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Making Music Make Sense; Making Music Make Evidence

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I spoke to students and faculty at the Harvard University Law School on Tuesday, March 11, 2014.  I am always thrilled and humbled to be invited to come to that great campus and interact with these brilliant, insightful and original thinkers.  Fortunately, many of our ideas and concerns overlap and intersect and as fortunately, there are always surprises for me and them.

One constant issue with which I struggle is how to explain music – music as evidence – evidence that will sway a judge and/or jury to understand what I know about the music.  Many probing questions were addressed to me about this concern.  Explaining music as evidence to a judge and/or jury is similar to teaching whether in the forms of interaction with a student, small group of students, class, or large class in person or online.  Teaching music, something I have been paid to do since I was 12, has always been an extremely happy-engendering, inspiring activity that is similar to presenting evidence of a musical nature.  The end goals – will my intended audience understand how I perceive this music – are similar.  Is what I have selected and arranged for the particular audience pertinent, relevant, meaningful and/or convincing?

Teaching a judge and/or jury is analogous to teaching in the traditional offline and online manner.  (Online instruction has been around long enough – since the pre-Google, pre-Napster mid/late 1990’s – that I would claim online teaching is itself “traditional” and that there are traditional models of online education.)  At its core, there are perhaps four (4) components with respect to evidence –

Substance

Means of communication

Perception

Outcome

which to me are tantamount to

Content

Delivery

Determination

Conclusion

The following possibilities are in play:

Have I gathered the right materials to get across my point(s)?

If so, have I used the right or good/good enough, means to get across my point(s)?

If I do not have the right materials, then even if the means to present the materials are very good, the end result could be failure.

If I have the best means to convey my message/materials but have gathered  material that is not optimal, the end result could be failure.

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How does one make music make sense or make music make evidence?  Does music ever make sense?  What does it mean to “make sense?”  A lot of effort and ink has been spent on trying to understand the meaning of music and even more have labored to understand the meaning of life.  (Let’s leave life out of this!)  But the meaning of music, from a philosophical perspective, is irrelevant in most and perhaps every legal situation.

How does one explain music?  By explain music, I am suggesting that we can make someone hear something specific and special in music.  It could be a chord or chord pattern, an unusual sound or sounds, a specific melody or melodies, a lyric or lyrics, a combination of any or all of these, etc.

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What will best convey the message, i.e., make the evidence most effective?  What is/are the most important factor(s) in making the message understandable and persuasive to listeners, jury, judge, students and audience?

A.   The messenger’s skills, credentials and background.

B.   The nature and quality of the technical and visual exhibits (charts, numbers, graphs, images, etc.).

C.   The musical examples (perhaps edited and/or enhanced).

D.   The musical examples along with technical exhibits and complex verbal expression.

E.   The musical examples along with technical exhibits and simple, understandable verbal expression.

F.   The musical examples along with non-technical exhibits and simple, understandable verbal expression.

G.   The musical examples along with non-technical exhibits and complex verbal expression. 

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Musical evidence can be

1.  Technical

2.  Not Technical

3.  A Hybrid of Technical & Not Technical

Can one type of evidence work in one particular instance and another type of evidence work in another instance?

Would a musical style dictate or suggest a particular type of evidence?

Can the style and substance of evidence differ according to a musical style?

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(This post reminds me of another post of mine – Which Words Work With Which Music? – in which the difficulties and frustrations of writing about music are played with.)

These and many more questions should be addressed and evaluated along the road to making music make sense and making music make evidence.  Until then the state of musical evidence and its presentation continues to be (as reflected in this short lyric) “something wild and unruly.”

 

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Putting It My Way But Nicely – There Should Be No More Lawsuits…

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Music of Bach, Badfinger, The Beatles, Toby Keith, Sebastian Mikael, Rodgers & Hammerstein, The Rolling Stones,  XTC

The 3-4-5-8 from Sebastian Bach to Sebastian Mikael.

THIS IS IT.

Not the Michael Jackson film, THIS IS IT, but the 5th and final SHOULD Artist X Sue Artist Y over 3-4-5-8 post.

The final post about 3-4-5-8.  This could have gone much longer and it could have been massively expanded if 3-4-5-1, which to many is the same as 3-4-5-8 (“8” and “1” are the same letter – an octave above or below each other – the last letter name of the pitch is identical).  It’s been fun but now we’ll be

putting it my way, but nicely.

To repeat – this will end my discussion of potential lawsuits over four different notes – the nice four-note [-3-4-5-8-] melody with some variation.  (In addition to this being designated by Arabic numbers representing pitches, it could be designated as, “mi fa sol do,” but I chose numbers this time as I learned numbers before I learned solfège syllables, one of a musician’s favorite mnemonic devices.)

