From: awp@world.std.com (Alan W Pollack)
Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles
Subject: Notes on "Tell Me What You See" (TMWYS)
Date: 6 Oct 92 00:06:20 GMT
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA


                 ===========================================
                || Notes on "Tell Me What You See" (TMWYS) ||
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KEY	G Major

METER	4/4

FORM	Intro -> Verse -> Verse -> Bridge -> Verse -> Bridge -> 
			Verse -> Outro (w/complete ending)
		


GENERAL POINTS OF INTEREST


Style and Form
--------------
- In context of some of the more innovative songs of the "Help!/Beatles VI"
  era, this one is part of a small group of songs that might be described 
  as nice but non-blockbuster.  Several by now well-established Beatles
  trademark devices and novel touches are apparent here at the detailed
  level; the larger than usual number of cross-references and associations
  with other Beatles mentioned below indeed seems to reflect this.

- Nonetheless, the overall mood and technique here are relatively simple
  and straightforward.  I'm sure there is at least one of my readers 
  who has been in love with this one since the first time s/he heard 
  it, and that's fine :-)  Just remember, I *did* say it's nice, didn't 
  I ?

- On the surface, the form is yet again the familiar one of two-bridges-
  but-no-solo, yet the verse section here is unusual in that its second 
  half sounds a bit like refrain; compare this with the earlier example 
  of "Thank You Girl."  Even more unusual is the way that a mini-solo
  is worked into the second half of the bridge itself.
  

Melody and Harmony
------------------
- The song is clearly and unrelievedly in the key of G Major.  A 
  recurring emphasis on the flat 7th scale degree (F natural) at
  the beginning of each bridge lends some touch of the blues, but
  compared to examples like "A Hard Day's Night" or "Ticket To Ride",
  this one contains an extremely mild dose it.

- The harmonic diet is very plain, being limited to the major chords of
  G, C, and D (i.e., I, IV, and V).  The G chord that opens the bridge with 
  an F natural in the melody actually functions as a V-of-IV, but
  regardless of how you parse it, it's still a chord rooted on G.

- Harmonic rhythm is more varied in the service of formal articulation
  and this somewhat makes up for the small number of chords.


Arrangement
-----------
- The prominent solo part for electric piano as well as the several
  exotic percussion instruments which substitute during most of the 
  proceedings for the usual full drum kit provide quite a bit of novelty
  to the backing track.  This texture also turns the song into the most 
  strongly Latin-flavored of any Beatles original since the days of "Ask 
  Me Why" and "P.S. I Love You".  

- The vocal arrangement features two voices throughout, though the
  two parts alternate frequently between phrases sung in harmony and
  those sung at the unison or octave. To the extent that the words
  communicate the kind of desire for loving union that will never accept
  'no' for an answer in spite of all distance and other obstacles, 
  this device takes on an almost programmatic significance; the operative 
  phrase in this regard being "we will never be apart if I'm part of you."

- I definitely hear John in there for at least parts of the song, but 
  in some places, I have a hard time determining whether its the Two 
  of Them, or just Paul over-dubbed with himself.



SECTION-BY-SECTION WALKTHROUGH


Intro
-----
- With just two measures of vamping on the I chord (G), the predominant
  mood and texture is quickly established.

- The music starts a small instant before the downbeat and this subtle
  gesture has a way of pulling you into the song as if by the hand, so
  to speak.  Compare this to "I'll Cry Instead" and "The Night Before."
  

Verse
-----
- The verse is sixteen measures long.  Though it parses neatly, on one 
  level, into four phrases that are equal in length, the structure here
  is more accurately described as two eight-measure couplets; the first
  being verse-like and the second sounding more like a refrain, with its
  suddenly slower harmonic rhythm and hook-phrase ending:



	|G	C	|D	G	|G	C	|G		|
G:	 I	IV	 V	I	 I	IV	 I



	|G	C	|D	G	|C	D	|G		|
	 I	IV	 V	I	 IV	V	 I



	|C		|G		|C		|G		|
	 IV		 I		 IV		 I



	|C		|G		|C	D	|G		|
	 IV		 V		 IV	V	 I



- The tune is distinguished by its opening with a dramatic upward leap
  of an octave and its abundance of appoggiaturas.  In terms of shape,
  it gets rather obsessively stuck around the 5th scale degree (D) and
  curiously contains no appearance of the 7th scale degree (F#).

- The opening line of the verse (and much else) is scanned so as to place
  virtually all rhythmic emphasis off the beat.  This nicely cuts across
  the underlying smooth and steady backbeat.

- The vocal arrangement features two-part harmony in first two measures 
  of the first couplet (with John on the tune) but the remainder of this
  section has them singing in unison.


Bridge
------
- The bridge is an even eight measures but its structure is unusual. 
  Only three of the four measures in the first phrase are sung, featuring
  the title phrase declaimed as though it were a kind of categorical 
  imperative.  This phrase is rounded out by a fanfare-like riff on
  the electric piano (featuring a slow triplet, no less), and leads
  to a second phrase that is entirely instrumental:


	|G		|-		|C		|-		|



	|G		|D		|G		|-		|


- Other sources of bridge-ly contrast here are the dramatically still slower 
  harmonic rhythm and the sudden appearance for the first time in the song
  of the complete drum kit.

- A unifying connection with the music of the verses is found in the 
  continued high quotient of appoggiaturas and that leap upward at
  the end of the piano solo; a sixth this time instead of an octave,
  but the gesture still resonates with the tune's opening.


Outro
-----
- The outro is a compressed variation of the bridge in which only
  the first phrase is presented as modified so as to lead directly to a
  complete ending.

- The surprise touch of humming without words here at the end had been
  used to equally satisfying effect by John way back in "All I've Got 
  To Do."

- A peculiar loud amount of hiss can be heard right at the end on the right 
  channel, leading me to suspect that somone must have been caught asleep
  at the sliding fader switch.



SOME FINAL THOUGHTS


- That the group had a longstanding sweet tooth for the Latin flavor in 
  their cover repertoire can be traced along a trajectory that runs from 
  "Besame Mucho" through "Mister Moonlight" with several other examples 
  coming in between.  But you wouldn't neccessarily say the same thing 
  about their repertoire of original songs, especially during the
  year or so that preceded our current number. 

- Granted, during much of '64 they could be seen as branching out into
  unaccustomed styles and cross-blends, but the marked trends we've
  noted are in the direction of first bluesy, and later folksy elements.
  The turning here toward their erstwhile favored Latin beat is at first
  glance a mildly shocking surprise, or even an anachronism.

- On another level though, you might say this also shows not only a flexible 
  versatility, but even a restless determination to keep trying new things
  and not repeat themselves overmuch.  In perspective of what was first
  yet to come from them over the next several years, you might call this
  otherwise simple song yet another clue to the one of several new 
  directions.



Regards,
Alan (awp@bitstream.com *OR* uunet!huxley!awp)


---
"Oh, you can come off it with us."	            		100592#67
---

                Copyright (c) 1992 by Alan W. Pollack
                          All Rights Reserved

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Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles