Notes on "Please Please Me" (PPM)
"Please Please Me" (PPM) is only their second single, but it already
represents a quantum leap in compositional terms for the Beatles over
their first one, "Love Me Do" (LMD). In addition to the tight vocal
harmonies seen earlier, we have here a couple of tricky chord choices,
crackling drum fills, continuous variation in the deployment of the
backing vocals, and as they say in the 'biz', much, much more.
Compared with the extant tapes of the Quarrymen, the Star Club, the Decca
audition, or even the couple of preceding EMI sessions, PPM gives us an
energized performance and an arrangement more complicated than anything
these Boys had attempted heretofore. This would seem to suggest that the
firm and creative influence of George Martin began to be felt even at
this early date.
This song is also emotionally quite gripping, not only because of its apparently
incessant drive, but even more so for the very human way in which the hero
appears to waver in the amount of self-control he can muster -- starting
out urgingly insistent yet trying to appear controlled; talking through
clenched teeth in a forced-polite voice, even while his facade is continually
cracking to reveal the true heat and impatience behind it. On one level, it's
a fairly obvious seduction scenario, yet you find yourself quite hypnotized if
not overwhelmed by the force and subtlety with which the meaning of the
words are played-off against the message of the music.
Stating Point of View
The lyrics of PPM, when compared with the other contemporaneous songs
of Lennon and McCartney, seem rather unique in terms of point of view
and expositional context. The cannonical bundle of their original songs
which were officially released up through the end of '63 (i.e., the 21
single and album cuts running from LMD through
"Not a Second Time") makes
for an interesting study from this perspective; a thorough job is way
out of scope with this current article but even the bare statistics are
revealing:
- All 21 songs are about the romantic relationship between a boy and
a girl from the perspective of the boy; granted, so far no surprise.
- 17 of the songs are written in direct address to the girl, and these
range from the vulnerable pleading of LMD to the mushy puppy love of
"Do You Want to Know a Secret",
to the glib giddiness of "I Wanna Be Your Man."
The harsher confrontations which would suddenly become
a staple trademark starting on the "A Hard Day's Night" album with
such classics as "Tell Me Why" and "You Can't Do That" are represented
in this sampling only by the relatively milder "Not a Second Time".
- Only 2 of the songs are soliloquies in which the girl is spoken of
in the third person; you have the encomium of "I Saw Her Standing There"
versus the angst-ridden confessional of "Misery".
- Two of the songs stick out as unique; "She Loves You", which features
core-talk advice from the singer to his friend regarding the *friend's*
girl, and our current choice, PPM.
In PPM, we have what is in essence a direct address, but one that is
framed as kiss-and-tell reportage of something that happened The Night
Before; as though most of the lyrics should be written in quotes. Of course,
it's a small, even moot, distinction because your ultimate experience of
the song is on the level of overhearing the boy urging the girl directly
and in real time; like a so-called frame-tale short story in which by the
second page you've totally forgotten that there ever was any frame
established at the beginning because the action itself is so absorbing.
Form
PPM has a compact form of which is likely motivated by the length of the
verses and the general raving intensity of mood which would begin to
chafe if unduly prolonged. Note the solitary bridge section and the
absence of an instrumental solo break:
Intro-> Verse -> Verse -> Bridge -> Verse -> Outro
The use of a complete ending is worthy of note. In context of the
rest of the top 40 of this period, circa 1963, where, failing recourse
to a statistical analysis of the matter, we seem to at least remember
everything as having a fade out at the end, the relatively large number
of early Lennon and McCartney songs with complete endings (12 out of those
same cannonical 21 singled out above) would seem to be bucking a trend;
then again, perhaps "setting a trend" would be more correct under the
circumstances; after all, for a while, it *was* their profession.
Harmony and Modality
Compared to the tangy modality of LMD, the melodic material here is purely
diatonic E Major. The harmony, in contrast, while still heavily reliant on
I-IV-V, presents us with some unusual surprises in the form of the G and C
chords which add just a hint of bluesy minor-mode inflection.
Intro
The introductory phrase of only four measures played over the unchanging
E Major (I) chord is deceptively simple. Here, as we've seen in so many
other songs, the intro, for all its brevity, plays a key expository role.
First off, we have the ever popular hook phrase trumpeted out by the
harmonica and guitar in unison. In many songs, such hook phrases
foreshadow material that will appear in either the melody of the coming
verses or as a mockingbird-like obligatto figure in the background. In
PPM the hook is used both ways.
