{"id":7849,"date":"2023-03-20T19:10:15","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T19:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/?page_id=7849"},"modified":"2023-05-31T00:36:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T00:36:01","slug":"nobile","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/","title":{"rendered":"Narrative Opposition in the Beatles\u2019 Verse\u2013Chorus Songs, 1966\u20131967"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n<script type=\"text\/x-mathjax-config\"> MathJax.Hub.Config({ messageStyle: \"none\"\n});\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Drew Nobile<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Abstract<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>This article argues that the Beatles took a particular approach to narrative structure in their verse\u2013chorus songs. That approach is <em>narrative opposition<\/em>, where the two sections present contrasting ideas or settings. The song\u2019s meaning thus arises through synthesizing the two ideas. This approach differs from the mainstream standard that emerged in the late 1960s, wherein the chorus is the song\u2019s primary narrative focus, with verses playing a supporting role. To demonstrate, I analyze four songs from the Beatles\u2019 <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> sessions\u2014the peak of what John Covach calls their \u201cartist\u201d period (Covach&nbsp;2006). Through these analyses, I show how the Beatles used verse\u2013chorus form as a specific expressive device rather than a neutral template as did later artists.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/36-nobile\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"8800\">View PDF<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"7648\">Return to Volume 36<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keywords and phrases<\/strong>: the Beatles, form, lyrics, narrative analysis, popular music<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Example&nbsp;1 gives two graphs showing the incidence of particular form types in the rock and pop repertoire. These graphs use data from Jay Summach\u2019s study of the top 20 songs on Billboard\u2019s year-end charts from 1955 to 1989 (Summach&nbsp;2011, 2012). The top graph shows the combined incidence of AABA and strophic forms\u2014the primary form types that do not contain a chorus\u2014and the bottom graph shows the incidence of verse\u2013chorus forms. These graphs visually demonstrate a trend that many writers have observed: between 1960 and 1970, rock shifted its preference from songs without a chorus to songs with a chorus (see Covach&nbsp;2005, de&nbsp;Clercq&nbsp;2012, von Appen and Frei-Hauenschild 2015, and Temperley&nbsp;2018, among others). Between 1960 and 1964, strophic and AABA songs made up 61% of the year-end top 20, with verse\u2013chorus songs making up only 29%. A decade later, these proportions had essentially reversed, with 29% AABA and strophic forms and 69% verse\u2013chorus forms in 1970\u201374. After 1974, these trend lines leveled off a bit, showing that the late 1960s were a significant transitional period that solidified rock\u2019s preference for choruses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Example 1. Between the 1960s and 1970s, rock shifted its preference from songs without chorus (AABA and strophic forms) to songs with chorus (verse\u2013chorus forms).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-1a\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1a.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 1a\" class=\"wp-image-8134\" width=\"512\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1a.png 1174w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1a-300x187.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1a-1024x639.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1a-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>a)<strong> <\/strong>Incidence of AABA and strophic forms in Billboard Year-End Top-20 songs 1955\u201389.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-1b\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1b.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 1b\" class=\"wp-image-8135\" width=\"512\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1b.png 1174w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1b-300x187.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1b-1024x639.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-1b-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>b) Incidence of verse\u2013chorus forms in Billboard Year-End Top-20 songs 1955\u201389.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Amid this transitional period in rock\u2019s stylistic history, the Beatles were going through a stylistic transition of their own. In John Covach\u2019s terms, they moved from an approach to songwriting as <em>craft<\/em> to songwriting as <em>art<\/em> (Covach&nbsp;2006). The former dominated their releases through 1965, exemplified through a reliance on traditional song forms, especially the Tin Pan Alley-derived AABA form. Around 1965, the band began to depart from the craftsman approach, exemplified by their decreasing use of AABA form. The Beatles\u2019 shift to an artist approach came to an explosive climax in May of 1967 with the release of <em>Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/em>. Among the many revolutionary aspects of this album, it is easy to overlook its near complete avoidance of AABA form. Avoiding AABA across an entire album was new for the Beatles; even the previous year\u2019s <em>Revolver<\/em>, quite progressive in its own right, contained nearly half AABA songs. Mirroring the trend in rock music writ large, the Beatles\u2019 abandonment of AABA led to an uptick in their use of verse\u2013chorus forms. But the Beatles\u2019 approach to verse\u2013chorus forms was not the same as the mainstream standard that coalesced in the 1970s.<span id='easy-footnote-1-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-1-7849' title='Covach\u2019s craft\/art distinction should not be read as devaluing the Beatles\u2019 early output in comparison with what came later. These terms refer to the Beatles\u2019 own songwriting approach (in Covach\u2019s estimation), not to any critical analysis of the songs themselves. Covach discusses how Lennon and McCartney initially saw the Beatles as a fad but expected their songwriting careers to continue long after the fad had passed (37\u201338); they considered themselves much more like Carole King or Phil Spector than like Elvis Presley or Franki Valli.'><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>To highlight the Beatles\u2019 particular approach to verse\u2013chorus forms, I focus on the relationship between musical form and lyrical narrative. I begin from the premise that verse\u2013chorus designs derive from a song\u2019s lyrical structure as much as from its musical features. In other words, verses and choruses represent different narrative functions as well as different formal functions. There are several different narrative relationships that can arise between verse and chorus, but typical verse\u2013chorus songs display some sort of narrative hierarchy placing the chorus in the superior position relative to the verse. That is, the chorus\u2019s lyrics describe the song\u2019s main message, with the verse\u2019s lyrics supporting that message in some way. While this chorus\u2013verse hierarchy in both lyrics and music quickly became rock\u2019s default, the Beatles took a different approach to narrative structure in verse\u2013chorus forms. Rather than using the chorus as the lyrical focal point with supporting verses, the Beatles instead placed the two sections on relatively equal footing. Their verse\u2013chorus narrative structures thus presented a general framework of <em>opposition<\/em>, the two sections portraying contrasting narrative worlds whose juxtaposition drives the song\u2019s meaning.<span id='easy-footnote-2-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-2-7849' title='My analytical approach is similar to that taken by Jocelyn Neal (2007), who identifies various narrative paradigms in verse\u2013chorus songs in 1990s-era country songs.'