Why This Beatles Song Is *almost* Impossible to Write
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ต.ค. 2024
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In this video, we look at one of the most difficult challenges any songwriter faces when combining lyrics and melody, and show how The Beatles achieved it in one of their iconic songs.
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‘Sister of mercy, walking amidst all the beds in the places she’s been.’
That came to mind immediately. If I was putting it in a song I’d use a nurse as a theme.
Dark!
"Take a vacation. Wander the streets of a city so far from your home, walking alone."
I think you just reminded me of one of the main tools, that's been holding me back with my own songwriting.
I love this walk through, so much!
“Somebody told me, searching for answers to questions of fortune and fame, is often in vain”.
I love your alternative line! I've just suggested an alternative ending: "Somebody told me, searching for answers to questions of fortune and fame turns us insane." I tried to stick to the exact number of notes:)
Yes that works. This is very informative and fun to do. I have written quite a few songs ( still waiting to be discovered), and going back over them have found lve tended to do this intuitively which l suppose is a good sign. I’m in the process of writing the verses to something lm quite excited about and will put this to use.
As a lover of poetry at school many, many years ago, this has always been something that came naturally to me when writing songs. I have always felt that little attention has been given to this important technique when exploring "Song Writing" Books and more recently videos. Conversely, in poetry and song lyrics, It is "easy" to take a lazy way out and change the order of words in a phrase (as with rhyming) and cause the subsequent lines to be akward and sound false. This is sometimes seen in poetry but sounds even worse in a song, which I always feel should be more natural. It's great to see this explained in a simple and understandable way. Good job and well done.
Thanks for always having interesting videos and being generous with your wisdom
I strongly recommend to listen to (if you've not yet) the cult British progressive rock band Gentle Giant. Their main composer and also the only keyboardist & cellist, occasional percussionist and singer Kerry Minnear was PhD in composition from London Music Academy. You will notice it immediately in their music. Their works are an open and free source for anyone to comprehend how to write music in an intricate yet professional way. They made very simple songs like "Think of me with kindness" (where you can hear Kerry singing, btw), also complex multi-layered songs made of simple pieces like an incredibly-arranged "As old as you're young", also complex multi-layered extravaganza like "Cogs in cogs", also totally experimental songs like "So sincere" almost fully performed in triplets. They also created vocal canons and fugas like those in "Knots" and "On reflection". Violin-driven ballads ("Funny ways"), Beatlesque McCarney'esque ballads ("Isn't it quiet and cold?"), acoustic guitar-driven ballads ("Memories of old days"). Concept albums, sort of rock operas - the album "Three friends". Finally, straightforward rockers - "The power and the glory", "Why not?", "Wreck". Kerry Minnear, a very humble, kind man definitely deserves the world-wide fame for his creativity and virtuosity on keyboards. And the band's songs offer a fruitful material for learning how to make compositions. Kerry rarely played solos, he mostly composed like a machine and played like a robot. He has a natural feel for music, sense of melody. An incredible phenomenon!
This is a very good song writing lesson. Probably the most impactful I've had in a long time
Even though I'm mainly a musician, and have only actually written one or two lyric songs that I think are "good", I enjoyed this, Keppie.
hey! Just wanted to say that this is a great video. I'm new to the channel but started learning guitar recently and getting into songwriting a bit. Looking forward to exploring more of your content.
This channel is great! Keep playing it's frustrating at first but worth it! Also would you check out my album Separate Checks by A Keithing ? I swear you'll love it!
Really good video!!! I was just finishing writing lyrics for a new song of mine. This video helps me a lot. Thank you Keppie.
this is gold, bookmarked it. thank you!
«Every daisy I pick makes stars in the sky turn away from the light, black out the night»
Interesting that 12 tone just released an almost identical video. An excellent companion piece. Both are great
Seafaring Josie, waits on the dock for a boat that the tide never brings. Fishing for rings
I think this is the third video i a week that mentions this concept, that I have seen.
I am not a native English speaker and this seems quit difficult to me.
(Even though my native langrage have the same concept and that we both make fun with it and it is an easy tell that someone it not a native speaker.)
I liked this video for being really focused and having good examples. But I clearly needs to practice this a lot, to master this. But I will try to notise this more in songs that I really like.
Thanks for a good video. I think it is one of your best over the last frem months. But it might just be because I needed it more than some of the other tips or maybe I just value the rhythm of the lyrics more than other part of song writhing. How know. Right video at the right time.
"Lighting a fire with a match that was already burnt"
"We welcome our ending, the battle scars burn but we know that we gave it our all.....every empire falls"
Love this exercise - rhythms always been secondary for me, so refreshing to bring it into focus!
Woke up on Tuesday, got out of bed and got dressed then went out through the door.
I haven't seen all of this yet but I will but my initial thought following the intro is that it's horses for courses the parameters can be thought of as inspiring rather than an obstacle. Every songwriter is different. I don't struggle with lyrics and that doesn't make me any better or worse than a songwriter who does... Cohen claimed he wrote hallelujah but it took him years and Lennon wrote fast.. some people think in rhythm and repetition form when they're inspired to do so at times and other times they write a less structured less catchy song if that fits the inspiration better.. the reason why people say writing a catchy pop song is harder is because to literally sit down and say I'm gonna write a catchy wonderful poppy hit is not necessarily easy.. but its easy to write one if you suddenly have a tiny bit of inspiration before or during the process of writing.
