The Beatles' "Revolver," or "Why everyone should listen to the song "'For No One'"
I am thoroughly enjoying my Beatles grad theory seminar, if only because more in-depth examinations of some albums and songs make me a big advocate of some of the Beatles' "lost gems." Below is my journal for this week's class, when we undertook "Revolver," one of the most revolutionary albums of all time. It's not my best writing or most in depth analysis, but is a quick argument for the song "For No One," which is quickly becoming one of my favorite "Paul" songs. Give it a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x7ZHlM0PhE - Hardly revolutionary when played alongside "Tomorrow Never Knows," right? Well, here's my breakdown:
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Revolver- A Turning Point
It’s hard to say something about how revolutionary (no pun intended) the Beatles’ album “Revolver” was without sounding redundant. We get it- it was the first “psychedelic rock album,” it introduced new recording techniques, the forms and harmonies broke new ground, it worked “musique concrete” into popular music, the songs were impossible to perform live, it made strides in orchestration for pop groups, it was a real milestone for George Harrison as a songwriter, etc. etc. That said, I was astonished at how fresh this album sounded after more than forty years.
I knew some of my favorite Beatles songs from when I was younger were on the album, “Eleanor Rigby” and “Taxman” among them, and “Yellow Submarine,” which was the first Beatles song I ever played, way back in 3rd grade beginning band on trumpet. I had heard the rest at some point, “discovering” Tomorrow Never Knows a few years back, when Beatles “Love” came out. I expected to hear a few duds here and there, maybe a new gem or two, and have the old favorites come across just as I remembered. Having made the journey of digging into the Beatles’ repertoire as a result of this class though, I got a taste of how exciting and shocking this must have been to those who listened to it upon its first release. To say the least, the words, “How did they do that?” must have been asked by umpteen casual listeners and musicians alike.
There’s not really a “dud” on the entire album. Even the “weaker” songs (“And your bird can sing” and “Doctor Robert,” if only for its awkward prosody) still have great and surprising moments. That’s what really stays with you- the element of surprise. The timbres and instrumentation are so unexpected (“Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Eleanor Rigby”), or a sudden chord change drops the floor out from underneath (such as 0:18 on “Doctor Robert”). When a song comes along that isn’t awash in track loops and lush vocal harmonies or is a bit more straightforward as far as chord progressions, such as “For No One,” it still manages to not feel out of place or “old” among the other tracks, which is surprising in itself.
In fact, with all the revolutionary recording techniques and instrumentation, songs such as “For No One” often are overlooked for their greatness as songs because they weren’t breaking new ground formally (there is no introduction or coda), harmonically, or in terms of timbre. However, the lyrics in “For No One” suggest a very mature depth for McCartney, a pain of loss that is not whiny or angst-ridden, or even accusatory. The (second-person) narrator recognizes and even seems to respect that his lost lover has moved on, and a set of parallel lives are painted over the course of the song, suggesting a variety of scenes from waking up to going out socially at night.
The chords are straightforward- I - V6-vi-I64-IV-bVII-I over a simple descending bass line (do-ti-la-sol-fa-te-do), with a chorus made of ii and V7/ii and a Vsus4-V turnaround, there doesn’t seem to be anything pushing the envelope here. The melody, however, is deceptively simple, and uses only the notes of the I chord, and the borrowed b6 scale degree (which aurally acts almost as a b7 of the bVII chord, but instead implies a melodic minor scale) over the whole verse. When set with descriptions of the banality of everyday life, we are given a picture of a narrator simply wading along through routine with only the slightest hint (with the borrowed b6) of any outward expression of pain. Part of the brilliance of this marriage of simple melody and simple chord progression is the way they combine to create more than simple interactions. For example, when the wearied vocal line finally arpeggiates up to the scale degree 3, it hangs over to the IV chord, implying a IVM7, and then it sinks back down as a result of its seemingly Herculean effort (mirroring the effort taken to merely get out of bed?), first to the tonic B, which doesn’t fit over the bVII chord, to the b6, G (which again is not part of the bVII A chord), to the fifth (F#, which STILL doesn’t fit over the A major chord). At this point, it seems like no matter what the narrator tries to do, he can’t make it work and he gives up and heads home to the I chord and the same scale degree 5 he begins on.
The chorus, while simple, is strikingly effective - the melody ascends to scale degree 6 (G#, not the G natural of the verse), implying a possible move to the relative minor, but instead the supertonic (C#) is tonicized, making the VI (suddenly major) not the arrival point but a secondary dominant (V7/ii). The melody is no longer restrained to arpeggios, and works in a number of neighbor tones, and seems far more “McCartney-esque.” The feel also shifts, in the drums, the bass (which is no longer simply descending half notes, but employs a degree of counterpoint with the melody), and the piano rhythms shift from um-pa-pa-pa 8th notes to a more intense series of 16th notes. The lyrics also reflect the change, shifting to a very emotional and tender moment, and the only real interaction between the narrator and his lover. The dichotomy is clear- the verse portrays action, and the chorus reveals emotion.
Keeping in step with the rest of Revolver, “For No One” also employs a French Horn (a new addition to McCartney’s expanding orchestration), first as a solo melody over the verse chords, and then brought back as counterpoint (much like “Ah, look at all the lonely people” is treated in “Eleanor Rigby”). Finally, an unresolved turnaround Vsus-V implies that the protagonist, while not in denial about his lover having moved on, is emotionally without closure. The result is astonishingly honest, effective, and deep for a song that doesn’t even last a full two minutes and is devoid of guitar or special recording effects. All in all, if one of Revolver’s seemingly more simple songs is so solid, it’s easy to see how the album as a whole has lasted the test of time, and offers a brilliant mix of carefully honed songwriting and revolutionary musical experimentation.