><sup>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>In the following section, I describe the Beatles\u2019 relationship to verse\u2013chorus form across their output, showing that the band\u2019s use of the form peaked right as they entered their so-called \u201cartist\u201d period. I then discuss their particular approach to the form, which centers on the aforementioned principle of narrative opposition. To demonstrate the Beatles\u2019 paradigm of narrative opposition, I analyze four songs recorded between November 1966 and April 1967 as part of the band\u2019s <em>Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/em> album project. These six months were pivotal in the Beatles\u2019 artistic development, rock\u2019s stylistic evolution, and British and American cultural history: the band completed its transition from craft to art, rock embraced psychedelia and artist-based composition instead of professional Brill Building-style songwriting, and countercultural movements dominated the societal landscape, setting up the Summer of Love a few months later. As I describe below, the Beatles explored verse\u2013chorus designs in these recording sessions more than they did at any other time. More broadly, on the <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> album, the Beatles began to think of a song\u2019s form not as a basic template but as a central aspect of its expressive meaning, and their approach to verse\u2013chorus designs treated the form as a vehicle for expressing certain lyrical ideas.<span id='easy-footnote-3-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-3-7849' title='David Nicholls identifies \u201ckinetic narratives\u201d (i.e., stories that develop across the song) as a primary lyrical strategy in &lt;em&gt;Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band&lt;\/em&gt;, in contrast to the Beatles\u2019 earlier reliance on descriptions of static situations (e.g., \u201cI Want to Hold Your Hand\u201d). See Nicholls&amp;nbsp;2007, 308.'><sup>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. The Beatles and Verse\u2013Chorus Form<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As Covach describes it, the Beatles\u2019 progression from \u201ccraftsmen\u201d to \u201cartists\u201d is traceable through their songs\u2019 formal designs. In their early songs of 1963\u20131964, the Beatles relied heavily on the Tin Pan Alley-derived AABA form. Verse\u2013chorus songs occasionally appeared, usually as album tracks rather than singles (\u201cAny Time at All,\u201d \u201cNot a Second Time,\u201d \u201cEvery Little Thing,\u201d e.g.), but that form was clearly a secondary option. (An exception to the non-single trend is 1963\u2019s \u201cShe Loves You,\u201d which Covach interprets as a \u201cfaulty\u201d AABA song in which what was intended as a bridge acted more like a chorus [Covach&nbsp;2006, 43].) The group\u2019s 1965 albums <em>Help!<\/em> and <em>Rubber Soul<\/em> began to offer a balance between verse\u2013chorus and AABA designs. However, most verse\u2013chorus songs on these albums represent what Covach refers to as \u201cincipient\u201d verse\u2013chorus form, where verses within an overall AABA design begin to cleave apart into separate verse and chorus sections, \u201cmostly under the force of a refrain that seems to have outgrown its role within the structural confines of the verse\u201d (Covach&nbsp;2010, 6\u20137).<span id='easy-footnote-4-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-4-7849' title='See also Trevor de&amp;nbsp;Clercq\u2019s discussion of \u201cformal conversions\u201d (2012, Chapter&amp;nbsp;4), where certain organizational schemes can underlie single verses or a verse and chorus.'><sup>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> A clear example is <em>Help!<\/em>\u2019s \u201cTicket to Ride,\u201d shown in Example&nbsp;2, whose eight-bar verse and eight-bar chorus could well have made up a single 16-bar section if the latter were not so self-contained with three statements of the title lyric. Note that the chorus begins away from the tonic harmony, here on the submediant F$$\\sharp$$&nbsp;minor\u2014thus representing what I refer to as \u201ccontinuous verse\u2013chorus form\u201d (2020, 179\u2013198)\u2014and the entire passage exhibits what Walter Everett has termed an \u201cSRDC\u201d phrase structure, with four four-bar melodic units displaying the progression statement\u2013restatement\u2013departure\u2013conclusion (1999, 16). Similar incipient\/continuous verse\u2013chorus layouts underlie \u201cHelp!,\u201d \u201cDrive My Car,\u201d \u201cWait,\u201d and \u201cRun For Your Life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-2.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 2\" class=\"wp-image-8123\" width=\"512\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-2.png 1887w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-2-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-2-1024x558.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-2-768x419.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-2-1536x838.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 2. The Beatles, \u201cTicket to Ride\u201d (1965): \u201cincipient\u201d verse\u2013chorus form deriving from a single verse cleaving apart into separate verse and chorus.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-audio-2.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Audio Example 2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Beatles\u2019 transition to the artist approach took a leap with their 1966 album <em>Revolver<\/em>, on which myriad innovations in recording technology opened up new avenues for artistic experimentation. But it was not until they returned to the studio in late 1966 that the band\u2019s exploration of verse\u2013chorus structures came to a head. From November to April, the band would record fourteen tracks, none of which followed standard AABA form, and more than half of which exhibited fully formed (non-incipient) verse\u2013chorus structures.<span id='easy-footnote-5-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-5-7849' title='There are eight songs from the &lt;em&gt;Sgt. Pepper&lt;\/em&gt; sessions that I believe are in a clear verse\u2013chorus form: \u201cSgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band,\u201d \u201cWith a Little Help from My Friends,\u201d \u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds,\u201d \u201cGetting Better,\u201d \u201cShe\u2019s Leaving Home,\u201d \u201cLovely Rita,\u201d \u201cPenny Lane,\u201d and \u201cStrawberry Fields Forever.\u201d \u201cFixing a Hole\u201d is arguably another example, though Walter Everett labels it as a verse\/refrain plus bridge (i.e., as a version of AABA; see Everett 1999, 106\u20137). The five remaining songs all have some non-standard formal aspects that make them difficult to categorize unequivocally.'><sup>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Twelve of these tracks would form <em>Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/em>, an album representing, in Walter Everett\u2019s words, \u201ca pinnacle of artistic vision, good times, and far-reaching impact far beyond its peers, such as could never again appear in any one product\u201d (1999, 89). The other two tracks, \u201cPenny Lane\u201d and \u201cStrawberry Fields Forever,\u201d would be released separately as a double-A-sided single in February 1967. The band\u2019s turn toward verse\u2013chorus forms in the <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> sessions is more than a matter of numbers; rather, the verse\u2013chorus structures in this period represent a new approach to the form, one tied to a specific expressive framework and lyrical paradigm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That paradigm, as mentioned, is narrative opposition, wherein verse and chorus explore contrasting subjects or viewpoints. The Beatles, that is, treated the verse\u2013chorus formal layout as an expressively marked form, one whose purpose is to support a specific narrative framework. Though verse\u2013chorus structures were fast overtaking AABA as rock\u2019s go-to formal design, the Beatles never treated the form as a default, instead viewing it as one of many options chosen in response to a song\u2019s particular expressive needs. Indeed, though verse\u2013chorus structures pervade the <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> album and their 1967 singles, the form did not stick in the ensuing Beatles output the way it did in the broader rock repertoire. From 1968\u2019s <em>Magical Mystery Tour<\/em> onward, the band seemed more interested in exploring novel, experimental formal designs as they had in <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em>\u2019s closing track \u201cA Day in the Life,\u201d as seen for instance in the White Album\u2019s \u201cHappiness is a Warm Gun\u201d (1968) and the medley from Side&nbsp;2 of <em>Abbey Road<\/em> (1969). In addition, as John Covach points out, the Beatles continued to explore the possibilities of AABA form even as other rock artists turned away from it, as in \u201cTwo of Us,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve