Notes on "She Said She Said" (SSSS.1)
KEY Bb Mixolydian Major
METER 4/4 but disrupted in the Bridge
FORM Intro -> Verse -> Verse -> Bridge ->
Verse -> Bridge -> Verse -> Outro (fadeout)
GENERAL POINTS OF INTEREST
Style and Form
- How about from "Good Day Sunshine" we back up
one track and do the final one on Side A. Okay?
Although the most conspicuous feature of "She Said She Said" (SSSS) is
the metrical high jinks of the break, this song also provides us with object
lessons about two other general compositional topics: modal harmony and,
on a higher level, how to experiment without things falling apart. Delving
into these last two topics will make for a longer than usual introduction
before we get to the song itself, so in advance, I beg your indulgence.
Modal Harmony
The harmonic vocabulary of SSSS is purely from the Myxolydian mode; this
mode being the scale with the Major bottom half, and a whole step instead
of a half-step at the very top -- think of it as the white note scale
starting on G.
The key of the song is ostensibly B-flat but the key signature features
an A-flat instead of an A-natural. This means that the key signature,
scale, and chord selection of Mixolydian B-flat is identical to that of E-flat
Major. It's worth noting that this phenomenon is somewhat analogous to
the relative Major/Minor relationship. However, in this particular case,
the scalar coincidence leads in turn to several distinctive harmonic
characteristics:
- the naturally occurring "v" chord in the Mixolydian mode is minor and
does not make for an effective V-I cadence. As a result ...
- the burden for establishing the key in this mode falls on the
sub-dominant
IV chord and the pseudo-dominant flat VII chord; in our modal B-flat key,
these are the E-flat and A-flat chords respectively. Although these
chords can be used individually in apposition to the tonic I chord, they
are often used together, as in the ubiquitous "Hey Jude"
progression:
B-flat A-flat E-flat B-flat
B-flat: I flat VII IV I
By the way, I've been often tempted to label that A-flat chord a
"IV-of-IV" when used in this context; does anybody else hear it that way ?
- the common pitch content between the tonic and the key of the IV chord
makes it very easy in Mixolydian mode to effect a pivot modulation to that
key.
In fact, this key of the IV is actually capable of being established more
firmly than the tonic (I) itself because of the following paradox: the
I chord makes a stronger V-of-IV cadence with IV than does the naturally
occurring minor v chord with the I.
- finally, I would re-emphasize the modal purity of our current song. There
are many other Beatles songs with a strong Mixolydian flavor to them
which nonetheless contain a fair amount of the regular Major mode added
to the mixture; for examples take a look a "A Hard Day's
Night" where
the "pure" Mixloydian spell is first broken in the fourth line of the
verse ("I find the things that you do ...") by the appearance of a V chord.
Leaving modality aside, the harmony of this song is also distinguished
by its frugality. There are only four different chords used throughout,
one of which doesn't even make an appearance until the climax of the break
(on the word "Boy") but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Experimentation
Among other things, this song teaches us yet another of the composer's
trade secrets: whenever you are pushing one parameter of your musical
grammar to the max, hold at least some if not all of the other parameters
steady lest your meaning become obscured by sensory overload, or your
composition come apart as though from centrifugal force. This principle
potentially operates on many different levels to the extent that the
"parameters" involved may include as diverse elements as form, rhythm,
texture, harmony, even lyrics.
In our current song, I believe this principle is illustrated on the high level
by the choice of form, and on a more detailed level in the way the arrangement
pits rhythm and meter against each other. The issue of rhythm and meter will
be covered as we go through the music itself, but I want to discuss the
formal issue here.
In spite of the fact that SSSS flaunts inscrutably psychedelic lyrics, heavy
limiting applied to virtually every instrument as well as the voice track, and
of course, that wobbly meter, it also sports a positively buttoned down,
classic form:
Intro - Verse - Verse - Break - Verse - Break - Verse - Outro
While this may seem obvious, it's a point worthy of emphasis: No matter how
experimental they were in other aspects of composition, The Beatles with very
rare exception, clung to such classic forms in their songs; it is as though
they needed these forms as a bedrock on which to anchor their experiments lest
they fall apart.
The usage of asymmetric, acyclic (albeit clearly articulated) forms are rare
enough in their output that their identification and examination as a group
would itself make an interesting study. Start with
"Happiness is a Warm Gun" and
"You Never Give Me Your Money" and see how many
more you can find!
Going even further, I'm tempted to argue that it is no coincidence that
the even fewer cases where they abandoned articulated form entirely, (e.g.,
"Revolution 9", "What's the New Mary Jane") have turned
out to be among their least popular work over the long run.
All this is *not* intended as a criticism; I mention it to acknowledge that
for all their glibly touted breaking of barriers, the Boys were really
neo-classicists at heart.
At any rate, with thanks for your patience, let's finally move into our
run-through!