Secondly, we have the unusual pick-up start on the fourth beat. What you'll
look back on later as the unrelenting forward drive of this song is thus
to be found here right at the very start in the iambic "da-DUM" gesture
of those first two notes; even that little drum fill which bridges the gap
between the end of the intro and the beginning of the verse reinforces
this gesture.
Lastly, take note for now of that pleasant dotted quarter note snap
in the second measure of our hook phrase; the better to appreciate
how this phrase is modified for its appearance in the melody of
the verse.
First Verse - "Last night I said these words to my girl"
The verse is sixteen measures long and is built out of four phrases of
even length:
1
|E |- |A E | G GA AB BB |
E: I IV I III IV V
5
|E |- |A E |- |
I IV I
9
|A |f# |c# |A |
IV ii vi IV
13
|E |A B |E |A B |
I IV V I IV V
As you work your way through the four phrases in turn, you quickly
discover a clever overall dramatic shape to the verse. The first
two phrases hang together like a couplet, and the remaining two
phrases seem to meld into a refrain-like eight-measure unit.
The first two phrases are obviously related to each other, though
there is a subtlety in the transition between the two of them
which is the first clue to our hero's wavering self-control. The last
measure of the first phrase, on the one hand, seems to suggest a sudden
extra push forward with its syncopated, momentary speed-up of the harmonic
rhythm; note the three Major chords moving step-wise in a row and changing
on the offbeat, the first of which - G Major - isn't even a legitimate
member of the key we're in, adding a bluesy cross relation to the texture -
g natural against a background of g sharps. For an instant, we seem to be
hurtling just a tad out of control. And yet, with the start of the second
phrase, we're right back where we started out before. Order has been
restored; as though our hero, carried away by his own sweet excitement
quickly catches himself and backs off, the better to resume his former
polite and measured, albeit insistent, tack.
Although the second phrase is virtually identical to the first, the
difference between them in their final measures is of structural
significance. The open ending of the first one on V smoothly motivates
the start of the second one. By contrast, the closed harmonic ending of
the second phrase on the I chord includes that unusual guitar riff in
measure eight, the combination of which sets off this opening couplet
from what follows.
The third phrase is one of both musical excursis and build toward a
climax by virtue of the introduction of new chords, the progression
away from the I yet not necessarily reaching a clear resting point,
and of course, the employment in every measure of the hard syncopation
on the half-beat between 2 and 3; this last peturbation being ironic
to the extent that this very phrase is the only one in the entire song
in which the harmonic rhythm holds steady for as long as four measures.
The climax, per se, is to be found in the reaching of the melodic apex
(high A) of the entire verse in measure 12.
You would surmise at this point that our hero has crosssed the start-line
and opened his attack for better or worse, but immediately following, we
experience yet another retreat of sorts in the way the fourth phrase resolves
the accumlated tension of the preceding one with its return to a musical
texture and vocabulary that is very close to that of the first two phrases:
no more syncopations, a resumption of plain I-IV-V, and an exchange of the
"come Ons" for the "please pleases"; all this, reinforced by the return of
the hook phrase at the very end. Incidentally, note how the placement of
the hook above the I-IV-V progression in this context gives it a different
feel from the one it has when it is accompanied by just the I chord as in
the intro or the first half of the verse.
Details, Duckie
All this agitation and the thrashing between polite insistence
and a less patient coaxing is only further enhanced by the manifest
details of the verse's arrangement.
The adaptation of the opening hook phrase as it appears in the melody
of the first two phrases conveys determined insistence on at least two
levels. First off, in the second measure, the snapped rhythm heard
in the intro is here replaced by a continuation of the "marcato", almost
hammer-like quarter notes of the first measure. Enhancing this is
the way that Paul sustains the single tone of E *above* John's singing
of the actual melody. Quite nicely, the snapped rhythm isn't entirely
dispensed with here, but is rather moved all the way to the extended ending
of the hook phrase in measure three, where it too adds to the mood of
insistence.
The forward-propelling syncopations of the third phrase are put into
bold italics by the antiphional deployment of the backing voices of
Paul and George; soon to become yet another Beatles signature device.
Unusual here is the way in which the fragments sung by the lead and
the backers fit seamlessly together in one melodic line; an effect
of great antiquity in classical music, the technical term for which
is "hocket."
Gentler though undeniable pushes forward are to be found as well in
the drum fills which bridge measures 4/5, 7/8, and the springing guitar
riff of measure 8 itself.