Got a Feeling,\u201d and \u201cThe Long and Winding Road,\u201d all from their final album <em>Let it Be<\/em> (1970) (Covach&nbsp;2006, 49). Verse\u2013chorus form is certainly not absent from the Beatles\u2019 post-<em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> output\u2014it is found, for example, in \u201cOb-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,\u201d \u201cMaxwell\u2019s Silver Hammer,\u201d and \u201cAcross the Universe\u201d\u2014but after their intense exploration of the form in 1966\u201367, it became just another tool in their formal repertoire, used only when needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Chorus\u2013Verse Hierarchy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A narrative framework based on opposition does not necessarily place the chorus in the central, hierarchically superior role that is typical. Theorists generally describe the chorus as the primary focal point within a verse\u2013chorus song, the section around which the rest of the song revolves. John Covach tells us explicitly that \u201cif a song has a chorus, that chorus is always the focus of the tune\u201d (2010, 6), and others remind us that choruses tend to have higher energy (Stephan-Robinson&nbsp;2009, 94), contain more dramatic harmonies (Everett&nbsp;2009, 145), and demand more of our attention (de&nbsp;Clercq&nbsp;2012, 40) than their respective verses. Much of what directs our focus toward the chorus is musical, as opposed to lyrical. The most salient aspect is texture: choruses tend to add multiple singers (hence the word \u201cchorus\u201d), shift from hi-hat to ride cymbal in the drums, add more distortion on the guitars, and increase the \u201cloudness\u201d in comparison with the verse. Other musical factors may come into play as well, such as the length of melodic units (they tend to be shorter in choruses), the rhythm of the vocal line (choruses tend toward longer notes), or the degree of musical closure (stronger in the chorus), etc.<span id='easy-footnote-6-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-6-7849' title='For more on chorus markers, see Stephenson&amp;nbsp;2002, Chapter&amp;nbsp;6; Burns&amp;nbsp;2005, 138; Osborn&amp;nbsp;2013, 26\u201329; Temperley 2018, 158\u2013166; and Nobile&amp;nbsp;2020, 71\u201373.'><sup>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>The lyrical elements most associated with choruses are lyrical repetition\u2014choruses tend to contain the same lyrics in each iteration, while verses change their lyrics throughout the song\u2014and the inclusion of the song\u2019s title, which often appears at the very beginning of the chorus. But the chorus\u2013verse hierarchy is also clear, perhaps especially so, in a song\u2019s poetic narrative. Broadly speaking, choruses tend to \u201csum up the song\u2019s main theme,\u201d as Walter Everett notes (2009, 145), whereas verses more often give detail or tell a story (Nobile&nbsp;2020, 71). There are various ways in which a song\u2019s lyrics can display this general principle. Many songs present different stories in each verse, related by a central theme summarized in the chorus\u2014in Jimmy Buffett\u2019s \u201cMargaritaville,\u201d for instance, the various scenes of booze-soaked tropical slackery in the verses are summed up with the chorus\u2019s line, \u201cwastin\u2019 away again in Margaritaville.\u201d In other songs, the chorus adds context that causes us to hear the verses differently\u2014in the Temptations\u2019 \u201cJust My Imagination,\u201d for instance, the idyllic relationship described in the verses\u2019 scenes is, in the chorus, revealed to be a mere figment of the narrator\u2019s imagination. Some songs shift the narrative voice from verse to chorus, the chorus acting as a sort of song within a song that the verse\u2019s narrator hears\u2014in the Eagles\u2019 \u201cHotel California,\u201d for instance, the verses give first-person accounts of falling prey to Los Angeles\u2019s hedonistic allure, represented metaphorically as the titular hotel, while the choruses give the siren song of the personified hotel, beckoning the protagonist to his irreversible fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These lyrical paradigms, generally speaking, support the framework of a central chorus with supporting verses, as described above. In all of them, the chorus carries the song\u2019s main narrative idea\u2014we might need the verses to understand that idea, but once we get it, the chorus\u2019s lyrics sum it up on their own.<span id='easy-footnote-7-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-7-7849' title='In some songs, the verses\u2019 context changes the chorus\u2019s meaning. In Bruce Springsteen\u2019s \u201cBorn in the USA,\u201d for instance, what seems like a patriotic ode is reframed as a biting indictment of the country\u2019s mistreatment of working-class veterans. The paradigm Jocelyn Neal calls the \u201cTime-Shift narrative\u201d involves the chorus\u2019s meaning changing each time it returns based on the verses\u2019 different contexts\u2014for example, Collin Raye\u2019s country hit \u201cOne Boy, One Girl\u201d reframes the title lyric to refer to teen lovers, those same lovers years later on their wedding day, and eventually their newborn twins (Neal&amp;nbsp;2007).'><sup>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The Beatles, on the other hand, take a somewhat different approach to the lyrical relationship between verse and chorus. Instead of a summarizing chorus with contextualizing verses, the Beatles place the two sections in narrative opposition, the two sections portraying contrasting narrative ideas whose juxtaposition drives the song\u2019s poetic meaning. The result is that the hierarchical relationship between chorus and verse is not so explicit, at least within the text. Instead of summarizing or explaining the verses&#8217; stories, the chorus provides a counterpoint to the verse. The song\u2019s meaning thus arises not out of any individual section but rather from a synthesis of the two opposed worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea of verse and chorus as structurally equivalent is, to some extent, contradictory. That is, once we interpret a given section as a chorus, we implicitly deem it the song\u2019s main section. (Or maybe it\u2019s the reverse: once we choose which section is the main one, we ascribe to it chorus function.) Put another way, the only way for two alternating song sections to identify themselves as verse and chorus is for one\u2014the chorus\u2014to be perceived as hierarchically superior to the other. None of the Beatles songs I analyze in this paper exhibit any significant ambiguity as to which section is the chorus, and it is not so difficult to identify several elements that give those choruses more of a focal quality than their respective verses. In \u201cPenny Lane,\u201d for instance, the choruses have longer notes, more backing vocals, less chromaticism, and higher melodic pitch than the verses, all of which arguably draws attention more toward the former than the latter.<span id='easy-footnote-8-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-8-7849' title='David Temperley identifies twelve features that commonly differentiate chorus from verse, six of which apply to \u201cPenny Lane\u201d; see Temperley&amp;nbsp;2018, 159. Five of the remaining six features are not applicable to this song (e.g., \u201cmore sharp-side pitch collections [in relation to tonic],\u201d as the two sections have different tonics), and only one feature flips the expected chorus\/verse relationship (namely \u201cfaster harmonic rhythm,\u201d which usually applies to choruses but here applies to \u201cPenny Lane\u201d\u2019s verse). Not all of Temperley\u2019s features necessarily increase the section\u2019s focal quality\u2014for instance, one chorus-signaling feature is \u201coccurs second\u201d\u2014but many arguably do.'><sup>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> I do not mean to argue that there is no perceptible hierarchy between chorus and verse in the songs I analyze. I do, however, contend that these songs\u2019 poetic frameworks are not dependent on one section being the lyrical focal point, which differentiates these Beatles songs from the mainstream default that coalesced in the 1970s. Furthermore, as I demonstrate in the analyses below, these songs\u2019 musical features project less of a strict chorus\u2013verse hierarchy than is typical, supporting the lyrical opposition through various musical contrasts. In other words, music and lyrics give us enough hierarchical information to identify one section as the chorus and another as the verse, but the central concern is more about contrast and opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Analyses<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the remainder of this article, I analyze four songs from the 1966\u201367 <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> recording sessions: \u201cPenny Lane,\u201d \u201cGetting Better,\u201d \u201cLovely Rita,\u201d and \u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds.