Intro
- In context of the album, you experience this intro as though it is literally *on* the boundary between the title track and our current song. It's only in consideration of the way this phrase recurs for the outro that makes you realize how it really *is* part of the current song; oh, you never noticed this outro repeats at the end? :-)
|C |D |E |- |
E: flat-VI flat-VII I
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Verse
- The verse is eight measures long and consists of a single phrase repeated twice:
------------------------------ 2X -------------------------------
|E B |f# |- B |E |
I V ii V I
- The prominent bassline prances around all over the place, but never so much that you lose your clear sense of the simple harmony outlined above.
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Refrain
- The first refrain is eight measures long and consists of a short, 2-measure phrase repeated VERBATIM three times in a row, followed by a final two measures without voices; the latter, well needed in order to balance out the effect of the three-time literal repeat:
--------------- 3X --------------
|D A |E |B |- |
flat-VII IV I V
- The subsequent refrains omit the final two measures, at which point, it is more important to keep the pace going than to provide an oasis from possible over-repetition.
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Bridge
- The bridge finally opens up the melodic range dramatically ("could it BE anybody) and provides something akin to a hinted-at modulation in order to relieve the tedium of being tightly tethered to the key of E:
------------------------------- 2X ------------------------------
|c# |F# |E D |A |
ii V-of-V I flat-VII IV
- The hint of a modulation is toward the key of V (B Major), though if you've been following our studies, it should come as no surprise to find the Beatles leaving a V-of-V chord begging (on my bended knees) for some kind of fulfillment, only to be deferred.
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Outro
- The outro splices one last iteration of the reprise to a disguised repeat of the intro:
|D |A |C |D |E |
flat-VII IV flat-VI flat-VII I
- The move from A to C provides a nice cross-relation, and overall, the modal shift at the very end here is welcome in light of the way in which most of the body of the song is so tightly bound to E Major.
- The presentation of the final three chords in 6/4 ("second inversion") is a novel touch.