And on the side of vacillation, the harmonic rhythm over the course of
these sixteen measure is more varied, changeable, and uneven than
virtually any other example we've looked at in this series thus far.
Second Verse - "You don't need me to show the way love"
Aside from some new lyrics, the entire verse is repeated virtually
verbatim with one minor change made at the end to smoothly effect the
transition into the bridge. In the last measure here, the harmony
holds still on I, the hook phrase is truncated by half, and for a
single instant (the only one of its kind in the entire song), all
voices and guitars are tacet in favor of a series of solo drum fills.
It's a subtle gesture which binds off what has preceded and, at the
same time, leads ahead to what follows.
Bridge - "I don't want to start complaining"
Even though this bridge is built out of the same old three basic chords,
the lyrics of the song take a decided turn at this point for the openly
confrontational in this section, and the music, too, provides plenty of
contrast with what has preceded.
First off, there is the unusual ten measure length which is broken up
into two phrases of uneven length:
|A |B |E |- |
IV V I
|A |B |E |A B |E |A B |
IV V I IV V I IV V
Note how both phrases start out away from the tonic and quickly close
in on it. The first phrase here is distinguished by its novel use of
the backing voices; at first, just harmonized "ahhhs" behind John's
solo, followed by the surprising "in my heart" rejoinder of measure 4.
The second phrase is even more interesting. Paradoxically, though its
length is stretched out, the harmonic rhythm is conversely quickened in
its second half, and this serves to draw us back into the final verse
with the same music that was used earlier to lead the first verse into
the second one, fanfare-like hook phrase and all.
What is perhaps the most climactic moment of the entire song takes
place in the third measure of this second bridge phrase; where the
melody suddenly jumps an octave to high B (no coincidence, the single
highest melodic peak in the song) on the phrase "to reason
with YOU." Ironically, the chords to the beginning of both bridge
phrases are identical, yet, the E chord, which in the first phrase
provides a focal point of repose, here in the second phrase, by
virtue of the melodic high-point, serves as a jumping off point
for the rest of the phrase with its open ending on V; context is
all.
The musical climax of this section is in direct synchrony with
that of the lyrics, yet, with the transition right into the final verse,
we back off yet again from what otherwise might have seemed a point
of no return.
Last Verse and Outro
The final verse is a full reprise of the first one, and the familiar
device of ending with a triple repeat of the last sub-phrase is neatly
worked in here as a natural outgrowth of the fourth phrase of the verse.
Although none of the thematic material in this outro is anything new
by this point of the song, the boys do bring out a couple of surprises
they've clearly been saving till the end. The first one is the
pseudo-contrapuntal texture in which the "please please me" and
hook phrases seem to swirl and cascade around us. But most attention
grabbing of all is choice of chords for the final phrase, each one of
which is sharply punctuated by a fill of four even sixteenth notes on
the snare drum:
|E G |C B |E |
I V of VI VI V I
| |
from parallel
minor
The use of the G and C chords is not nearly so far out as might seem
at first sight; especially if you think of them in context of being
borrowed, as it were, from the parallel minor key; besides, we were
even sort of "warned" to half-expect something like this given the
early appearance of the G chord by itself in the verse; kind of like
how the murder weapon in a mystery appears as a casual prop in the
first scene. Still, the bluesy hint of the minor mode plus the implicit
cross-relations of the G and C naturals against predominant sharps of the
E Major key makes an extremely bracing effect. For laughs, try this
last phrase with the more "correct" diatonic chords of G# Major and
c# minor and see how hopelessly square it sounds by contrast.
In the final result, this song is a worthy textbook example of where a
fade out ending would be, not just wishy-washy, but suggestive of a
different unravelling of our hero's outing; one filled with intimations
of endless begging. Instead, the audacious ending we are given provides
the quite appropriate denoument for the passionate plot of the song up
to this point. It is as though our hero, careful not to shoot his whole
wad too soon lest all else fails, has held back something, (not without
some difficulty, I dare say), with which to bring things ultimately to a
head with an abrupt, pro-active bang, so to speak; hence, the full ending
from which, this time, there can be no retreat.
Regards,
Alan (awp@bitstream.com *OR* uunet!huxley!awp)
---
"They tried to fob you off on this musical charlatan,
but *I* gave him the test." 110790#22
---
Copyright (c) 1990 by Alan W. Pollack
All Rights Reserved
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