I’ve considered the following to be the same – they are roughly the same:

3-4-5-8

3-4-5-5-8-8-8  (as sung by Badfinger)

All of this came about because I heard “Last Night” by Sebastian Mikael for the first time as I was driving home from the airport in Nashville one Sunday night (February 23, 2014) and couldn’t help but notice the 3-4-5-8’s jumping out of the car radio.  That led to an investigation of the 3-4-5-8 melody as well as the music of Sebastian Mikael, Toby Keith, XTC, Badfinger,  The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and more.

The string of posts went in this order, from the most recently released music, back to The Rolling Stones.

Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (2011)  v.  Sebastian Mikael – Last Night ft. Wale (2013)

XTC –  Then She Appeared (1992)  v.  Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (2011)

Badfinger – Come And Get It  (1970)  v.  XTC – Then She Appeared  (1992)

The Rolling Stones – Street Fighting Man  (1968)  v.  Badfinger – Come And Get It (1970)

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Today, I’ll add a few more and end my pursuit of the 3-4-5-8  melodic gesture. There are many other 3-4-5-8 melodic gestures in a lot of of music by artists including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, The Mavericks, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Bach, Beethoven and others.

Beatles – Little Child (1963)

0.09  little child won’t you dance (with me)  –  (“with me” is sung to 6-5)

0.22  little child won’t you dance (with me)

0.44  little child won’t you dance (with me)

1.26  little child won’t you dance (with me)

from “The King & I” – Getting To Know You  (1951) (by Rodgers & Hammerstein)

0.01  getting to know you

0.04  getting to know all (about you)

0.16  getting to know you

0.19  putting it my way (but nicely)

0.31  getting to know you

0.34  getting to feel free (and easy)

1.08  getting to know you

1.11  getting to know all (about you)

1.23  getting to know you

1.26  putting it my way (but nicely)

1.38  getting to know you

1.41  getting to feel free (and easy)

and frequently throughout

Bach – Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 – Bourree I  (1730)

3-4-5-8 is played by oboes and violins in unison at the opening of the Bourree from Suite No. 3 for Orchestra .  It is heard at 0.00 and repeated soon at 0.08.  It also changes keys and is heard again later as well.

Bach used 3-4-5-8 as a nice little melodic snippet.  Bach’s version is faster than those sung by Sebastian Mikael, Toby Keith, Toby Keith, Andy Partridge (XTC), Tom Evans (Badfinger), Mick Jagger, John Lennon or Marni Nixon (King & I).

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I’ve been asked for my opinion as to whether any of those infringe.  In my opinion, NONE of those I have posted  infringe on any copyright of which I am aware. 

3-4-5-8 is a snippet that dates back centuries – I have posted a few prominent uses of 3-4-5-8 from 1730 – 2013.  After having studied these recordings and the specific uses of 3-4-5-8, I am convinced that this melody/melodic excerpt is in the public domain.  Lawsuits should rarely if ever stem from the use of 3-4-5-8 although sadly there are copyright infringement lawsuits filed over much less in common than simply four (4) unoriginal pitches.

“Putting it my way but nicely”  –  none of these musical works featuring 3-4-5-8 infringe any of these other works featuring 3-4-5-8 and none should have caused or been the cause of a copyright infringement lawsuit._______________________________________________________________

 

 

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Should The Rolling Stones Sue Badfinger?

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The 4th “SHOULD” post.  The 4th “You stole my 3-4-5-8” post.

OK, this is getting long.  How long will this 3-4-5-8 be stretched out?  The answer?  I’ll end this 3-4-5-8 posts with the next installment of the series:  the 5th “SHOULD” post.  But for today –

Today’s songs and potential case:

The Rolling Stones – Street Fighting Man  (1968)

Badfinger – Come And Get It (1970)

My last three posts have featured pairs of songs that feature the same four (4) notes –  3-4-5-8  -prominently in their choruses/hooks.  The songs and potential case from the previous post:

Badfinger – Come And Get It  (1970)  v.  XTC –  Then She Appeared  (1992)

The songs and potential case from the post before that (February 27, 2014):

XTC –  Then She Appeared (1992)  v.  Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (2011)

The songs and potential case from the post before that (February 24, 2014):

Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (2011)  v.  Sebastian Mikael – Last Night ft. Wale (2013)

I raised the possibilities and reasons why these songs could be in litigation – all of those songs feature the 3-4-5-8 melody.  I did NOT take a side – my purpose was to be illustrative and solicit responses.  I heard “Last Night” by Sebastian Mikael for the first time as I was driving home from the airport in Nashville Sunday night (February 23, 2014) and couldn’t help but notice the 3-4-5-8’s jumping out of the car radio.  That led to an investigation of the 3-4-5-8 melody as well as the music of Sebastian Mikael, Toby Keith, XTC, Badfinger and now The Rolling Stones.