The Intro and Verse
We have a comparatively short verse of eight measures built out of very
spare resources. Here's the harmonic scheme:
----------- 3X ---------
|B-flat A-flat |E-flat |B-flat A-flat |E-flat B-flat|
B-flat: I flat- IV I flat- IV I
VII VII
Measures 7 and 8 feature strong syncopation, and are given an immediate
instrumental reprise. The syncopation is all the stronger for coming
after three identical repeats of an unsyncopated, almost stodgy harmonic
rhythm. Notice, in fact, how the fancy drumwork in the second half of the
measures containing only the E-flat chord helps counteract this stodginess
and effectively pushes the music forward; a Ringo signature going all the
way back to "I Saw Her Standing There". The
bassline, on a more subtle
level, is also used to push things along here.
Other tasty details:
- an additional source of rhythmic turbulence is to be found in measures
3 and 5 where we have slow triplets (3 notes against two beats) in the voice
part; the same trick as in the break of "We Can Work
it Out."
- the drum part in the two measure reprise following the verse neatly
reinforces the syncopations *without* fancy figuration; a good example of
how less can be more.
- the lead guitar part antiphonally imitates the voice part in measures
3, 5, and the two measure reprise.
- look back at our three measures of introduction and notice how it
foreshadows both the mocking-bird guitar figure and the fancy-footwork
drumming which so heavily contribute to the overall flavor of the song.
- regarding the mix, note how in addition to the heavy limiting applied to
everything including the drums, you find the organ mixed almost subliminally
far back; it's barely noticeable but for that fleeting tickling sensation you
get on the high end of your ears.
The Break
If the gory details are too daunting at first sight, here's a high-level
view of this break:
- the f minor chord is introduced for the first time in the song at what is
possibly the moment of climax, and is used to help make a pivot modulation
to E-flat, the key of the IV.
- the meter may be erratic but it's not without its own pattern. This little
chart indicates the succession of measures and the number of beats in each:
She said "you don't understand what I said". I said [4+4]
"No, no, no, you're wrong. When I was a Boy, [3+3+3]
every thing was right. [6+3]
Everything was right. [6+3]
- our great illustration of the principle of keeping some musical parameters
steady when maxing out on others is two-fold: rather than "fight" the
changing meter (at risk of obscuring it), both the harmonic rhythm and
the drumming are slavishly at the meter's service. The chords change
on every measure boundary, and the drumming (and the bass as well) forgo
fancy syncopation for strictly even eighth-note marking of the beat.
- one detail you might quibble with me on are the measures shown as
being six beats instead of two measures, each with three beats. I've
chosen to go with six beats because of where the chord changes are,
and because I hear the those six beats accented by the voice part
as though they are broken into 4+2, not 3+3; i.e., I hear the words
accented as "everyTHING", not "EVERYthing."
Without further ado, here are the gory details!! Without music paper, this
will be a bit awkward to map out, but let's go for it. This is the notational
convention used below:
- each group of lines enclosed within dashed lines below represents one
measure of music.
- the number in the left margin indicates the number of beats in the measure.
- the beats in the measure are marked out in the top line of the group.
- the lyrics are laid out across the measure in the second line of the group.
- the chords are labeled in the third line of the group.
- the "Roman Numerals" for the chords are labeled in the bottom line of the
group.
------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4
4 She said "you don't under-
B flat A flat
B flat: I flat VII
------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4
4 stand what I said". I said
B flat
B flat: I
---------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3
3 "No, no, no you're
A flat
B flat: flat VII
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3
3 wrong. When I was a
B flat
B flat: I
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3
3 Boy - -
f
B flat: v
E flat: ii ** point of pivot
------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6
6 - - - every- thing was
B flat
E flat: V
---------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3
3 ri- ght.
E flat
E flat: I
------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6
6 - - - every- thing was
B flat
E flat: V
---------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3
3 ri- ght.
E flat
E flat: I
B flat: IV ** point of pivot back
------------------------------------------------------
The Coda
Two details worthy of attention in the coda:
- the cannonic imitation in the split voice parts is a novel development
of the idea originally presented in the verse.
- the sudden release of all syncopation is a final, rhythmic coup de grace,
coming as it does at the end of two full minutes during which we're constantly
bombarded by either syncopation, or a fickle meter. The tempo remains the
same, but those evenly-pounded-out eighth notes in the fade out give me a strong
feeling of acceleration; as though driving into a free skid on ice.
... and One Final Rumination
Anyone else out there struck by the underlying, albeit unlikely, similarities
between SSSS and
"Good Day Sunshine"? Consider it --
each have metric
changes, an unusually restricted harmonic vocabulary, and cascading vocals
in the coda. With all that we read about the "friendly" competition between
J and P, it makes me wonder if they would possibly set themselves an abstract
musical problem statement or recipe, then go off and develop their own
personalized solutions to it. Granted, this might be a totally fantastical
notion, but nonetheless, the two songs mentioned are about as quintessentially
typical of each songwriter as any you could find!
Alan (awp@prism.tmc.com)
---
"They tried to fob you off on this musical charlatan,
but *I* gave him the test." 101889#12
---
Copyright (c) 1989 by Alan W. Pollack
All Rights Reserved
This article may be reproduced, retransmitted, redistributed and
otherwise propogated at will, provided that this notice remains
intact and in place.