Part 1 - The Beatles’ Songwriting: The Past to the Present and Future
“I don’t know if anyone knows this about me but when I wrote The Fame I listened to the Beatles’ Abbey Road obsessively. I had it on repeat for probably about six months. It’s so incredibly brilliant - an innate sense of joy - they really had that down. It’s full of joy with a hat of tips to the melancholy” - Lady Gaga (Ditzian 2009)
Quotes of similar substance, dating all the way back to 1962, can be found countless times spoken from hugely successful artists like Gaga. I find myself in conversations weekly as a 21-year-old college girl about the Beatles. It’s 2024. Reflecting upon this realization, I am so pleasantly surprised that I am able to have sophisticated discussions about my favorite band with my middle school brother, friends my age, elders, and complete strangers. To me, the most intriguing aspect of the everlasting buzz surrounding the Beatles is how their songwriting techniques have found their way into so many records beyond their time as a group. Did The Beatles create the blueprint for songwriting in contemporary pop music? Welcome back bloggers, to get anywhere near an answer to this question it feels appropriate that we investigate their songwriting as it was established in the 1960s, how it immersed itself up to the present day, and what shape it will take in our future as music lovers.
In an attempt to understand the guts of their songwriting methods, we must go back to the beginning of The Beatles. “Love Me Do” was released in the United Kingdom on October 5th, 1962 marking the beginning of an era. This would be the first of many Lennon-McCartney compositions that took the world by storm. Paul McCartney wrote the verse and chorus while John Lennon produced the bridge. There is an undeniable magic about the chemistry between these two Beatles concerning the songs they cranked out together. These co-writers are unquestionably a core reason for the group’s success. In response to a statement by Sean Lennon, John’s son, about how he didn’t view his father as a “true musician,” McCartney confesses,” I don’t think any of us were, tell you the truth. And I think that was a very good, strong thing about us actually”(Behr 2020). Here Paul can recognize that one of the things that made their songs so great was their pure innocent love for just playing together and being less focused on fame and money. Especially in the early years of the Beatles, their success is hugely based on their authenticity felt by the fans and cheery songs; a product of the Lennon-McCartney effect. Zooming in on the lyrics of their very first single “Love Me Do,” there lies a brilliant simplicity that captured hearts across the world.
“Love, love me do
You know I love you
I’ll always be true
So please, love me do”
-The Beatles
A huge element of their songwriting that can be seen over and over again is the fact that they don’t waste time. They don’t have three-minute instrumental intros like Pink Floyd. They cut right to the chase. In the song “I’ve Just Seen a Face” on the Hard Day’s Night album, George Harrison’s guitar riff lasts no more than ten seconds. Many times they just start the song right off with a chorus like in “Eleanor Rigby.” Averaging about two and a half minutes per song, this short but sweet technique used by the Fab Four keeps their listeners engaged. There are times when I have found myself skipping a song at the point of a guitar solo that disinterests me. With packing layers of vocals, guitar, piano, orchestra, backup vocals, and more into these few-minute songs the listener can go back and hear new things that they might not have previously. The Beatles were good about knowing what to include, what not to include, and when to cut it off when it came to adding creative elements to their music.
A final important factor of their songwriting was how they allowed their style to grow through experimentation. Starting with the album Rubber Soul, there is an edgy, suave, almost psychedelic element added to their craft. This makes sense because at this point drug experimentation and their exponential rise to fame can be heard in the guitar tone, lyrics, and pace in songs like “Michelle” to which Paul reveals later that he used that melody originally to attract girls at parties. Then albums like Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Magical Mystery Tour they expand their range. Even more psychedelic sounds, wacky stories, and characters are built through their songwriting. Around the time of these albums the group had traveled to East Asia, become worldwide celebrities, and no doubt were pushing the limits of what they were capable of musically. It truly shows in their music. They were constantly trying new things while keeping their core principles at heart and I think Beatles fans really supported that. This experimentation brought surprises with each new release. It was sort of like: what will they do next?
