12:27 Six Things I Like About You...

... (Never Give Me Your Money)

Circle of fifths

The chords in the opening section go backwards through this stock pattern (Ticket 43)

Am Dm G C F (ending with an E7 to Am)

A lot of the classy elegance and timeless feel of the song is down to this.

Suspensions in the melody

Classy chords are no good if you just plop any old melody on the top. McCartney's melody starts on an E over an Am chord but on the key word money he continues to sing one more E over the Dm before resolving to D. This 'suspension' (a sus 2 to be precise) is another very classical trick, that of moving the voices at staggered intervals. In this case the chord moves one note before the melody.

If you have a very step wise melody where the melody changes when the chords do try this idea out by delaying the melody's movement by one note (or anticipating it by one). This can give a melody a real sense of drama and tension, as it does here (see Ticket 13).

On the next change (funny papers) the melody leaps to another suspension, an F over a C chord (a suspended fourth) then drops, to an E, then C, then G. More tension and resolution.

Recycled melody

I said last time there was a solid link between the A and B sections. The A melody descends , remaining mainly on E (you never give me your) then D (you only give me your) then C (and in the middle of in-). The B section melody has a similar (though quicker) descending pattern using pairs of notes. E & C (out of college), D & B (money spent), C & A (see no future), Bb & G (pay no rent), A & F (all the money), G & E (gone, nowhere). You could look at this as recycling one section of music to create another (Ticket 9), but my gut feeling is this was probably a happy accident.

Staying off the one

There's another link between the two section. Each line in the A section starts on the 'and' after 'one'- (rest) you never give me... In the B section each stanza does the same (rest) out of college. (Ticket 39).

Unified lyrics

This one is a real surprise. How many times have the Beatles held a random collection of lyrical nonsense together with a fantastic melody? But here the lyrics are covering some of the music's ragged edges. The money theme from A continues into B (money spent, pay no rent, all the money's gone) and even into the later sections we still get a sense of being on a journey hinted at in the B & C sections. Not to mention all lyrical parallels in the opening verses (Ticket 24).

The magic chord

The Bb chord (bVII) which you hear for the first time in section C really does give an unexpected, uplifting feeling at point in the lyrics where McCartney sings Oh that magic feeling. Words and lyrics perfectly together.

Thanks to those of you (Marv, Geordie, Matt) who weighed in with words of love for this song. The track as it stands would never make a best of Beatles compilation, but I sense that in happier times the opening section (with maybe a bridge by Lennon) could have blossomed into a song right up there with Hey Jude, Penny Lane and Yesterday. We'll never know.

12:26 You Never Give Me Your Money

The opening section of the Long One was also the first to be recorded and one of the few sections to be cut as a single song. Having said that the song itself is clearly several unrelated musical ideas pieced together. Before we can get into what the song has to teach us, we need to unravel the very convoluted structure.

AAA BB CCCCC D1 E D2 F D3 GGGGGGGGGGGGGG

A You never give me your money... (0:00 – 1:09)

By far the strongest part of this sound collage and the place where most of the songwriting lessons are to be found. An 8 bar circle of fifths progression in Am played 3 times (Intro/verse 1/verse 2)

B Out of college... (1:10 – 1:31)

A four bar pattern played twice. Though we've switched to C major (the relative key to A minor) thematically this has a lot in common with the A section. It isn't immediately obvious (more on that in the next post) because it's obscured (or ruined, take your pick) by the crunching gear change. Suddenly we have drums, honky tonk piano, an obnoxiously loud and busy walking bass line and boxy, heavily eq'd vocals. Imagine (or better yet, play) the A and B sections in a similar style and whaddaya know! - they almost sound like they belong in the same song!!!

C But oh, that magic feeling... (1:32 – 2:11)

Now we're in C mixolydian. Though the progression (Bb, F, C or bVII, IV, I) is pretty stock for this scale the fact that it's 3 bars long (instead of the universal 4) gives it a constant sense of forward motion. The next pattern keeps starting before your brain registers that the old one has finished. There's real sense of openness and freedom which matches the lyrics here brilliantly. And the lyrics fit into 3 bars without needing a 4th which is the hallmark of the Lennon Edit (Ticket 37).

D1 Instrumental (2:09 – 2:18)

Now it starts going downhill. We get a preview of the “one sweet dream” section but (broadly speaking) in key of C instead of A (see below).

C D7 Eb G C7
A B C E A

the weird thing here is that the first chord here is also the last chord of the C section and the last chord is also the start of the E section.

E Instrumental (2:18 – 2:28)

Now it really gets odd. Essentially what we're trying to do here is get from the C major at the end of the C section to the A at the beginning of the F section. So how would you do it? Well there's plenty of ways here's how Paul McCartney does it -

(C), D, Eb G, C7
(C7) A7, Eb7 C7, F#7 Eb7, A7 F#7 G7 G#7 (A7)

That's the musical equivalent of getting from the bedroom to the bathroom by opening the window, shinning up the drainpipe, climbing onto the roof and tunnelling your way through the ceiling. What was the point?

D2 One sweet dream... (2:28 – 2:38)

Now we get the four bar progression we had a preview of in the instrumental section. We're possibly in A major but I'm hearing that first chord as an A7 which means we're in A mixolydian. Either way, it's irrelevant one bar later...

