METER 4/4
FORM Verse -> Verse -> Bridge -> Verse -> Bridge -> Verse/Outro (fadeout)
GENERAL POINTS OF INTEREST
- We have yet another example here where the bridge is repeated but separated by only a single verse section; this time, I believe the reluctance to provide that additional verse is motivated by the slowness of the harmonic rhythm throughout the song.
- Two small but creative twists are applied to the otherwise straightforward short form: the strange opening that's not quite a full intro, and the manner in which the final verse, arranged as it is with a wordlessly hummed vocal, fades out in mid-section.
- Just as we recently observed in "I'll Get You", the melody of this song contains a higher than average quotient of appoggiaturas; this time let's leave the locating of them all as what used to quaintly be described as an exercise for the reader.
- There is no small amount of ambiguity as to whether the song is in E Major or its relative minor key of c#; a by-product of the way in which phrases of the verse start off on vi, and the virtual absence throughout the song of firm V->I chord 'cadences' which would have more clearly established E as the home key. This exploitation of the vi/I chords was something which Lennon and McCartney leaned on heavily during this period; see for other examples, "From Me To You", "She Loves You", and "It Won't Be Long."
- The opening chord is one of those sonorities that defies a neat textbook analysis. Spelled from the bottom up, it's E - C# - F - A; an augmented triad on C# suspended over an E in the bass. In practical terms, the note on the bottom gives John the cue note for his vocal, and the augmented triad above it works as an aurally acceptable albiet surprising surrogate IV-like antecedent to the c# chord which leads off the verse.
- The vocal counterpoint of the verse starts off as plain parallel thirds, but then changes over to trademark-Beatles parallel 4ths by virtue of Paul briefly holding over one note (marked `*` in the transcription below) and then following the pentatonic scale downward the rest of the way:
"All I've got to do ...." Paul G# F# E F# |F# E * C# B |C# B G# John E D# C# D# |D# C# B G# F#|G# F# E
- Paul plays double stops on his bass in the portion of the verse in which the c# and E chords alternate; the root notes of each chord are on the bottom and a common note between them, g#, appears on top.
- Syncopated emphasis on the eighth note between the second and third beats of the measure (on "two-AND") is a subtle leitmotif of the song. It is delivered primarily in the form of damped high-hat cymbal slashes from Ringo, but there are places, such as the second half of the bridge, where the bass and rhythm guitar maintain the pattern even while Ringo has switched for the moment to more evenly played eighth-note tapping.
SECTION-BY-SECTION WALKTHROUGH
|c# |- |E |- | E: vi I |c# |- |f# | | vi ii |a |E |- | iv I
- The home key of E is established harmonically only by indirect means; the verse opens with a chord that is not the I chord of the home key, and the V chord never appears until the end of the bridge.
|A |- |c# |- | IV vi |A |E c# |A |E B | IV I vi VI I V
- There are two deft variations applied to the repeat of the bridge. Melodically, John modifies the phrase on the words "I'll be here" so that it creates a new high point. And formalistically, the last sub-phrase is repeated, lending a free-verse rhetorical feeling to the section rather similar to that felt in the second half of the verse.
A FINAL THOUGHT
- I'd also suggest that the hummed ending here is more than just a clever device for its own sake, but that it rather effectively drives home the underlying self-satisfied subtext of the lyrics; to the extent that some things in life, such as the comfortable equilibrium of a relationship between helpmates, defy completely adequate expression in words.
Regards,
Alan ([email protected] *OR* uunet!huxley!awp)
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"You can be replaced, you know, chicky baby." 100191#36
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