The main "lyrics" are scat sung to the syllable "na-na" and start right on the downbeat of the phrase. The jam-like half of the song presents no less than nineteen repetitions of the same phrase, slowly fading out to eventual silence in the middle of the final repeat.
In the case of the bridges that pickup anticipates the downbeat by close to a full measure. The lyrics of each section are different, even for the two bridges most unusual! Even the final verse, which comes close to reiterating the words of the first section significantly substitutes "under your skin" for "into your heart." The melody of all sections here begins with a pickup before the down beat. The song-like half of the track is cast in the standard two-bridge model with one verse intervening, albeit without an intro. It will become clear from a detailed examination of "Hey Jude" just how neatly the two halves complement each other, and from what simple musical materials they are constructed. The Beatles opt here instead for an unusual binary form that combines a fully developed, hymn-like song together with an extended, mantra-like jam on a simple chord progression.
There are many other songs by contemporaneous artists which break the three-to-four minute length barrier, though the examples which come immediately to mind use a variety of techniques, none of which is used in "Hey Jude": an extended improvisational break in the middle ("Light My Fire"), the stringing together of several shorter songs, medley-style ("MacArthur Park"), or simply a long series of verse/refrain couples ("Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands"). Much has been made of the unusual length of this song (7:07), particularly for a single, but it's the means by which this length is sustained (not the length per se) that's of interest. There's also the subtle matter of the way that time in this song is divided into classically proportional durations, but more on all of this to come. I'll go for it nonetheless, even if I do get everything wrong, because it's such a good illustration of two compositional lessons - how to fill a large canvas with simple means, and how to use diverse elements such as harmony, bassline, and orchestration to articulate form and contrast.
"Hey Jude" is such a monumental favorite, I'm almost dissuaded from touching it because of the pressure to say something profound. US-release: 26th August 1968 (A Single / "Revolution") UK-release: 30th August 1968 (A Single / "Revolution") Recorded: 29th, 30th July 1968, Abbey Road 2 ģ1st July, 1st August 1968, Trident Studios | Bridge | Verse |Jamming Phrase (fade-out)ĬD: "Past Masters", Volume 2, Track 7 (Parlophone CDP 90044-2)
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