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Today I ask a related question and what would be a precedent to the Badfinger v. XTC case which was a precedent to the XTC v. Toby Keith case which was a precedent to the Toby Keith v. Sebastian Mikael case  – namely, should The Rolling Stones sue Badfinger for stealing the 3-4-5-8 of The Rolling Stones?  (Again, all of these are, to my knowledge, hypothetical cases.)  A funny twist to this is that it would be The Rolling Stones suing their friend Paul McCartney as McCartney wrote “Come And Get It.”  (Here is Paul McCartney singing and playing every instrument on his song, Come And Get It.  He allowed Badfinger to record it if they stuck to it as faithfully as he demanded.  This recording is from The Beatles Anthology 3, a must have double CD.)

The 3-4-5-8 occurs prominently twelve (12) times in The Rolling Stones’  Street Fighting Man  (1968).

The Rolling Stones – Street Fighting Man  (1968)

0.35  except to sing for (a rock n roll band)

0.39  cause in sleepy

0.40  London town there’s

0.42  just no place for a street fighting (man)

1.20  except to sing for (a rock n roll band)

1.24  cause in sleepy

1.25  London town there’s

1.27  just no place for a street fighting (man)

2.10  except to sing for (a rock n roll band)

2.14   cause in sleepy

2.15  London town there’s

2.17  just no place for a street fighting (man)

Badfinger – Come And Get It (1970)

The 3-4-5-8 occurs frequently and prominently in Badfinger’s Come And Get It although slightly modified with a repeated “5” and “8”  –   3-4-5-5-8-8-8.  (As the song progresses, the  3-4-5-8 that usually features the lyrics “if you want it here it is” and “if you want it anytime” changes from 3-4-5-8 to 8-6-5-5 and other non-3-4-5-8 melodies.)

Badfinger’s Come And Get It (1970, U.S. release)

0.05  if you want it here it is

0.15  if you want it any time

0.38  if you want it here it is

0.51  if you want it here it is

1.02  if you want it any time

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Should The Rolling Stones sue Badfinger over the 3-4-5-8 melody that was so prominent in their Street Fighting Man and so prominent in Badfinger’s Come And Get It?  As I’ve stated before, there are music copyright infringement lawsuits in the courts in 2014 that involve NO melodic similarity.

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Should Badfinger Sue XTC?

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The 3rd “SHOULD” post.  The 3rd “You stole my 3-4-5-8” post.

Two of my last posts have featured pairs of songs that feature the same four (4) notes –  3-4-5-8  -prominently in their choruses/hooks.  The songs from the February 27, 2014 post:

XTC’s Then She Appeared (1992)

Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (2011)

The songs from the post before that (February 24, 2014):

Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (2011)

Sebastian Mikael – Last Night ft. Wale (2013)

I raised the possibilities and reasons why these songs could be in litigation. I did NOT advocate that a lawsuit should happen and I did NOT take a side – my purpose was to be illustrative and solicit responses.  I heard “Last Night” by Sebastian Mikael for the first time as I was driving home from the airport in Nashville Sunday night (February 23, 2014) and couldn’t help but notice the 3-4-5-8’s jumping out of the car radio.  That led to an investigation of the 3-4-5-8 melody as well as the music of Sebastian Mikael, Toby Keith, XTC and now Badfinger.

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Today I ask a related question and what would be a precedent to the XTC v. Toby Keith case which was a precedent for the Toby Keith v. Sebastian Mikael possibility  – namely, should Badfinger sue XTC for stealing “Badfinger’s” 3-4-5-8?

Badfinger’s Come And Get It (1970)

XTC’s Then She Appeared (1992)

The 3-4-5-8 occurs frequently and prominently in Badfinger’s Come And Get It although slightly modified with a repeated “5” and “8”  –   3-4-5-5-8-8-8.  (As the song progresses, the  3-4-5-8 that usually features the lyrics “if you want it here it is” and “if you want it anytime” changes from 3-4-5-8 to 8-6-5-5 and other non-3-4-5-8 melodies.)

Badfinger’s Come And Get It (1970, U.S. release)

0.05  if you want it here it is

0.15  if you want it any time

0.38  if you want it here it is

0.51  if you want it here it is

1.02  if you want it any time

XTC’s  Then She Appeared (1992) is a song written and recorded almost twenty (20) years before Toby Keith’s Red Solo Cup (2011) but more than twenty (20) AFTER Badfinger’s Come And Get It (1970).  It also prominently features the 3-4-5-8 melody.  The 3-4-5-8 is the opening vocal and the hook throughout the entire song.

The thirteen (13) examples of 3-4-5-8 in Then She Appeared, complete with associated lyrics, are heard here:

XTC – Then She Appeared  (1992)

0.22  then she appeared

0.31  then she appeared

0.50  cherubim cheered

0.59  then she appeared

1.08  then she appeared

1.26  know it sounds weird

2.02  then she appeared

2.11  then she appeared

2.30  all Edward leared

3.06  then she appeared

3.15  then she appeared

3.24  then she appeared

3.33  then she appeared

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Are four (4) prominent and clearly-heard notes in common between songs reason enough to instigate a copyright infringement lawsuit?  As mentioned before, one answer could be found in comparing this hypothetical (or not) Badfinger v. XTC music copyright infringement case to the actual Marvin Gaye v. Robin Thicke copyright infringement case in which NO notes were in common between the songs.