\u201d All four songs have what I consider to be clear verse\u2013chorus structures (\u201cLucy in the Sky\u201d includes a prechorus as well), and each presents a different type of narrative opposition in its verses and choruses. My primary analytical claim is that the lyrical framework of opposition described above is supported by elements of musical opposition. In other words, lyrics and sound synchronize to present two contrasting and opposed sections whose alternation provides the song\u2019s main structural impetus. As I describe, the two sections unproblematically project the formal functions of verse and chorus, but the chorus is not the unequivocal focal section as in most verse\u2013chorus songs after 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3.1 \u201cPenny Lane\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPenny Lane,\u201d along with its flipside \u201cStrawberry Fields Forever,\u201d kicked off the <em>Sgt. Pepper <\/em>recording sessions in November 1966. Example&nbsp;3 displays the song\u2019s lyrics. In the verses, Paul McCartney speaks impersonally about the Penny Lane neighborhood of Liverpool. Though the tone may be nostalgic, the stories about the barber, the fireman, the banker, and the nurse are from the perspective of an observer; this is the way Penny Lane is and the way it always will be. But in the choruses, the lyrics shift to the first person (\u201cPenny Lane is in <em>my<\/em> ears and in <em>my <\/em>eyes\u201d) and the descriptive discourse disappears; McCartney tells no more stories, but instead gets lost in nostalgic reverie. The texts in verse and chorus display Raymond Monelle\u2019s distinction between \u201cprogressive time\u201d and \u201clyric time\u201d (Monelle 2000, Chapter 4; see also Klein 2004, 37\u201338). In essence, progressive time represents time passing while lyric time represents time arrested. Walter Everett further points out that the chorus of \u201cPenny Lane\u201d \u201cshifts perspective from the pure narration of local events to the author\u2019s subjective (\u2018foggy\u2019) memories\u201d (Everett&nbsp;1999, 86). Importantly, it is clear that McCartney\u2019s narrator is not, at the present moment, in Penny Lane\u2014as Matt BaileyShea has discussed, the line \u201cthere beneath the blue suburban skies I sit\u201d followed by \u201cand meanwhile back in Penny Lane\u201d places McCartney outside of Penny Lane, further differentiating the narrative worlds of verse and chorus (BaileyShea&nbsp;2021, 168\u2013169).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-3\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-3.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 3\" class=\"wp-image-8124\" width=\"512\" height=\"770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-3.png 1758w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-3-199x300.png 199w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-3-680x1024.png 680w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-3-768x1157.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 3.<strong> <\/strong>The Beatles, \u201cPenny Lane\u201d (1967): The verses describe the goings on of the eponymous Liverpool neighborhood, while the choruses focus on the narrator\u2019s personal relationship with Penny Lane.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Lyrically speaking, then, the move from verse to chorus is reflected in moves from objectivity to subjectivity, passing time to arrested time, Penny Lane to an unidentified \u201cthere,\u201d and present to past, as tabulated in Example&nbsp;4. Such moves clearly set the two sections in narrative opposition. Juxtaposing these opposed sections as verse and chorus in a single song, though, creates what BaileyShea describes as \u201clyrical tensions\u201d (2021, 169), and we are led to search for some way of synthesizing the narrative opposition to resolve these tensions. In other words, the opposition does not simply remain an opposition\u2014rather, we begin to read each section through the other, thus constructing a higher level of meaning than that of either section alone. The choruses\u2019 personal reflections bring a new perspective on the verses\u2019 scenes: we realize that these are not objective observations from an omniscient narrator but rather imagined situations dreamed up by McCartney\u2019s nostalgic persona (perhaps the nurse\u2019s \u201cplay\u201d mentioned in the fourth verse?). Conversely, the picture of Penny Lane we get from the verses frames our understanding of McCartney\u2019s narrator: this is someone brought up in an unassuming and intimate suburban area of Liverpool, where interactions among quirky characters were a main source of entertainment. This narrator thus lays claim to a particular brand of authentic Britishness, one far removed from the cosmopolitan, psychedelic, and globe-trotting public image of the Beatles in early 1967. Though it is important not to fully equate song personas with their performers, it is not a stretch to read \u201cPenny Lane\u201d as McCartney honing his image as a down-home Liverpudlian who just happened to make it big but never forgot his roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-4\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-4.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 4\" class=\"wp-image-8125\" width=\"512\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-4.png 1958w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-4-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-4-1024x643.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-4-768x482.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-4-1536x964.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 4. Oppositional elements in both text and music between the verse and chorus of \u201cPenny Lane\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The song\u2019s musical features reflect the lyrics\u2019 opposition between verse and chorus. The lower portion of Example&nbsp;4 summarizes the contrasting musical elements between the two sections. Most prominent is the whole-tone modulation from B&nbsp;major in the verse to A&nbsp;major in the chorus, which many writers have cited as a reflection of the text\u2019s oppositions (Everett&nbsp;1999, 86; BaileyShea&nbsp;2021, 171; Temperley&nbsp;2018, 208). That is, B&nbsp;major is the domain of Penny Lane, while McCartney\u2019s inner thoughts reside in A&nbsp;major\u2014and when the song\u2019s final chorus is transposed up to the verses\u2019 key of B&nbsp;major, Penny Lane and McCartney\u2019s narrator are brought together in a musico-narrative moment of transcendence. Alongside this tonal shift, the contrast between progressive and lyric time is borne out in the two sections\u2019 rhythmic profiles; the verses are punctuated with <em>staccato<\/em> quarter notes in the piano and lilting triplet rhythms in the vocal melody, suggesting an active temporality, while the chorus has a laid back, grooving accompaniment with long, held notes in the melody, suggesting a more reflective state. With the shift in agency, perspective, and time, one wouldn\u2019t be blamed for missing the motivic relationship between statements of the title lyric: \u201cPenny Lane\u201d at the beginning of the verse takes us from B to D$$\\sharp$$ while \u201cPenny Lane\u201d at the beginning of the chorus takes us from C$$\\sharp$$ to E in the same rhythm (see Everett&nbsp;1999, 86). The motivic relationship solidifies the two sections\u2019 roles as opposing points of view on the eponymous neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The story of \u201cPenny Lane\u201d\u2019s verse\u2013chorus form is opposition and synthesis. Though linked by the narrative theme and melodic motive of Penny Lane, the two sections portray distinct narrative worlds. The song thus asks us to integrate the two opposed sections into a broader meaning. Is the song about the neighborhood of Penny Lane or about its relationship to McCartney\u2019s narrator? The quick answer is both, with the verses focusing on the former and the choruses on the latter. More deeply, though, the song tells us that Penny Lane and our narrator are not so easily separable. The stories we\u2019re hearing of Penny Lane are filtered through McCartney\u2019s mind and memories\u2014not objective reality