the things mentioned above illustrate how this Ringo composition employs the tricks of many early Lennon/McCartney numbers. Nothing against the song or the songwriter, but it is clearly based on the songwriting formulas from previous Beatles recordings. There is, however, one thing unusual and more original aspect of "Octopus" that the Beatles had not done very much: there is a key change at the solo. That alone is not terribly uncommon - [25] "And I Love Her", [55] "You're Going to Lose That Girl", [71] "Michelle", [76] "Girl", [90] "Good Day Sunshine", [122] "Lady Madonna", and [170] "Something" all featured key changes at the point where the solo begins. But in "Octopus's Garden", the entire song is in one key (E major) except for the solo section (which is in A major). No other Beatles song to date uses a formal design in which the entire song is in a single tonality except for the solo section which is in another tonality. Furthermore, the labeling of the solo section in "Octopus" is somewhat ambiguous precisely because of the key change. Had the solo remained in E major, it would be very clearly labeled a solo. With the key change, however, it can be seen as a hybrid solo and middle 8 (key changes being something middle 8s have employed in past Beatles songs). Again, more on this notion when I do my harmonic analysis of "Octopus's Garden". Lastly, the coda is largely an extension of verse. Quite similar to the songs recorded shortly prior (i.e. [168] "The Ballad of John and Yoko", and [169] "Old Brown Shoe"), the final verse is extended through repetition of the final line of lyrics. Unlike "Ballad" and "Show", however, which both repeated that last line once (so it's heard twice), "Octopus" repeats it twice (so it's heard a total of three times). This helps propel the song to its conclusion.
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