If one can sue when the similarity is only STYLE and NOT melody, surely one is even more likely to sue when the similarity is MELODY and not STYLE.

(Do any/all the tags in this post have any bearing on the merit of this potential copyright infringement lawsuit?)

As always, I welcome your comments.

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Should XTC Sue Toby Keith?

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Another “SHOULD” post.  Another “You stole my 3-4-5-8” post.

My last post was about two (2) songs that both featured the same four (4) notes –  3-4-5-8  – prominently in their choruses/hooks.  The songs were

Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (2011)

Sebastian Mikael – Last Night ft. Wale (2013)

I raised the possibility and reasons why these songs could be in litigation. I did NOT take a side – my purpose was to be illustrative and solicit responses.  I heard “Last Night” by Sebastian Mikael for the first time as I was driving home from the airport in Nashville Sunday night (February 23, 2014) and couldn’t help but notice the 3-4-5-8’s jumping out of the car radio.

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Today I ask a related question and what would be a precedent to the Toby Keith v. Sebastian Mikael possibility  – namely, should XTC sue Toby Keith for stealing their 3-4-5-8?

XTC  Then She Appeared (1992)

Toby Keith  Red Solo Cup (2011)

XTC’s Then She Appeared (1992) is a song written and recorded almost twenty (20) years before Toby Keith’s Red Solo Cup (2011).  It also prominently features the 3-4-5-8 melody.  The 3-4-5-8 is the opening vocal and hook throughout the entire song.

The thirteen (13) examples of 3-4-5-8 in Then She Appeared, complete with associated lyrics, are heard here:

XTC – Then She Appeared  (1992)

0.22  then she appeared

0.31  then she appeared

0.50  cherubim cheered

0.59  then she appeared

1.08  then she appeared

1.26  know it sounds weird

2.02  then she appeared

2.11  then she appeared

2.30  all Edward Lear-ed

3.06  then she appeared

3.15  then she appeared

3.24  then she appeared

3.33  then she appeared

The sixteen (16) statements of 3-4-5-8 in Toby Keith’s Red Solo Cup (2011):

0.32  red solo cup

0.35  I fill you up

0.44  red solo cup

0.47  I lift you up

1.19  red solo cup

1.22  I fill you up

1.31  red solo cup

1.33  I lift you up

2.21  red solo cup

2.24  I fill you up

2.32  red solo cup

2.35  I lift you up

2.44  red solo cup

2.47  I fill you up

2.56  red solo cup

2.59  I lift you up

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Are four (4) prominent and clearly-heard notes in common between songs reason enough to instigate a copyright infringement lawsuit?  One answer could be found in comparing this hypothetical (or not) XTC v. Toby Keith music copyright infringement case to the actual Marvin Gaye v. Robin Thicke copyright infringement case in which NO notes were in common between the songs.

If one can sue when the similarity is only STYLE and NOT melody, surely one is even more likely to sue when the similarity is MELODY and not STYLE.

(Do any/all the tags in this post have any bearing on the merit of this potential copyright infringement lawsuit?)

As always, I welcome your comments.

Posted on

Should Toby Keith Sue Sebastian Mikael?

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Should Toby Keith sue Sebastian Mikael?  Have you heard Toby Keith’s 2011 song, “Red Solo Cup?”  Have you heard Sebastian Mikael’s 2013 song, “Red Solo Cup?”

Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (2011)

Sebastian Mikael – Last Night ft. Wale (2013)

Toby Keith’s Red Solo Cup features the lyrics, “red solo cup, I fill you up” and “red solo cup, I lift you up” always sung to the same melody, an ascending four-note pattern that is the hook:  -3-4-5-8.

The 3-4-5-8 melody is heard sixteen (16) times in Red Solo Cup.

Sebastian Mikael’s Last Night features the lyric, “four shots ago,” always sung to the same four-note pattern as heard in Red Solo Cup, used in all four (4) choruses, and in a similar prominent manner as well:  3-4-5-8.

The 3-4-5-8 melody is heard four (4) times in Last Night.

If both songs use the same pitches but one was recorded and released earlier, shouldn’t the publisher(s) of Toby Keith’s Red Solo Cup sue the publisher(s) of Sebastian Mikael’s Last Night ?