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Thoughts?
*****
Revolver- A Turning Point
It’s hard to say something about how revolutionary (no pun intended) the Beatles’ album “Revolver” was without sounding redundant. We get it- it was the first “psychedelic rock album,” it introduced new recording techniques, the forms and harmonies broke new ground, it worked “musique concrete” into popular music, the songs were impossible to perform live, it made strides in orchestration for pop groups, it was a real milestone for George Harrison as a songwriter, etc. etc. That said, I was astonished at how fresh this album sounded after more than forty years.
I knew some of my favorite Beatles songs from when I was younger were on the album, “Eleanor Rigby” and “Taxman” among them, and “Yellow Submarine,” which was the first Beatles song I ever played, way back in 3rd grade beginning band on trumpet. I had heard the rest at some point, “discovering” Tomorrow Never Knows a few years back, when Beatles “Love” came out. I expected to hear a few duds here and there, maybe a new gem or two, and have the old favorites come across just as I remembered. Having made the journey of digging into the Beatles’ repertoire as a result of this class though, I got a taste of how exciting and shocking this must have been to those who listened to it upon its first release. To say the least, the words, “How did they do that?” must have been asked by umpteen casual listeners and musicians alike.
There’s not really a “dud” on the entire album. Even the “weaker” songs (“And your bird can sing” and “Doctor Robert,” if only for its awkward prosody) still have great and surprising moments. That’s what really stays with you- the element of surprise. The timbres and instrumentation are so unexpected (“Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Eleanor Rigby”), or a sudden chord change drops the floor out from underneath (such as 0:18 on “Doctor Robert”). When a song comes along that isn’t awash in track loops and lush vocal harmonies or is a bit more straightforward as far as chord progressions, such as “For No One,” it still manages to not feel out of place or “old” among the other tracks, which is surprising in itself.
In fact, with all the revolutionary recording techniques and instrumentation, songs such as “For No One” often are overlooked for their greatness as songs because they weren’t breaking new ground formally (there is no introduction or coda), harmonically, or in terms of timbre. However, the lyrics in “For No One” suggest a very mature depth for McCartney, a pain of loss that is not whiny or angst-ridden, or even accusatory. The (second-person) narrator recognizes and even seems to respect that his lost lover has moved on, and a set of parallel lives are painted over the course of the song, suggesting a variety of scenes from waking up to going out socially at night.
The chords are straightforward- I - V6-vi-I64-IV-bVII-I over a simple descending bass line (do-ti-la-sol-fa-te-do), with a chorus made of ii and V7/ii and a Vsus4-V turnaround, there doesn’t seem to be anything pushing the envelope here. The melody, however, is deceptively simple, and uses only the notes of the I chord, and the borrowed b6 scale degree (which aurally acts almost as a b7 of the bVII chord, but instead implies a melodic minor scale) over the whole verse. When set with descriptions of the banality of everyday life, we are given a picture of a narrator simply wading along through routine with only the slightest hint (with the borrowed b6) of any outward expression of pain. Part of the brilliance of this marriage of simple melody and simple chord progression is the way they combine to create more than simple interactions. For example, when the wearied vocal line finally arpeggiates up to the scale degree 3, it hangs over to the IV chord, implying a IVM7, and then it sinks back down as a result of its seemingly Herculean effort (mirroring the effort taken to merely get out of bed?), first to the tonic B, which doesn’t fit over the bVII chord, to the b6, G (which again is not part of the bVII A chord), to the fifth (F#, which STILL doesn’t fit over the A major chord). At this point, it seems like no matter what the narrator tries to do, he can’t make it work and he gives up and heads home to the I chord and the same scale degree 5 he begins on.
The chorus, while simple, is strikingly effective - the melody ascends to scale degree 6 (G#, not the G natural of the verse), implying a possible move to the relative minor, but instead the supertonic (C#) is tonicized, making the VI (suddenly major) not the arrival point but a secondary dominant (V7/ii). The melody is no longer restrained to arpeggios, and works in a number of neighbor tones, and seems far more “McCartney-esque.” The feel also shifts, in the drums, the bass (which is no longer simply descending half notes, but employs a degree of counterpoint with the melody), and the piano rhythms shift from um-pa-pa-pa 8th notes to a more intense series of 16th notes. The lyrics also reflect the change, shifting to a very emotional and tender moment, and the only real interaction between the narrator and his lover. The dichotomy is clear- the verse portrays action, and the chorus reveals emotion.
Keeping in step with the rest of Revolver, “For No One” also employs a French Horn (a new addition to McCartney’s expanding orchestration), first as a solo melody over the verse chords, and then brought back as counterpoint (much like “Ah, look at all the lonely people” is treated in “Eleanor Rigby”). Finally, an unresolved turnaround Vsus-V implies that the protagonist, while not in denial about his lover having moved on, is emotionally without closure. The result is astonishingly honest, effective, and deep for a song that doesn’t even last a full two minutes and is devoid of guitar or special recording effects. All in all, if one of Revolver’s seemingly more simple songs is so solid, it’s easy to see how the album as a whole has lasted the test of time, and offers a brilliant mix of carefully honed songwriting and revolutionary musical experimentation.
*********
Thoughts?