Unit 6 – response.

Paper details

Please write one separate response to each of the 2 posts below (refer to order ID 254213051 for the questions that the posts below are answering)

Post #1: Tricia Fisher
1. Hard Days Night: 1964
For this album, I chose And I Love Her. It has such great harmonies and a underappreciated guitar section by George Harrison. The song is officially

credited to Lennon-McCartney, though there is some debate about who wrote the song. Both Lennon and McCartney agree that the majority belongs to

McCartney, but Lennon credits the middle eight to himself, where during an octave change, the song takes on a slightly different sound. I paid

attention to this song by The Beatles the first time while watching the movie Hard Days Night and found the melody stuck in my head.
Help!: 1965
The Night Before is an interesting song. Varying the call and response nature of the verses and the unique harmonies make this song another

interesting song credited to Lennon-McCartney. It seems that many of the songs put together by McCartney, such as this one, have a little addition to

them that turn it into a collaboration and have John’s name added to the author list. Harrison’s response during the verses adds an unusual aspect to

the song as he hardly ever takes center stage during the singing.
Rubber Soul: 1965
Michelle is one of the catchiest tunes on the Rubber Soul album. The running bass line and French and English lyrical transition keep this song in

your head long after it ends. It was written by McCartney, again aided by Lennon in the middle eight and a French teacher aided in the lyrics. I

found it most interesting that the French lyrics “Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble, Très bien ensemble,” means words that go together well,

together well. Those are the same as the English words used by McCartney. The adding of the bridge was Lennon’s idea, and that is another thing that

makes this song so catchy.
Revolver: 1966
Eleanor Rigby is an interesting song. It was written primarily by McCartney, but all of the band members have some sort of addition into this song.

This song, and a majority of the album it resides on, are a departure from the standard Beatles guitar band music. The primary instruments in this

song are from a string quartet, but the usual Beatles harmonies are present. The uniqueness of the music and the meaning behind the words make this

song very melancholy, but not so much as to make the fans think the band has found a dark place. It is smashed in between a very upbeat song, Taxman,

and the combination of old school Beatles and psychedelic Beatles in I’m Only Sleeping.
2. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was important for rock at the time because it showed other artists and record companies that ‘pop musicians’

didn’t have to play it safe. The popularity allows the band to take risks, and The Beatles took a lot of chances during the making of Pepper as the

video often refers to it as. The guitar band broke through barriers and played with a ton of different instruments such as an orchestra, brass

instruments, electric harpsichords, sitars, swarmandals and zithers, and excessive percussion. There was also many cases of double voice tracks to

add even more depth to songs.
The album cover was also unique in that up to that point, most album art was simple. The cover art was generally a picture of the artist and the

title of the record, or other simple items. The Beatles had decided that they wanted to have all of their heroes involved in the album in some way,

and many were included as part of the cover art. The cover shows all of the members of the band and then myriad other individuals to create yet

another new experience for the listener.
Pepper changed in many ways over the course of its recording and development. Ringo states in the video that many of the drum and percussion tracks

were recorded days, weeks, or months separate from the rest of the recording sessions. Paul says that the point behind the whole of the album was for

the band to be able to experiment. As the songs developed, the concept of the album changed with it. Each track was a new chance for the band to try

new things with the music and really open the door for themselves and other artists down the road.
3. The first song I chose was A Day In the Life. This song is the last song on the album, and without question has the most depth in its

instrumentation and transitions. The song is yet another Lennon-McCartney collaboration, but it is actually two songs slapped together. Lennon

created the first and last part of the song, but had nothing to round out the song, so he approached McCartney about a way to fill it out. In yet

another risk taken for the album, McCartney gave him a piece of one of his unfinished songs to place in the middle. The clash between the two songs

is quite evident, but the rising crescendo of orchestra instruments and a simple piano overlay allow the two songs to come together. The Beatles

Bible says, “The middle section (“Woke up, fell out of bed”) was an unfinished song fragment written by Paul McCartney, its practical earthiness

providing a perfect counterpoint to Lennon’s languorous daydreaming.1” By allowing these two songs to come together into one, The Beatles showed once

again how they were truly trying something different on the new album.
When I’m Sixty Four is a McCartney original. The song would be completely misplaced on any other Beatles album, but on Pepper it fits just fine. The

song is very simple, as many of The Beatles songs are, but the addition of the clarinets with the music hall style melody make it seem as though it

has much more depth. McCartney wrote the song when he was 15 on his family piano, and on occasion would play it during the days when they headlined

at The Cavern. Lennon said that, “We used to do them when the amps broke down, just sing it on the piano.2”
1 BeatlesBible, “A Day in the Life,” beatlesbible.com, 3 Nov, 2014, http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/a-day-in-the-life/
2 BeatlesBible, “When I’m Sixty Four,” beatlesbible.com, 3 Nov, 2014, http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/when-im-sixty-four/
4. Paul McCartney is not only a core member of the Beatles, but also one of the greatest songwriters both within and out of The Beatles. By building

off of the success of his time with The Beatles, McCartney was able to continue his career on his own. McCartney’s original and simple songs have

aided greatly in his success.
An artist shouldn’t need to stop performing when the band breaks up. There may be issues with performing previous band songs, but musicians should

continue to write and perform as long as an audience is willing to receive them. McCartney is without question still a great performer because he

loves what he does. You can see his passion in all of his music. Though these songs are vastly different, it doesn’t change their beauty. In Medley,

McCartney shows his daughter a medley of upbeat songs. In My Valentine, he puts out another of his standard pretty love songs.

Post #2: Gabrielle Lesch
1. Hard Days Night: 1964

John Lennon wrote a “Hard Days Night” though the title was created by a mispronunciation that Ringo Starr had used previously. The song is the title

track to the Album “Hard Day’s Night” and was a top seller. Lennon sings the opening verse and is joined by Paul McCartney in the chorus and end of

the song. The lyrics tell the story of the love between the man and woman and how she makes him feel better after a long day at work. The song has

multiple guitars, piano, and vocals with harmonizing.

Help! : 1965

“Yesterday” is one of my favorite songs by the Beatles. The calm, quiet guitar and melody is so easy to follow along to. The violin and string

instruments in the background also give a very calming vibe to the song. “Yesterday” was written by Paul McCartney and sung only by him. Unlike other

Beatles songs, this is just all Paul McCartney and does not include the other members. The song is about a break up and how he wishes the woman would

of stay. It is a look back to how good things used to be and how now they are bad and much different.

Rubber Soul: 1965

“In My Life” was one of the top sellers on Rubber Soul when the album first released. It’s a delicate song that uses guitar, piano, bells, bass and

vocals. This is a typical Beatles sounding song with its multiple harmonizing vocals, with one real main melody. Lennon mainly wrote the song with

assistance by McCartney, though this is later disputed. The song was about Lennon’s nostalgic memories of Liverpool and his past there.

Revolver: 1966

“Here, there and everywhere” is a beautifully composed song written by Paul McCartney. McCartney says it’s one of his best works, inspired by the

Beach Boy’s album Pet Sounds that came out before he wrote it. The song is calm with sweet melodies accompanied by harmonies in the traditional

Beatles style. There are drums, guitar, finger snapping and vocals.