but a \u201cplay\u201d directed by the song\u2019s narrator\u2014and McCartney himself has been formed by his deep personal relationship with the titular neighborhood. As we have seen, musical features reinforce the sense of opposition between verse and chorus, with the chorus not the song\u2019s singular musical focal point but rather a natural counterpoint to the verse, in a different key and with a different feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3.2 <em>\u201cGetting Better\u201d<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGetting Better,\u201d an unabashedly positive Paul McCartney offering spiced with some John Lennon sardonicism, sets negative descriptions of the past in verses alongside optimism about the future in the choruses. The song\u2019s lyrics are given in Example&nbsp;5, and a summary of the oppositional elements between verse and chorus appears in Example&nbsp;6. The text focuses specifically on a shift in perspective on the part of the song\u2019s narrator rather than any objective difference between past and present. In the verses, the narrator describes his prior actions, revealing an angry and confrontational outlook: in the first verse, he recounts challenging his schoolteachers\u2019 authority; the second verse describes his self-isolation; and the third disturbingly reveals engagement in domestic abuse. In the choruses, we might expect that the narrator will tell stories of how he is now deferential, communal, and respectful, but that type of clear-cut transformation is not the story here; instead, things are simply \u201cgetting better all the time.\u201d The text does not imply that any past problem has necessarily been solved, nor that the narrator\u2019s personal improvement is anything more than incremental. The crux of the opposition seems to be a change in mindset set off by the introduction of some unnamed addressee\u2014the \u201cyou\u201d in \u201csince you\u2019ve been mine.\u201d A reasonable assumption is that this \u201cyou\u201d is a new lover, but there might be some reason to explore alternative interpretations. For instance, the references to \u201cmy woman\u201d in the third verse seem out of place in a conversation directed toward a current lover, and the choruses\u2019 preface \u201cgot to admit\u201d implies some initial skepticism that whatever he is talking about would have any positive effect. In a 1980 interview, Lennon admits that the text\u2019s references to domestic abuse are autobiographical, saying, \u201cThat is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace. . . . I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence\u201d (Sheff 1981). So perhaps the \u201cyou\u201d that spurs the protagonist\u2019s self-reexamination is not a specific person but rather an inner enlightenment reflecting the late-\u201960s ideals of peace and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-5\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-5.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 5\" class=\"wp-image-8126\" width=\"512\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-5.png 1995w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-5-300x262.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-5-1024x896.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-5-768x672.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-5-1536x1344.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 5. The Beatles, \u201cGetting Better\u201d (1967): The verses tell of the narrator\u2019s poor character in the past, while the choruses express optimism about the future.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-6\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-6.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 6\" class=\"wp-image-8127\" width=\"512\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-6.png 2170w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-6-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-6-1024x438.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-6-768x329.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-6-1536x658.png 1536w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-6-2048x877.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 6. Oppositional elements in both text and music between the verse and chorus of \u201cGetting Better\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever the addressee\u2019s specific identity, we can see an overall narrative opposition in verse and chorus between the \u201cold me\u201d and the \u201cnew me\u201d\u2014between a cynical, isolated, violent youth and an enlightened soul working toward inner peace. As with \u201cPenny Lane,\u201d neither section alone explains the song\u2019s meaning; rather, the opposition itself is the meaning, with the comparison between old and new driving the song\u2019s narrative. As the song goes on, \u201cGetting Better\u201d begins to mix in some of the chorus\u2019s present\/positive content into the verses\u2014the second and third verses end with the line \u201cI\u2019m doing the best that I can,\u201d for instance\u2014showing that the protagonist\u2019s positive thinking has begun to color how he thinks of his past transgressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Musically speaking, the verses and choruses contrast in many ways, reinforcing the lyrics\u2019 narrative opposition. The verses are set to a persistent dominant pedal in the bass with a stuttering, syncopated drum beat and sparse guitar riffing. The choruses see the harmony switch to a bouncy tonic prolongation, with an active, \u201cwalking\u201d bass line and a standard rock beat with snare hits on beats 2 and 4. The unsettled dominant bass pedal from the verses is thrust upward into bell-like guitar octaves, recontextualizing this pedal tone within the more optimistic tonic context, as shown in Example&nbsp;7. That is, both verse and chorus focus on the note G, the former in the bass and the latter in an upper register; the Gs dominate the harmony in the verses, not allowing the bass or anything else to escape the V<sup>7<\/sup> chord, but float above the chord progression in the chorus, still there but less of a dominating force. In the same way, the protagonist\u2019s inner anger used to dominate his personality, but after the change he is able to keep it at bay\u2014though it is not yet eradicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-7\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-7.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 7\" class=\"wp-image-8128\" width=\"512\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-7.png 1533w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-7-300x125.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-7-1024x428.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-7-768x321.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 7. The bass\u2019s Gs in the verse are shifted to the guitar\u2019s bell tones for the chorus.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-audio-7.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Audio Example 7.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3.3 <em>\u201cLovely Rita\u201d<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLovely Rita\u201d is one of McCartney\u2019s so-called \u201cnovelist\u201d songs (see MacDonald&nbsp;2005, 102), here a fictional recounting of a tryst with a municipal worker. Example&nbsp;8 gives the song\u2019s lyrics, which make clear that the protagonist\u2019s designs on Rita do not arise from true infatuation but rather a predatory curiosity about romantic involvement with a meter maid. Example&nbsp;9 summarizes the oppositional elements in verse and chorus. McCartney presents the story in two distinct forms of address, which correlate with the two contrasting song sections. In the verses, McCartney soliloquizes, relaying the story in the past tense and referring to Rita in the third person, as if recounting the encounter to a group of friends. The song\u2019s two verses present the story in two acts: the first describes the narrator\u2019s reaction to seeing Rita preparing to give him a parking ticket, and the second tells of their ensuing date and the narrator\u2019s nearly successful attempt to \u201cmake it\u201d with Rita, so to speak. The verses notably reveal the narrator\u2019s less-than-pure motives\u2014it is clear that even in \u201chav[ing] a laugh\u201d and telling her \u201cI would really like to see her again,\u201d the narrator is not being sincere but instead is merely \u201ctr[ying] to win her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-8\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-8.