The sixteen (16) statements of 3-4-5-8 in Toby Keith’s Red Solo Cup:

0.32  red solo cup

0.35  I fill you up

0.44  red solo cup

0.47  I lift you up

1.19  red solo cup

1.22  I fill you up

1.31  red solo cup

1.33  I lift you up

2.21  red solo cup

2.24  I fill you up

2.32  red solo cup

2.35  I lift you up

2.44  red solo cup

2.47  I fill you up

2.56  red solo cup

2.59  I lift you up

The four (4) statements of 3-4-5-8 in Sebastian Mikael’s Last Night:

0.46  four shots ago

1.54  four shots ago

2.37  four shots ago

3.40  four shots ago 

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To reiterate some of the similarities between Red Solo Cup and Last Night:

Toby Keith sings 3-4-5-8 sixteen (16) times throughout Red Solo Cup.

3-4-5-8 is the hook.

Sebastian Mikael sings 3-4-5-8 four (4) times throughout Last Night.

3-4-5-8 is always an important part of each chorus.

Both songs feature the same four (4) notes –  3-4-5-8.

Toby Keith recorded and released Red Solo Cup well before Sebastian Mikael recored and released Last Night.

Why wouldn’t Toby Keith’s publisher(s) sue Sebastian Mikael?

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Are four (4) prominent and clearly-heard notes in common between songs reason enough to instigate a copyright infringement lawsuit?  One answer could be found in comparing this hypothetical (or not) Toby Keith v. Sebastian Mikael music copyright infringement case to the actual Marvin Gaye v. Robin Thicke copyright infringement case in which NO notes were in common between the songs.

If one can sue when the similarity is only STYLE and not melody, surely one is even more likely to sue when the similarity is MELODY and not style.

(Do any/all the tags in this post have any bearing on the merit of this potential copyright infringement lawsuit?)

As always, I welcome your  comments.

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The Beatles – 21 Songs For 7 Reasons

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Beatles 50th Anniversaries to the End of Beatles 50th Anniversaries

21 Songs For 7 Reasons

How good is your memory?  If you have heard this before, you surely don’t remember the words or when you heard them:

“Anacin –

the headache remedy with the special combination of ingredients to relieve pain, to relax tension, soothe irritability” – Anacin, and by

Pillsbury –

makers of light, fluffy Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits and a complete line of fresh dough foods in the dairy case.”

These are the first in a large batch of annoying commercials that ran at the beginning of The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday, February 9, 1964 just before the public would get to see the world’s most in-demand musical performers, The Beatles.

I’ve been loving the first of many future Beatles 50th anniversaries – their inspiring, shocking and life-altering first Ed Sullivan Show appearance, in black and white.  Color film was not needed – what people were about to see and hear was provocative, exciting, inspirational and transcendent  enough. 

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Beatles 50th Anniversaries

In 2014, “it was 50 years ago today” refers to the 50th anniversary of

The Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” “Can’t Buy Me Love, “I Saw Her Standing There” and the other initial wave of Beatles’ hits, and

A Hard Day’s Night film (“I fought the war for your sort. — I bet you’re sorry you won.”)  

In 2015, “it was 50 years ago today” will refer to the 50th anniversary of the

Help! film (“so the police are extended giving the famous protection for which we are justly proud in this country, for a finger, eh”) and

Rubber Soul (“and when I awoke I was alone this bird had flown. So, I lit a fire isn’t it good Norwegian wood?”).

In 2016, “it was 50 years ago today” will refer to the 50th anniversary of

Revolver (“I know what it’s like to be dead, I know what it’s like to be sad and she’s making me feel like I’ve never been born”)

their final tour and final scheduled concert on August 29, 1966 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco.

In 2017, “it was 50 years ago today” will refer to the 50th anniversary of the release of

Sgt. Pepper (“and the bag across her shoulder made her look a little like a military man”) and

Magical Mystery Tour (“corporation t-shirt stupid bloody Tuesday, Man you’ve been a naughty boy you’ve let your face grow long”).

In 2018, “it was 50 years ago today” will refer to the 50th anniversary of the

Yellow Submarine film (“if you are listening to this song you may think the chords are going wrong, but they’re not.  We just wrote it like that”) and

The Beatles, better known as The White Album  (“you were only waiting for this moment to be free”).

In 2019, “it was 50 years ago today” will refer to the 50th anniversary of

Abbey Road (“you only give me your funny paper”).

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END of

Beatles 50th Anniversaries

In 2020, “it was 50 years ago today,” will refer to the 50th anniversary of

Let It Be (“phase one in which Doris gets her oats”), the breakup of The Beatles, the release of

Paul McCartney’s first solo album, McCartney (“I used to ride on my fast city line singing songs that I thought were mine alone, alone”), the release of

George Harrison’s first solo album, a gigantic triple album, All Things Must Pass  (“watch out now, take care, beware of greedy leaders, they take you where you should not go while weeping atlas cedars they just want to grow, grow, grow”) and the release of

John Lennon’s first solo album, Plastic Ono Band (“I don’t believe in Elvis, I don’t believe in Zimmerman, I don’t believe in Beatles…I was the walrus but now I’m John, and so dear friends you’ll just have to carry on, the dream is over”).

