Blogging A to Z: "Y" is for Yesterday

The Beatles song, that is.

First of all, I have to admit that I don't listen to much of the popular music today. What I have heard has left me unimpressed -- the harmonic structures, on the whole, are boringly basic and unimaginative, hardly ever straying from I-IV-V; and the melodies are either simplistic and unsophisticated, or -- at the other end of the spectrum -- so highly embellished with the singers' riffs that they are impossible to imitate if one is an average "sing-along-er." As I said, I don't listen to much, so my conclusions, admittedly, are based on the little I have heard.

How can we account, then, for the underlying complexity and musical sophistication of many Beatles songs -- which, amazingly, were written by men who had no formal musical training? Quite simply, the Beatles were uniquely gifted. Lennon and McCartney were downright geniuses.

"Yesterday" is a prime example of such sophistication. Consider the chord progression in the first line alone:

          I                ii7            III                              vi            (bass 7)  IV
          Yesterday,    all my troubles seemed so far away

Already, we have a secondary dominant, III -- and not the most predictable one, at that. Skipping to the third line:

                  vi     II         IV  I
          Oh,  I believe in yesterday.

How many unschooled musicians would even think to use II? McCartney could have simply used the minor ii, which would have been perfectly acceptable, but he chose the major II, which, on the word "believe," is like a hopeful ray of light. Brilliant! And the succession of the raised third in that II chord by the naturalization of it in the following IV chord is astonishing to the ear.

Then there's the bridge, which starts off with a III(sus4), resolving to III, then a descending bass that moves in contrary motion to the ascending vocal line. . . .

A III(sus4)! Amazing!

Now that's complex. That's sophisticated musical writing, and in a pop song. It can be done, it has been done, and it should be done.

I realize I sound like a complete music geek, but that's what I am. Other music geeks will understand.