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 8\" class=\"wp-image-8129\" width=\"512\" height=\"810\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-8.png 1566w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-8-190x300.png 190w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-8-647x1024.png 647w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-8-768x1216.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-8-970x1536.png 970w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-8-1294x2048.png 1294w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption><strong>Example 8.<\/strong> The Beatles, \u201cLovely Rita\u201d (1967): The narrator soliloquizes about his designs on Rita in the verse and addresses her directly in the chorus.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-9\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-9.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 9\" class=\"wp-image-8130\" width=\"512\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-9.png 2070w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-9-300x122.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-9-1024x416.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-9-768x312.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-9-1536x624.png 1536w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-9-2048x832.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 9. Oppositional elements in both text and music between the verse and chorus of \u201cLovely Rita\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A third-person story like this in the verses could easily lend itself to the standard lyrical layout with the verses\u2019 story alternating with a summary of the main message in the chorus, but that is not exactly what we get here. Instead, the choruses present scenes from within the story, as our protagonist speaks directly to Rita, who is now addressed using the second person. In these choruses, the narrator turns on the charm, attempting to reel Rita in with lines like \u201cmay I inquire discreetly when you are free to take some tea with me?\u201d and \u201cgive us a wink and make me think of you!\u201d Unlike typical choruses, these present different lyrics each time, as if our narrator is trying out different flirty lines in the hopes that one will lead to the desired outcome. The chorus is in fact the first section we hear (after the intro\u2019s \u201cLovely Rita, meter maid\u201d awash in harmony and tape echo), and this initial, \u201coverture\u201d chorus (Nobile&nbsp;2020, 120\u2013121) clues us into the deviousness of the attempted flirtation we are about to witness with the groan-worthy pickup line \u201cI tow your heart away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The distinct forms of address in \u201cLovely Rita\u201d do not situate the chorus as the song\u2019s central section. Instead, they place the two sections in narrative opposition: the verses present the narrator\u2019s inner perspective, while the choruses present his outward actions directed at Rita. There\u2019s an almost filmic quality to the narrative here, where we see the protagonist telling us a story in the verses and cut to a scene from the story itself for the choruses. Since there is no literal visual element to this song, these snaps between forms of address are communicated via the formal opposition of verse and chorus sections. Indeed, though in spoken or written discourse it might be confusing to shift from the third to second person when referring to Rita, such moves are common in popular songs, especially between different formal sections; Matthew BaileyShea relates such shifts to what he terms the \u201cdouble address,\u201d wherein the singer is simultaneously addressing the addressee (as \u201cyou\u201d) and the listening audience (where the addressee is \u201cshe\u201d; see BaileyShea&nbsp;2014, 21\u201328). Again, as in both \u201cPenny Lane\u201d and \u201cGetting Better,\u201d neither verse nor chorus alone gives us a clear picture of what the song is about; the song\u2019s meaning must be read through the two sections\u2019 narrative opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over this narrative opposition, the musical differences between verse and chorus are relatively understated. The two sections on the whole sound quite similar; there is no textural shift into the chorus, nor is there a noticeable increase in energy, drama, or attention. The differences that are there reflect the text\u2019s opposition: the verses contain very little melodic motion, mimicking speech inflection in odd three-bar groupings, contrasting with the choruses\u2019 sing-songy melody, now with symmetrical four-bar groups, as the protagonist puts on a show for Rita (Example&nbsp;10). (To Allan Moore, the chorus\u2019s catchy melody is \u201ctypical McCartney,\u201d while the verse is \u201cmore like Lennon\u201d; see Moore&nbsp;1997, 48.) Lennon\u2019s overdubbed <em>ch-k-ch-k<\/em> vocal sounds add to the sense of time passing in the verse, contrasting with the \u201clyric time\u201d of the chorus as we pause for a scene snapshot.<span id='easy-footnote-9-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-9-7849' title='With these similarities\u2014as well as the chorus\u2019s short (four-bar) length and its non-fixed lyrics\u2014\u201cLovely Rita\u201d\u2019s chorus is not all that chorus-like, and one might be tempted to analyze it as part of the verse, or as something like a stand-alone refrain. To me, the section\u2019s melodic profile and separability from the verses solidify its chorus function despite its short length: the catchiest, most memorable melody accompanies the title lyric here, and the section appears both with no preceding verse (in its first appearance) and with no subsequent verse (in its third appearance). See Nobile&amp;nbsp;2020, 70\u201373, and de&amp;nbsp;Clercq 2017 for more on chorus function and identifying choruses.'><sup>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-10\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-10.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 10\" class=\"wp-image-8131\" width=\"512\" height=\"173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-10.png 2016w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-10-300x102.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-10-1024x347.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-10-768x260.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-10-1536x520.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 10. The verse\u2019s melody is speech-like, with several repeated notes and a small range, while the chorus\u2019s melody is more song-like, with a larger range and more varied contour.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-audio-10.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Example 10 audio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3.4 <em>\u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds\u201d<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The three Beatles songs I have looked at so far were all written primarily by Paul McCartney. The oppositional approach to verse\u2013chorus form is also apparent in John Lennon\u2019s songs from the <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> period, though Lennon\u2019s lyrics tend toward the abstract and thus their meaning is often somewhat opaque. In \u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds,\u201d whose lyrics are shown in Example&nbsp;11, the verses and prechoruses paint fantasy images of tangerine trees and marshmallow pies while the choruses give us the single line \u201cLucy in the sky with diamonds.\u201d Lennon always maintained that the song had no intentional drug references, claiming not to have noticed that its title forms an acrostic for the initials LSD (see Everett&nbsp;1999, 104), but given the Beatles\u2019 well-documented involvement with hallucinogenics, many remain unconvinced. In any case, Lennon has acknowledged the text\u2019s basis in Lewis Carroll\u2019s surrealist writing, especially <em>Through the Looking Glass<\/em>; so, as Walter Everett summarizes, \u201cwhether dream-based, drug-based, or both, the song\u2019s amphibolous phantasms entice the listener away from all concerns with reality\u201d (Everett&nbsp;1999, 104).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-11\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-11.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 11\" class=\"wp-image-8132\" width=\"512\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-11.png 1066w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-11-142x300.png 142w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-11-485x1024.png 485w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-11-768x1620.