"Maxwell's Silver Hammer"

An-other thing I realized last month is that in the chorus of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," the title phrase descends (D C B A F# E the first time; E D C# B A G the second), so there's a sense of coming "down" (although "came down upon her head" actually ascends).

"So How Come (No One Loves Me)"

Last month, I was thinking about "So How Come (No One Loves Me)" and discovered a small feature that's present in each verse.  In each line with "someone" ("Wants someone," "Needs someone," "Loves someone"), "someone" is sung with a melisma and with each syllable sung to a different pitch (B A G).  Musically, this gives a sense of the breadth of possibility of "someone."

I referenced the Everly Brothers' version and discovered that it too has this feature.  (The Beatles transposed their version down a whole-step though.  The "someone"s in the Everlys' version are sung to the pitches C# B A.)

"Tell Me What You See"

I made a video on how to play the Hohner Pianet part in "Tell Me What You See":

"Beautiful Dreamer"

I'm behind in writing about this, but after I listened to the first disc of On Air - Live at the BBC, Volume 2, I realized something about "Beautiful Dreamer."  The syllables of "anywhere" in the line "Since I met you, baby, that girl ain't a-anywhere" are all sung to different pitches (I think it's A E D the first time and - with a melisma - A E D E the second), musically giving a sense of breadth.

"Lend Me Your Comb"

I listened to the first disc of On Air - Live at the BBC, Volume 2 this morning and noticed something about "Lend Me Your Comb" (and in referencing the liner notes, I discovered that this is the same recording as that on Anthology 1).  The lines "Unless we come in / The way we went out" have opposite melodic arcs to portray those opposite directions.  "Unless we come in" generally ascends (G# A G# A B), and "The way we went out" generally descends (G# A G# F# E).

I also noticed that "home" in the line "We gotta go home" is sung to the tonic note (E), musically giving a sense of "home."

These features are also present in Carl Perkins' version, which - according to the liner notes - is what the Beatles based their version on.

"From Me to You"

Two days ago, I was thinking about "From Me to You" (actually, I was thinking about "From Us to You" - the slightly altered version from Live at the BBC), and I realized that it has a feature I've been noticing a lot lately.  In the lines "If there's anything that you want / If there's anything I can do," the syllables of the "anything"s are all sung to different pitches (E D C both times), musically giving a sense of the breadth of possibility.

There's a similar feature in the second verse, in the line "I got ev'rything that you want."  The syllables of "ev'rything" are also sung to different pitches (E D C again), musically giving a sense of breadth.

"I Just Don't Understand"

When I listened to the second disc of Live at the BBC yester-day, I also noticed a small thing in "I Just Don't Understand," specifically in the lines "Well, you know that I love you / More than anyone can."  The three syllables of "anyone" are all sung to different pitches (B A G), musically giving a sense of that breadth of possibility.

"All My Loving"

I listened to the second disc of Live at the BBC this morning and noticed a small feature in "All My Loving" (which is also in the studio version).  In one of the "all my loving"s in the coda (at ~1:53 in the studio version), the "all" is sung with a melisma (G# E F#, I think), musically giving a sense of that entirety.  The melisma is slightly different in the live versions (I think it's G# F# E in the BBC version, just G# E in the Live at the Hollywood Bowl version, and - oddly - G F Eb in the live version on Anthology 1), but it's clearly written as a feature of the song.

"Sun King"

When I listened to Abbey Road on the 50th anniversary of its release, I also realized something about the sound effects at the beginning of "Sun King."  (According to Mark Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions [p. 185, the entry for 5 August 1969], these were compiled by Paul.)

One of the sounds is chirping crickets, and I think this might be a subtle reference to Buddy Holly and the Crickets, who were an influence on the Beatles.  It's also worth mentioning that (although by accident) Holly's "I'm Gonna Love You Too" features the sound of a cricket at the very end.

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)"

I listened to Abbey Road yester-day because it was the 50th anniversary of its release, and I noticed a small thing about "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."  "Bad" in the recurring line "I want you so bad" is sung with a variety of melismas, musically giving a sense of degree.

"I Got a Woman"

I've been listening to Ray Charles lately, and to-day I noticed something in "I Got a Woman" that's also present in the live versions the Beatles did for the BBC.  "All day and night" in the first line of the bridge ("She's there to love me all day and night") is a merism.

"Getting Better"

"Getting Better" and "Within You Without You" were mentioned in a Jeopardy! clue yester-day (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the answer), so I listened to the album and - coincidentally - noticed something about "Getting Better."  In the line "It's getting better all the time," "time" is sung with a melisma (F E F).  I think this gives something of an impression of that "all," but I'm not sure if it's used in quite that sense.