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To continue from my past two (2) posts about The Beatles….  I left off with a collection of songs that I felt would work well for these groups and/or ideas:

children

aging adults

rockers

mystics

politically motivated

cry in your beer

The groups/purposes I want to highlight today are:

humanists

optimists

lovers of love songs

community activists

weddings

divorcees

ponderers

To continue from the last post – humanists will still want to save the world with “All You Need Is Love,” “Let It Be,” and “The Word,” optimists will be optimistic with “Good Day Sunshine,” “It’s Getting Better,”  and “Here Comes The Sun,” lovers of love songs will sing “If I Fell,”  “And I Love Her,” and “I Will,”  community activists will be inspired by “With A Little Help From My Friends,”  “We Can Work it Out,” and “All Together Now,”  weddings will still feature “Something,” “In My Life,”  and “When I’m Sixty-Four,”  divorcees will be haunted by “Carry That Weight,”  I’m A Loser,” and “Hello Goodbye,” and critics will still argue over the meanings of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “I Am The Walrus.”

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songs for humanists

All You Need Is Love

Let It Be

The Word

songs for optimists

Good Day Sunshine

It’s Getting Better

Here Comes The Sun

songs for lovers of love songs

If I Fell

And I Love Her

I Will

songs for community activists

With A Little Help From My Friends

We Can Work it Out

All Together Now

songs for weddings

Something

In My Life

When I’m Sixty-Four

songs for divorcees

Carry That Weight

 I’m A Loser

Hello Goodbye

songs for ponderers

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Strawberry Fields Forever

I Am The Walrus

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Their final words on their final album* were meant to inspire:  “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

THE  END

* (By “final album,” I am referring to the last/final album The Beatles recorded – Abbey Road.  The final Beatles album to be released was Let It Be.)

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The Beatles – It Was 50 Years Ago Today

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 T H E     B E A T L E S

 

Any Date From Now Through April 10, 2020 Should Be An Excuse For A Beatles 50th Anniversary Celebration

1. The Beatles are back.  2. The Beatles never went away.  3.  In the future, the Beatles will be back and never go away.  (New Beatles fans will assure that their music is still heard.)

Although they disbanded 44 years ago, the Beatles’ impact is still felt as their shadow is cast over almost every musical style and aspect of the U.S. and international music industry.   With the release of new social media accounts, websites, CD’s, DVD’s, books, collaborations, interactive media, “authorized mashups,” television specials and more, longtime fans are being reminded of their greatness, while new generations of Beatles’ fans are being created.  They still sound great to those who were there in the 1960’s, and because no other comparable artists have come along since, they keep sounding better in hindsight.

The Beatles revolutionized popular music – the intensity and depth of the public’s reaction to them has never never been approached since that they first burst onto the world’s stage.  Elvis had 14 #1 hits before the Beatles, but only 1 after the Beatles.  Only a few Motown acts and the Beach Boys were popular before and after the Beatles.

The Beatles arrived at the perfect moment historically when they began recording in 1963 and invading the U. S. and the rest of the world in 1964.  Between 1959-1963, rock & roll was in its dullest period as the careers of many of its pioneers were in hiatus or had ended.  A plane crash had taken the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson, Chuck Berry had been jailed for violation of the Mann Act, Little Richard had left the secular for the religious world, Jerry Lee Lewis had drawn the wrath of the public for marrying his 13 yr. old cousin before legally divorcing his second wife, and Elvis Presley was softening his image by trying to appeal to adults and becoming a movie star.   In addition, the large out-of-touch record labels were trying to hoist bland and safe white cover artists (principally, Pat Boone, Frankie Avalon and Fabian) onto the public.  And on November 22, 1963, three important events occurred, only one of which caught the world’s attention – President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  (The Beatles released their second album in England – “With The Beatles” – and novelist Aldous Huxley died also on that day.  Who could have known that the best and worst events of 1963 would have occurred on the same day?)   Many of us alive then will remember just how bleak a time it was – our popular young President had been killed, it was a cold winter, and except for a few Motown artists, there was little exciting popular music.

So, on February 9, 1964, when the Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the public was ready for good news and good revolution.  The reaction to this television show and the Beatles cannot be overestimated.  In 1964 alone, The Beatles had 19 Top 40 hits!  In comparison, Michael Jackson’s best year was 1983 with 6 Top 40 hits; Elvis’s was 1956 with 11 Top 40 hits.

The Beatles convincingly fused widely disparate influences throughout their seven-year recording career as they assimilated U.S. rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, country, Motown, R & B, soul, Tin Pan Alley, Afro-Cuban, bossanova, classical, and Indian music influences.   They also steadfastly avoided following any fads or attempting to be “cool” or something which they were not.  Each of their albums was a significant musical event complete with the seemingly incongruous achievements of important artistic innovations and great popular appeal.

