11:3 I Me Mine (pt.3)

So we’ve looked at the overall structure, time changes, chord progressions, melodic and lyrical fragments and why the chorus sucks without ruining the song. Now let’s finish off with a gander at the lyrical structure of the verse. It’s utterly unique.

(Rhyme scheme on the left, syllables on the right)

Revolution Number 494966743

A1 All through the day - 4
B1 I me mine, I me mine, I me mine - 9
A2 All through the night - 4
B1 I me mine, I me mine, I me mine - 9
C1 (Never) frightened of leaving it - 6
C2 Everyone’s weaving it - 6
B2 Coming on strong all the time - 7
A1 All through the day - 4
B3 I me mine. – 3

Harrison doesn’t quite manage to colour inside the line structurally speaking*. But that doesn’t matter. Many old hymns were written with an 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 structure. Pop songs can be a lot freer. But this is 4 9 4 9 6 6 7 4 3! Try it on for size!

To help you get your head round it here’s a few exercises.

Pick a three syllable phrase for your title. Like Cheese on toast! (or Scrambled Eggs !).
Use the title 3x on lines B1 and once on line B3. Like so...

Cheese on Toast

A1 All that I crave - 4
B1 Cheese on toast, cheese on toast, cheese on toast - 9
A2 There on my plate - 4
B1 Cheese on toast, cheese on toast, cheese on toast - 9
C1 Don’t give me margarine - 6
C2 (Or) ruin it with baked beans- 6
B2 They’re the foods I hate the most - 7
A1 All that I crave - 4
B3 Cheese on toast. – 3

Easy. Now you do it.

After you’ve used a random 3 syllable phrase, try using a three syllable name.
Once you’ve written something to Harrison’s tune it might even be good enough to keep and set to your own tune.

*A1 & 2 rhyme on verse two whereas he uses parallelism on verse one (I’d probably go for a rhyme if I were you!). C1 has two extra syllables on verse 1 and on verse 2 (and 3) the penultimate line isn’t a repeat of A1.

[Bet you're glad you read this far!]