Cohen claimed he took 5 years to write hallelujah and Lennon wrote very quicky.. everyone is different.. sometimes following a strict structure and rhythm can be as inspirational as it is limiting to others. It works differently for different people at different times I'd suggest... But don't slag off my stupidity too much I'm rambling cos I haven't slept yet and was watching the vid with sleepy eyes
Really great video - tx for it
Paul has stated several times that he is the most proud of eleanor rigby, makes sense why now, great break down
"Light up close to me, even when I'm getting farther from dusk and the sun."
a new world, can't thank you enough. I have never written a song, but want to try now!
Hummingbirds flying, taking the dew from the flowers and drinking it in.
“A vessel of great might / Was hewn of solid gold / Masts billowed in the air / On seas beyond compare
There Venus came in sight / Bare-skinned with tousled hair / Spread upon the prow for sunlight to behold
But then came fateful night / A great reef sealed her doom / In the deceiving ocean / Wherein sirens sing
Her hull was tilted forth / The wreck slipped tapering / Down to the chasm's depths / Toward a silent tomb
A vessel hewn of gold / Diaphanous as air / Revealed its treasure hold / To vulgar sailors, there
Disgust and Hate and Fear / Amongst themselves did rage /
The vessel's gone amiss / In sudden storm it seems / What's happened to my heart, lost on the thankless waves? /
Alas! It sank into the dark abyss... of dreams”
This is awesome.. ive been on these ideas myself very heavy recently. so cool. If I could make a suggestion, the reverb on her regular speaking voice is really really distracting to me, I can't actual hear what she's saying because I just keep listening to that lol. I think dry is better for talking personally. but great video!
I learned this stuff from max martin . I dont rememeber how he called it. 20 years ive been using it. It works. Great video.
"Living in limbo, waiting for something or someone to show me the way, maybe today."
"Show me a symbol, give me a sign or a message, don't lead me astray, make it okay."
I don't understand what the title of this video has to do with the content of the video. Did I miss something? Where does she talk about why this Beatles song is almost impossible to write?
Keppie, this is helpful, and it's great for me to verify that my songwriting is getting quite good, with increasing frequency. However I'm struggling more with other things that lend themselves more organically to other people, like starting a band, getting the word out, and making the songs heard out there. Are you thinking of discussing those other topics? (In case you haven't done so already!). Cheers.
Eleanor Rigby, wakes up in time, to see someone has broken her dream
What has she seen? 🎼
Back when i knew her
I thought our time spent together
it never would end
never would end.
I'm feeling hungry.
watching my fridge until six
I don't know what to eat.
Maybe some cheese
...Now that I've eaten
Wish that I'd opted for
Something like fruit
I'm ill at ease
I was a cheesehead
I had a hat made of cheese on the top of my head
Folks found it funny
reading the ppers she feels like her life is a story thats never been told
Brian O'Leary rode on his bike to the pub where the beer was ok. Not in the evening.
Riding my scooter, feeling the wind in my face and the bugs in my hair.
"Times never changing, dead men who walk choose to talk about fortunes of gold. Will they grow old?"
Here i lay waiting, watching the car lights reflect off the walls and the floor, i wasn't sure.
I'm minded of the morrissey song "we hate it when our friends become successful"
Where in he expressed a deep disdain for repeated melodies with his continued singing "la la" over the same notes over and over and over again... "It should have been me" 😂😂😂😂
“Quietly sleeping, she didn’t notice the spider in bed as she laid down her head”
a thousand times over, why do I have to always explain, this is insane
further imagine, your mind is a fractal of time, am I in line
“Theodore Bigley, folded his arms as he frowned at the girls in the square.
They never cared.”
“PC McSorley, counting the days til he spends his whole wage at the dogs.
Lives in a fog.”
First ideas that come to mind
"Challenge accepted!
Gather the words for a phrase
in a selfwritten song;
shouldn’t take long."
😅😜
Singing my heart out, why are the words that I need sung in heaven alone, to whom are they shown
Finding my rhythm, singing the songs that we sang as a child... Isn't it wild?
Billy McGuire, sits in a chair in the house where his father had died, he never cried.
Liked this tutorial, I think you gave very helpful advice in it too.
What did I do?
Something was off now she'd never been here before when the lights flickered red
Wedding of empires, power meets power in bed as the struggle subsides, not so the lies
She has been waiting - for the time of the hour is near - what does she fear?
Make me a sandwich. Leave on a plate in the fridge till I get home from work
Patience is silent. She is a bit like the snow in the winter’s refrain.
You are so cool looking, so Disney-ish. You must be in a Disney movie :)
Frozen bananas light up my life every day when I eat them in bed, feeling well fed
First heard E. Rigby 50 yrs ago. Felt worryingly sad to me as a kid. But now with age i think one of the very best Beatles songs.
The Paul character in Them Beatles (tribute act) plays this solo on acoustic and it gets the hair on your neck standing up.
However, I am certain the Beatles did not write all these complex songs...200 in 7 yrs?? At the very least they had some serious professional songwriting help.
Vatican churchbells ring through the smoke that is rising, announcing the news
Copying the Beatles, always a nice thing to do with your taste and your time.
I am a dummy
Can’t think of nothin to say that can finish a line
Give me a sign
Lying awake and I’m twisting the thoughts of a memory that started to fade. Feelings remain.
So, please remind me “Why This Beatle Song Is ‘almost’ Impossible to Write”?
Beatle lyrics are usually the weakest part of their songs.
Since both verses start with a name I started by thinking of a name that fits the stress pattern… and well recently someone's been explicitly telling us it does:
"Kamala Harris, winning elections from Oregon over to Maine"
🎶 .. that's so insane...🎶