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The Beatles had many firsts.  They were the

first to have all five of the Top 5 songs in the same week (April 4, 1964)

 

first to have 11 songs in the Top 100 in the same month

 

first to create music videos (16 years before the debut of MTV) –   Paperback Writer

 

first to use feedback and distortion at the opening of a recording  –  I Feel Fine (0.00-0.06)

 

first to use the fade-in  –  Eight Days A Week  (0.00-0.07)

 

first to use the electric 12-string guitar  –  You Can’t Do That  (0.00)

 

first to use the sitar   –  Norwegian Wood  (0.08)

 

first to use an Indian ensemble  –  Within You Without You  (0.00)

 

first to record a song for string quartet and acoustic guitar  –  Yesterday  (0.23)

 

first to record a song using only string octet  –  Eleanor Rigby  (0.00)

 

first band to use the French horn as a solo instrument  –  For No One  (0.49-1.02; 1.27-1.38. 1.53-1.56)

 

first band to use the piccolo trumpet as a solo instrument  –  Penny Lane  (1.09-1.27; 1.56-2.00, 2.21-2.26, 2.38-2.43, 2.47-2.49)

 

first band to use tape speed manipulation  –  In My Life  (1.29-1.47)

 

first band to use backwards tape  –  Rain  (2.35-2.58)

 

to name only a few Beatles’ firsts.

The Beatles were the antithesis of “safe” – with each album released, they had the “safe” and extremely successful product.  Almost any other artist/s who could attain this much success would certainly do only ONE thing next – repeat the exact steps to try to repeat the exact success.  Almost all artists then and now would not stray from a winning formula.

This is exactly where the Beatles differed completely from everyone else.  The Beatles would always take the adventurous and risky path by throwing away the proven recipe for business success and doing something which ARTISTICALLY pleased them.  Against all odds and “common” sense, they would succeed and then lead society and other musicians down new roads.

In the next post, we will explore the universality and themes of many Beatles songs.

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How I Hear It – Beethoven & Van Halen

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My Nashville trip has been eventful and much longer than expected.  My one week has turned into three.  I need to get back north and as tempting as it is, I won’t quote or paraphrase Paul McCartney and “Get Back.”

When I was learning classical music, and classical music theory (known to many as simply, “music theory”), what helped was comparing classical music to what I knew much better and made more sense to me, namely, rock music or pop music.  The more I learned about music and different styles of music, the more I explored and then compared classical with those other styles  –  first soul/Motown, then jazz, folk, blues, country, world music (although I had been hearing that earlier without knowing I was hearing world music) and eventually hip hop, trip hop, acid jazz and anything else with or without a name.

When I listen to music, it usually reminds me of other music.  When I first heard Van Halen When It’s Love, it reminded me of the opening of the first movement of Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 (as well as a few other rock and country songs).  That is because they share the same somewhat unusual (for rock and pop) chord progression.  There are four (4) chords heard clearly in both, although in Van Halen, the chord progression is heard twelve (12) times, whereas in Beethoven, it is heard only three (3) times.  This chord progression is based on four (4) bass notes from the major scale – the 1st pitch followed by the 5th, followed by the 3rd, followed by the 4th:  1   5   3   4.  Three of these four bass notes are the roots of the chords:  1    5    and 4.  The “3” is the 3rd of the “I chord.”  This chord, therefore, does not have its root as the lowest sounding note in the chord.  It is an “inverted” chord, and there are are far fewer inverted chords in rock and popular music than in classical music.  The somewhat-unusual-for-rock chord progression is  I   V   I6   IV  (pronounced, “One.  Five.  One six.  Four.”)

Van Halen  –  When It’s Love

That     I   V   I6   IV   progression is heard four (4) times at the opening and eight (8) times near the ending of When It’s Love:

I N S T R U M E N T A L     A T      O P E N I N G:

0.00 – 0.09

0.10 – 0.18

0.19 – 0.28

0.29 – 0.38

N E A R    T H E     E N D    O F     T H E    S O N G:

4.02 – 4.10

4.11 – 4.20

4.21 – 4.30

4.31 – 4.39

4.40 – 4.49

4.50 – 4.59

5.00 – 5.08

5.09 – 5.19

 

The majority of Classical music is not as repetitive, in terms of a singular repeated chord progression, as popular and/or country music.  But the    I   V   I6   IV   progression is heard at the outset of the first movement of Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4.

Beethoven  –  Piano Concerto No. 4, Mvt. I

S O L O    P I A N O:

0.42 – 0.48

O R C H E S T R A    (without piano):

1.00 – 1.08

P I A N O     &    O R C H E S T R A:

11.43 – 11.51

Do these sections from Van Halen and Beethoven sound similar?  They are identical in terms of harmony and bass melody, and chord progression.  This intrigues me but probably very few other people, and I was even warned not to write this post.  Oh well.  I did.  I will not write posts like this often but I love the idea of parallels between music that at the surface should have little in common and I believe that hearing these parallels leads to a better understanding and appreciation of music.  I intentionally avoided explaining the elementary music theory and music theory terms and nouns above because I do not think an understanding of music theory is necessary to hear these specific parallels between Beethoven and Van Halen, and the education/explanation would take too long for a single post.

