...medley
In order to head off any criticism along the lines of 'of course this song does stand up as an artistic whole it's one movement of a larger work' I promised to look at the long one as a unified piece of music. To be fair nobody has played that card, but I said I'd do it so here it is.
Having played through the whole thing and examined it in great detail I haven't changed my mind. It's a bunch of random songs and even song fragments stitched together. Very skilfully stitched mind you, but stitched all the same. I even went to consult the oracle of Beatles song knowledge Alan Pollack but when he started blathering on about the A minor and A major transposition to C major being a reflection of western Judaeo/Christian monotheism and the story of the prodigal son I knew we were sunk.
There are links between the sections -
I got to confess I'm grasping at straws here. And, straight repeats not withstanding, I'm pretty sure I could find just as many connections between any random collection on Beatles tunes. I mean, Here Comes The Sun – Here Comes The Sun King?
Next stop. Ringo's finest songwriting hour. (Is that really saying anything? Join me next time!).
In order to head off any criticism along the lines of 'of course this song does stand up as an artistic whole it's one movement of a larger work' I promised to look at the long one as a unified piece of music. To be fair nobody has played that card, but I said I'd do it so here it is.
Having played through the whole thing and examined it in great detail I haven't changed my mind. It's a bunch of random songs and even song fragments stitched together. Very skilfully stitched mind you, but stitched all the same. I even went to consult the oracle of Beatles song knowledge Alan Pollack but when he started blathering on about the A minor and A major transposition to C major being a reflection of western Judaeo/Christian monotheism and the story of the prodigal son I knew we were sunk.
There are links between the sections -
- Most obviously the first and last sections from You Never Give Me Your Money reoccur largely unaltered in Carry That Weight.
- The circle of fifths concept from 'Money' is also used in Golden Slumbers
- Sun King has a descending chromatic chord progression that mirrors an ascending chromatic passage in Mean Mr Mustard.
- Is the Sun King married to Her Majesty? And did Pam take her brother to see her?
- How did the pretty darling get to sleep when Paul wouldn't give her his pillow?
I got to confess I'm grasping at straws here. And, straight repeats not withstanding, I'm pretty sure I could find just as many connections between any random collection on Beatles tunes. I mean, Here Comes The Sun – Here Comes The Sun King?
Next stop. Ringo's finest songwriting hour. (Is that really saying anything? Join me next time!).
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