A, B, C, E, A

Did I say mixolydian? Hmm...basically the B doesn't belong in the same key as A7, C doesn't belong in the same key as either of them, E clashes with C but finally E to A is your standard V – I resolution. So though everyone's completely unsettled we're finally home. What shall we do? Let's throw in a completely different riff!

F Soon we'll be away from here... (2:38 – 2:43)

That right – after all, we played the previous section a grand total of once, it's time to shake things up a bit. After McCartney's trip across the roof, let's watch TV by flipping channels every 10 seconds. So we spend a leisurely 2 bars in D dorian...

D3 One sweet dream... (2:43 – 2:47)

...before recapping the 4 bar pattern in A mixo-I-can't-make-up-my-mindigan. Did I say 4 bars? Let's make it one and half this time.

G ...Today, came true today... (2:47 – 4:02)

And the ride slows down to a gentle stop allowing nauseous customers to disembark via a 2 bar pattern played 14 times. At first it bears no relation to anything else (except Carry That Weight last section where it reoccurs) but it's a distant cousin of the C section

C section Bb F C
G section C G/B A

The first is bVII, IV, I and the second bIII, bVII, I. So they both contain the flat 7 chord and the root. Also the movement from first to second chord in both examples is down a fifth. Like I say distant cousins. Could still raise a family in some states.

What have we got?

To sum up this starts out as a great idea that literally fragments more and more as the song goes on. Some Beatles songs are classics. A few are utter rubbish. But I don't know of any other Beatles track that goes from awesome to complete garbage in the space of 4 minutes.

Next time we'll salvage a few valuables from the wreckage.

12:23 Carry That Weight

We're back with the long one medley. Carry That Weight was recorded in one piece with Golden Slumbers. And very unusually it features all four Beatles on backing vocals. That's right, for once you can hear the dulcet tones of Mr Richard Starkey.

Are there any other bands that have four lead vocalist? And is Ringo the only lead vocalist that rarely contributes any BVs? I'd like to know!

The song's mixed bag. Some great melodies, a palpable sense of Apple™- induced pain in the lyrics, a great arrangement and a genuine musical link to another part of the Long One. But the lyrics! Oh Boy!

The structure is ABAC (Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Outro) with the B & C sections lifted directly from You Never Give Me Your Money. So I'll reserve a more detailed analysis of those sections for when I get to that song.

They call it dummy love

Mark Altrogge told me this is the track he would nominate for the Hall of Shame and I think he's right. Take a look

Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight, 
Carry that weight a long time

Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight,
Carry that weight a long time

I never give you my pillow,
I only send you my invitations
And in the middle of the celebrations,
I break down

Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight, 

Carry that weight a long time

Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight, 

Carry that weight a long time

I think the song suffers from dummy love. Dummy lyrics are place holders, meaningless vocal sounds and stream of consciousness words meant to hold the shape of the melody till the real lyrics arrive. But sometimes they never arrive. I think McCartney just slung any old soundalike words to match the general structure and feel of You Never Give Me Your Money. But the results are pretty poor and undermines the powerful vibe set up by the chorus.

Simple & Strong

The Chorus is pretty basic. It only has 2 chords (C and G7) and lasts for 4 bars the hook “carry that weight” is sung twice same words, chord and melody. How come it's so strong?

Well, unusually the hook lands in bars 2 and 3, rather than 2 and 4, 3 and 4 (or even 123&4!). The fact that it's over a G7 means it keeps you waiting for the resolution a long time (see what I did there!?) and it sits on the highest point in the melody (Ticket 27). Then add into the mix that the melody is more off beat than you think. You're gonna starts on the off beat, that weight ends off and long time is off beat too.The verse melody has a lot of off beat stuff too.

Speaking of the verse

It's built on the old jazz (and classical) progression (see Ticket 25) of going backwards through the circle of fifths.

A – D – G – C – F

In the song this translates as

Am  Dm  G7  C  Fmaj7  Bm7b5  E7  Am

You can hear this stock progression in Hello (Lionel Ritchie), I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor), Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack) and Golden Slumbers.

So the chorus has two simple chords and the verse has a complex classical inspired string of chords but that's not the only point of contrast (Ticket 5). The chorus is sung in a manly unison, the verse in harmony, the verse is full of accents in rhythm section but the chorus powers ahead with straight eighths.

And your bonus ticket is...

Though we get the I and V chords (C and G) and nothing but, right from the get go, we have to wait till 0:36 (a third of the way through) for the IV chord which arrives with the guitar solo. Don't hit us over the head with the I, IV, V chords - that's Ticket 7.

"The Medley" from Abbey Road - Live!

Apart from Here Comes The Sun & Because, all of side 2 of Abbey Road is taken up with a medley sometimes refered to as "The Long One."

The Beatles, of course never played it live, which make this performance all the more amazing.

The band is The Fab Faux (That's 'foe' not 'four'). If you think they sound like a cut above your average Beatles tribute band you'd be right. That's Will Lee on bass from the Letterman Show & Jimmy Vivino, guitarist for The Tonight Show just for starters.

Thanks to Mark Altrogge for putting me onto this.



The Fab Faux - Abbey Road Side 2 (mostly) from The Fab Faux on Vimeo.



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