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Here is the full orchestral score of Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58.  Thrillingly to me and sadly to some, the printed musical scores Beethoven composed can be copied for free, i.e., they are in the public domain – one does not need to ask the copyright owner permission to use this music because the copyright term has ended.  No one gets paid when one downloads the scores to these excellent compositions.

One of my favorite and most used music website is IMSLP – the Petrucci Music Library.  It should be the first place one visits to study and download music.  (I intentionally left out some details in that last sentence.)

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Big Butter & Egg Man, Banana in Your Fruit Basket, Grinding Mill and other carnal songs

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I should’ve been shocked but, post-Tea Party, was only mildly surprised to read that in 2013 a Utah school district canceled an upcoming high school performance of “All Shook Up,” a musical that features the music of Elvis Presley.  Elvis The Pelvis was controversial in the mid-1950’s and it seems that some parents in Utah want to keep that shock and controversy alive.  Elvis has the power to still cause hate and fear for anything biological that he might represent or arouse.  These concerned conservatives have succeeded at stopping this immoral, raunchy musical/spectacle  –  surely Utah is cleaner for their actions.  To me this is reminiscent of Tipper Gore’s Parent Music Resource Center back in the 1980’s, but this new Utah group seems more reactionary and antiquated.

There are so many other better targets, I feel, that these conservatives have overlooked, and I’d like to offer a few more songs for their excruciated listening and study pleasure.  These activists should strive to rip out the roots that caused the Elvis problem to grow and yield the frightening crop and moral decay of contemporary society.  (I think Aristotle also blamed bad music for the moral decay of his time.)  Who could listen to Elvis and then want to lead a chaste life and lifestyle?  If these parents work together perhaps they can get millions more to stop singing about sex.

Here are some songs I recommend they pursue.  Somehow these songs are still available for listening and purchasing pleasure (deviance) in 2013.  I hope Puritans and Talibanistas everywhere will labor to learn more music and discover the world of metaphors.  Perhaps they’ll be able to have these and more carnal songs squashed.

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“I want a butter and egg man. Won’t some great big butter and egg man want me?”

Why does this woman sing so emphatically about wanting a man who possesses BIG BUTTER and EGGS?  Is she headed down a dangerous dairy path?  With all that is known in 2013 about a diet high in cholesterol, this song might already be maiming young minds but could the butter and eggs be representative of something more than food?  Is this a tongue-in-cheek metaphor?

Louis Armstrong  –  Big Butter and Egg Man

Memphis Minnie talks to Kansas Joe McCoy about the broken down mill….

“Can’t get no grindin’ tell me what’s the matter with the mill?”

And this was decades before Cialis.  If only this couple could have had our 2013 chemicals, that could have been one happy and functioning mill.

Memphis Minnie  –  What’s The Matter With The Mill

Why would someone write and sing a song about a pencil and its lead, and lack of lead?  Without lead, one can’t write.  Or is all of this pencil and lead talk metaphorical?

“I met a hot mama, I want to love her so bad

I left all the lead in my pencil I had

Now the lead’s all gone, oh the lead’s all gone

Oh the lead’s all gone, this pencil won’t write no more”

Sadly, the man also realizes that, “You sure can tell when a man’s pencil is wrong, his mama’s always shiftin’ from home…”

Bo Carter  –  My Pencil Won’t Write No More

The Beatles recorded the John Lennon song, “Girl,” on their 1965 album, Rubber Soul.  Just what is John so forcefully inhaling five (5) tokes/times in the song, at 0.24 – 0.25, 0.54 – 0.56, 1.23 – 1.25, 1.53 – 1.55, and 2.23 – 2.25?  Marijuana?  And what are the Beatles singing at 1.01 – 1.20 ?  I think the lyric is “tit” stated 64 times (foreshadowing Paul’s song, “When I’m 64?”).  I don’t think the Beatles are engaged in metaphors in “Girl.”  This is young and direct.

“tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit

tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit     

tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit     

tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit      tit  tit  tit  tit”

That would make this seemingly innocent song, “Girl,” the ULTIMATE song about sex and drugs.  Or if not sex and drugs, a woman’s breast and the increasingly legal soft drug, pot-i-juana.

The Beatles  –  Girl

Finally, Bo Carter sings another song about his brand new skillet, burning his bread, and arranging to add his fruit, in particular, a banana, to her fruit basket.  Surely this song is only about cooking, dairy products and fruit arrangements.

“Now i got the dasher, my baby got the churn

We gonna churn, churn, churn until the butter come

Then I’m tellin’ you baby, I sure ain’t gonna deny,

Let me put my banana in your fruit basket, then I’ll be satisfied”

Bo Carter  –  Banana In Your Fruitbasket

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Wishing everyone a buttery, fruitful 2013    : )