"Because" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and recorded by The Beatles in 1969. It features a prominent three-part vocal harmony by Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison, overdubbed three times to make nine voices in all. It first appeared on Abbey Road (1969), immediately preceding the extended medley on side two of the record.
[edit] Composition
The song begins with a distinctive electric harpsichord intro played by producer George Martin. The harpsichord is joined by Lennon's guitar (mimicking the harpsichord line) played through a Leslie speaker. Vocals and bass guitar enter in what Alan Pollack refers to as the "mini-bridge."
The song was one of few Beatles recordings to feature a Moog synthesiser. The group were among the first in contemporary rock & roll to experiment with a Moog, though the instrument had been used before (notably by bands such as The Doors, Simon & Garfunkel and The Rolling Stones). According to Lennon, the song's close musical resemblance to Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" was no coincidence: "Yoko was playing Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' on the piano ... I said, 'Can you play those chords backwards?', and wrote 'Because' around them. The lyrics speak for themselves ... No imagery, no obscure references."
[edit] Musical Structure
With regard to the controversy Lennon initiated by citing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" as an inspiration, Everett notes that "both arpeggiate traids and seventh chords in C# minor in the baritone range of a keyboard instrument at a slow tempo, move through the submediant to ♭II and approach vii dim 7/IV via a common tone."[4] One similarity is that 'Because' which also is in C#, opens with a ♭VI (A chord on ..."cause"), moves to a i chord (C#m on "wind") then the ♭VI7 (A7 on 'high") before shifting to a ♭ii dim (D dim) on "love is old love is new (IV-F#). The third measure of the Moonlight Sonata does have this ♭VI (A Chord) to ♭II (D/F# chord) move, but Pedlar notes that this is not an inspiration happening through reversal as Lennon suggested.[5] One of the most fascinating features of 'Because' is that it concludes with a vocal fade out on Dm, which keeps us in suspense as we wait for the return to the home key of C#. Mellers states that: "causality is released and there is no before and no after: because that flat supertonic is a moment of revelation, it needs no resolution."[6] The D dim chord (and its accompanying melodic F natural) lingers until they resolve into the opening Am chord of "You Never Give Me Your Money" so that the Dm in retrospect was operating as a vii dim 7 of Am.[7]
[edit] Recording
The main recording session for "Because" was on 1 August 1969, with vocal overdubs on 4 August, and a Moog synthesiser overdub by Harrison on 5 August. As a result, this was the last song on the album to be committed to tape, although there were still overdubs for other incomplete songs. Versions of the song, without instrumentation, can be found on 1997's Anthology 3 and 2006's Love. Both versions highlight the three part harmony by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, though the Love version is slowed down and includes overdubbed birdsong.
[edit] Personnel
- John Lennon – triple-tracked lead harmony vocals (middle register), lead and rhythm guitars
- Paul McCartney – triple-tracked second harmony vocals (high register), bass
- George Harrison – triple-tracked third harmony vocals (low register), double-tracked Moog synthesiser
- George Martin – electric spinet Baldwin harpsichord
- Personnel per Ian MacDonald
[edit] Cover versions
- ^ Walter Everett. The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology Oxford University Press, Oxford 1999. pp259-260
- ^ Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. pp428-433
- ^ Wilfred Mellers. Twilight of the Gods: The Music of the Beatles. Schirmer/Macmillan 1973. p 118
- ^ Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. p426.
[edit] References
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