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-11-728x1536.png 728w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-11-971x2048.png 971w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 11. The Beatles, \u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds\u201d (1967): Though the lyrics are opaque, musical elements signal a shift from unreality in the verse and prechorus to reality in the chorus.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds\u201d is one of the few Beatles songs that include a prechorus section between verse and chorus. This song\u2019s prechorus largely serves as harmonic and melodic development, taking us from the verse\u2019s A-major world (with melodic emphasis on C$$\\sharp$$) through the chord progression B$$\\flat$$\u2013C\u2013F\u2013B$$\\flat$$\u2013C\u2013G\u2013D (with sustained melodic emphasis on D), the final chord of which acts as the dominant to the chorus\u2019s G-major tonality.<span id='easy-footnote-10-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-10-7849' title='See Everett&amp;nbsp;1999, 104\u2013105, for a detailed analysis, which offers a reading of the cycle\u2019s overall harmonic design as an embellished II&lt;sup&gt;$$\\sharp$$&lt;\/sup&gt;\u2013V\u2013I auxiliary cadence in G&amp;nbsp;major.'><sup>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Lyrically, the prechoruses group with their preceding verses, adding further details to the surreal imagery already conjured. In the first cycle, the verse invites the listener into a fantasy world and introduces the psychedelic character of a girl with kaleidoscope eyes. After our attention is drawn to giant flowers in the prechorus, the girl disappears along with the melody on the word \u201cgone.\u201d This final word returns at the end of the second prechorus, which had invited us to leave our drifting boat and climb into a newspaper taxi, but now it is us, the listener, who is gone. Immediately following the word \u201cgone\u201d in both prechoruses, three drum hits knock us out of our dreamworld and the song abruptly pivots to a mainstream-rock style for a chorus section whose text simply repeats the title lyric \u201cLucy in the sky with diamonds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite cryptic lyrics, \u201cLucy in the Sky\u201d can be read as presenting the narrative opposition of unreality versus reality. That the verses and prechoruses represent unreality is rather clear from their fantastical evocations. But the chorus\u2019s single line of text does not exactly signal a snap back to reality. Instead, that shift comes largely from musical elements, as shown in Example&nbsp;12. Several musical elements support the verses\u2019 and prechoruses\u2019 depictions of unreality, including the Lowrey organ\u2019s meandering chromatic lines, Lennon\u2019s chant-like vocal line played back at high speed giving it a \u201chelium-light\u201d quality, and copious reverb on everything, all set over a drumbeat-less compound meter.<span id='easy-footnote-11-7849' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/#easy-footnote-bottom-11-7849' title='See Everett (1999, 104), and MacDonald&amp;nbsp;(2005, 103), for more recording details.'><sup>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In the chorus, all of this gives way to a basic 4\/4 rock beat underlying a standard I\u2013IV\u2013V chord loop with an active melody that eventually acquires a descant harmony line in thirds. In Ian MacDonald\u2019s words, this \u201cclodhopping\u201d shift \u201cshatters the lulling spell the track has taken such pains to cast\u201d (MacDonald 2005, 103), as if the dreamworld evaporates before our eyes and we are once again surrounded by mundane reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/nobile-vol36-example-12\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-12-1024x423.png\" alt=\"Nobile, Example 12\" class=\"wp-image-8133\" width=\"512\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-12-1024x423.png 1024w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-12-300x124.png 300w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-12-768x317.png 768w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-12-1536x634.png 1536w, https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nobile-vol36-example-12-2048x845.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Example 12. Oppositional elements in both text and music between the verse and chorus of \u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This musical opposition detaches the chorus\u2019s single line from the surreal imagery of the verses and prechoruses. Though the image of a girl named Lucy floating in the sky surrounded by diamonds would be perfectly at home among the tangerine trees, marshmallow pies, and Plasticine porters evoked in the verses and prechoruses, its musical context encourages us to read Lucy as a more concrete idea. We could take the literal route, noting that the title came from Lennon\u2019s son Julian\u2019s description of a preschool drawing, to read the chorus as depicting the real-life object that led Lennon to conjure the verse\u2019s and prechorus\u2019s surreal scenes. Slightly more abstractly, we could follow Wilfrid Mellers\u2019s suggestion that the song acts as a \u201crevocation of the dream-world of childhood\u201d to posit a chorus wherein the adult world somewhat rudely intrudes upon youthful imagination (Mellers 1973, 89; see also Moore&nbsp;1997, 33\u201334). It is only a small step from there to the drug-based reading\u2014ignoring Lennon\u2019s denials\u2014wherein the verses and prechoruses describe a psychedelic world entered through the chemical portal identified in the chorus\u2019s acrostic. In all of these readings, the chorus represents a real-life source of the unreality depicted in the verses and prechoruses, a mainstream-rock conduit to a fantasy world of chromaticism, exotic instruments, and trippy studio effects. Such a reading is in fact not an inapt metaphor for the Beatles\u2019 career up to that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cVerse\u2013chorus form\u201d is an odd term. At a basic level, it simply refers to any song that contains a chorus section (since the presence of a chorus implies the presence of a verse; see Nobile&nbsp;2020, 72), and thus distinguishes itself from AABA form, strophic form, and others that do not contain choruses. As we have seen, since the mid 1960s, the vast majority of mainstream rock and pop songs have contained choruses. Does this mean that most rock and pop songs are in the same <em>form<\/em>? My answer to that is both yes and no: yes, in the sense that all these songs alternate verses and choruses, but no, in the sense that there is significant variety in how the component sections relate to one another. For instance, I have demonstrated elsewhere how different harmonic designs lead to different formal processes, showing that what we call verse\u2013chorus form refers to at least <em>three<\/em> distinct formal-harmonic paradigms (Nobile&nbsp;2020, esp. 148\u2013150). In this article, I have argued that lyrical narrative can have a similar effect on our perception of form: different poetic structures create different relationships among song sections, which strongly affects how we perceive the song\u2019s formal process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In particular, I have made the case that as the Beatles entered their \u201cartist\u201d period, they used verse\u2013chorus form as a vehicle for a specific narrative paradigm, one based around narrative opposition between the two sections. Unlike most later verse\u2013chorus songs, the Beatles\u2019 songs did not give the chorus an unequivocal focal role, but instead drew our attention to the relationship between the two sections\u2019 contrasting texts. I should note that an oppositional lyrical design is well at home in an AABA form, where the bridge\u2019s lyrics often demonstrate a narrative idea that contrasts with those of the verses. David Heetderks has demonstrated that the Beatles often frame their AABA songs in this way, showing how differences in text scansion and rhyme between verses and bridges can reflect different psychological states (2022; see also Fitzgerald&nbsp;1996). In this way, even as the Beatles departed from AABA form as they entered their artist period, they might have brought along some stylistic elements from the craftsman era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I should note that not all of the Beatles\u2019 verse\u2013chorus songs exhibit narrative opposition. Even within the <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> sessions, other approaches to the form are evident. \u201cShe\u2019s Leaving Home,\u201d for instance, reflects the more normative paradigm of stories in the verses and overall theme in the choruses: this song\u2019s verses describe scenes surrounding a young girl\u2019s escape from her parents\u2019 home while the choruses draw out the summative title lyric \u201cshe\u2019s leaving home,\u201d interspersed with self-reflective commentary from the girl\u2019s parents. \u201cWith a Little Help from My Friends\u201d\u2014presented as an offering from a particular member of the album\u2019s titular band\u2014exhibits Covach\u2019s incipient verse\u2013chorus form, where the verse\u2013chorus cycles resemble single verses whose refrains are substantial enough to cleave off into their own section, thus forming the chorus. In this song, the verses comprise two parallel melodic groups, suggesting the first half of an SRDC phrase structure, and the verse\u2013chorus cycle as a whole coheres harmonically and melodically, as Walter Everett demonstrates in a Schenkerian graph (Everett&nbsp;1999, 103). Other narrative frameworks arise now and again after <em>Sgt. Pepper<\/em> as well: in \u201cOb-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,\u201d the chorus presents a sort of big-picture motto (\u201clife goes on, brah\u201d) for the song-long story of Desmond and Molly; and \u201cHello Goodbye\u201d puts the meaningful disagreement in the chorus (\u201cyou say goodbye, and I say hello\u201d), which explains why the verses list other seemingly mundane disputes. Overall, what is clear is that the Beatles never used a verse\u2013chorus design as a neutral formal template, instead treating it as an expressively loaded structural framework. Form, in other words, was to them an integral part of a song\u2019s meaning. As John Covach has chronicled, the Beatles\u2019 transition from a craftsman approach to an artist approach is traceable in their innovative approach to formal structure (2006); in this article, I hope to have made the case that their synchronization of form and narrative meaning was an especially central aspect of this transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>BaileyShea, Matthew L. 2014. \u201cFrom Me To You: Dynamic Discourse in Popular Music.\u201d <em>Music Theory Online<\/em>&nbsp;20 (4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014. 2021. <em>Lines and Lyrics: <\/em><em><\/em><em>An Introduction to Poetry and Song<\/em>. New Haven: Yale University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Burns, Lori. 2005. \u201cMeaning in a Popular Song: The Representation of Masochistic Desire in Sarah McLachlan\u2019s \u2018Ice.\u2019\u201d In <em>Engaging Music: Essays in Musical Analysis<\/em>, ed. Deborah Stein, 136\u2013148. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Covach, John. 2005. \u201cForm in Rock Music: A Primer.\u201d In <em>Engaging Music: Essays in Musical Analysis, <\/em>ed. Deborah Stein, 65\u201376. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014. 2006. \u201cFrom Craft to Art: Formal Structure in the Music of the Beatles.\u201d In <em>Reading The Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, And The Fab Four<\/em>, ed. Kenneth Womack and Todd F. Davis, 37\u201354. Albany: SUNY Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014. 2010. \u201cLeiber and Stoller, the Coasters, and the \u2018Dramatic AABA\u2019 Form.\u201d In <em>Sounding Out Pop: Analytical Essays in Popular Music<\/em>, ed. Mark Spicer and John Covach, 1\u201317. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>de Clercq, Trevor. 2012. \u201cSections and Successions in Successful Songs.\u201d PhD diss., Eastman School of Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014. 2017. \u201cEmbracing Ambiguity in the Analysis of Form in Pop\/Rock Music, 1982\u20131991.\u201d <em>Music Theory Online<\/em> 23 (3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everett, Walter. 1999. <em>The Beatles as Musicians: <\/em>Revolver<em> through the Anthology<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014. 2009. <em>The Foundations of Rock<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fitzgerald, Jon. 1996. \u201cLennon-McCartney and the \u2018Middle Eight.\u2019\u201d <em>Popular Music and Society<\/em> 20&nbsp;(4): 41\u201352.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heetderks, David. 2022. \u201cNorms of Textual Scansion and Rhyme in Beatles AABA forms.\u201d <em>Music Theory Spectrum<\/em>&nbsp;44&nbsp;(1): 41\u201362.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Klein, Michael. 2004. \u201cChopin\u2019s Fourth Ballade as Musical Narrative.\u201d <em>Music Theory Spectrum<\/em> 26 (1): 23\u201356.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MacDonald, Ian. 2005. <em>Revolution in the Head: The Beatles\u2019 Records and the Sixties<\/em>. Third revised edition. London: Pimlico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mellers, Wilfrid. 1973. <em>Twighlight of the Gods: The Beatles in Retrospect<\/em>. London: Faber &amp; Faber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Monelle, Raymond. 2000. <em>The Sense of Music: Semiotic Essays<\/em>. Princeton: Princeton University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moore, Allan F. 1997. <em>The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/em>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neal, Jocelyn. 2007. \u201cNarrative Paradigms, Musical Signifiers, and Form as Function in Country Music.\u201d <em>Music Theory Spectrum<\/em>&nbsp;29 (1): 49\u201372.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nicholls, David. 2007. \u201cNarrative Theory as an Analytical Tool in the Study of Popular Music Texts.\u201d <em>Music &amp; Letters<\/em>&nbsp;88 (2): 297\u2013315.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobile, Drew. 2011. \u201cForm and Voice Leading in Early Beatles Songs.\u201d <em>Music Theory Online<\/em> 17 (3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014. 2020. <em>Form as Harmony in Rock Music<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Osborn, Brad. 2013. \u201cSubverting the Verse\/Chorus Paradigm: Terminally Climactic Forms in Recent Rock Music.\u201d <em>Music Theory Spectrum<\/em>&nbsp;35 (1): 23\u201347.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sheff, David. 1981. Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. <em>Playboy<\/em>, January. Transcribed online at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beatlesinterviews.org\/dbjypb.int3.html\">http:\/\/www.beatlesinterviews.org\/dbjypb.int3.html<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stephan-Robinson, Anna. 2009. \u201cForm in Paul Simon\u2019s Music.\u201d PhD diss., Eastman School of Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stephenson, Ken. 2002. <em>What to Listen For in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis<\/em>. New Haven: Yale University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Summach, Jason. 2011. \u201cThe Structure and Genesis of the Prechorus.\u201d <em>Music Theory Online<\/em> 17 (3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014. 2012. \u201cForm in Top-20 Rock Music, 1955\u201389.\u201d PhD diss., Yale University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Temperley, David. 2018. <em>The Musical Language of Rock<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>von Appen, Ralf, and Markus Frei-Hauenschild. 2015. \u201cAABA, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Prechorus\u2014Song Forms and Their Historical Development.\u201d <em>Samples<\/em>&nbsp;13. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gfpm-samples.de\/Samples13\/appenfrei.pdf\">http:\/\/www.gfpm-samples.de\/Samples13\/appenfrei.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drew Nobile Abstract This article argues that the Beatles took a particular approach to narrative structure in their verse\u2013chorus songs. That approach is narrative opposition, where the two sections present contrasting ideas or settings. The song\u2019s meaning thus arises through synthesizing the two ideas. This approach differs from the mainstream standard that emerged in the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/36-2023\/nobile\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Narrative Opposition in the Beatles\u2019 Verse\u2013Chorus Songs, 1966\u20131967&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"parent":7648,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7849","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7849"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9002,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7849\/revisions\/9002"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}