Until there was no next and the band parted ways in 1969; never to get back together. Nevertheless, their style and sound show up in the works of many artists after their split. There are a few stories I am going to share that show the ways the Beatles were able to engrain their techniques in the minds of so many incredible musicians. First, in an interview with The Times of London, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys admits, “‘Norweigan Wood’ is my favorite, too. The lyrics are so good and creative… I can’t forget the sitar, too, I’d never heard that before, that unbelievable sound”(Mastropolo 2014). Wilson verbalizes his respect for the clever lyrics and use of foreign instruments, like the sitar, in one of their earliest albums. The Beach Boys, who embody a similar type of image and sound as The Beatles, were definitely influenced by the group. Their early albums are full of cheery, beachy songs but Pet Sounds includes a lot of instrumental experimentation; surely a result of Wilson’s admiration. Next, in an interview with the Republican, Billy Joel talks about his hit song “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” and how it originally began as one song and ended up being a three-piece composition. Joel reveals, “It was kind of based on side two of Abbey Road. I think the Beatles all came in with individual song fragments and George Martin helped them sew it all together. It’s looked on now as a work of genius but I said, ‘I know what happened. They didn’t finish the songs, they didn’t feel like it, and George Martin said, ‘Why don’t we do this?’ and then they called it ‘Golden Slumbers’” (Mastropolo 2014). Just like The Beatles were able to collaborate so well with different creative visions like Lennon and McCartney, Billy Joel finds himself in a similar position piecing together three different demos. Experimenting with those different melodies and seeking what they could sound like together was very Beatle-esque of Joel. Then finally, going back to Lady Gaga’s quote that kicked off this whole investigation, she talks about the joy and melancholy present in The Beatles music sometimes even in the same song. Their ability to really spend a lot of time crafting the lyrics of their songs is something that she admits they were good at. Lyrics first, the music followed. Gaga’s The Fame which came out in August of 2009 carries elements of strong lyric writing which she hints came from her Beatles inspiration.
Since 2009, Paul McCartney has released four solo albums and Ringo Starr has released five. Unfortunately with the murder of John Lennon in 1980 and the passing of George Harrison in 2001, the world has been deprived of a new Beatles song for almost thirty years. Why thirty years and not fifty? Well, in the ’90s, Paul, Ringo, and George came together to finish a few of their incomplete songs to include on their Anthology albums. “Free As a Bird" and “Real Love” were the two additions to their discography. The interesting thing about these songs is that they used John Lennon’s old demos to make it happen. Paul was able to mimic John’s voice filling in the gaps due to unclear and scratchy vocals on these ancient demo recordings. What joy! The world was then blessed once again this past October in 2023 with the release of the final Beatles song “Now and Then” which follows the same concept of pulling vocals and instrumentals from the Beatles who are no longer with us.
“Now and then
I miss you
Oh, now and then
I want you to be there for me
Always to return to me”
-The Beatles
This time, Paul, Ringo, and other producers used a new technique to complete John Lennon’s voice from the demo tapes… AI. Paul McCartney publicized, “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI, so that then we could mix the record as you would normally do. It gives you some sort of leeway” (Reid 2023). Classic Beatles experimenting with technology in their music! With only the best intentions of course, Paul and Ringo have made the leap in using artificial intelligence as a music production tool for so many musicians globally. What does this mean for the future of songwriting and producing? My hope is that artists can find a smart balance between the amount of AI versus the amount of human creativity in their work. This example is super minimal in terms of AI involvement but their stamp of approval for using this aid on their final song as a group sets the tone for already existing artists, those on the rise, and those who are to come.
Personally, I think that the addition of AI in “Now and Then” was a perfect mic drop. The Beatles really have done it all. They upheld their core styles to the end: openness to trying new music processes, keeping the McCartney-Lennon magic alive in recent works, sticking to their flawless song lengths, and the fabulously simple yet catchy lyrics. Even with the loss of two members, they continue to leave such a great impact on the music lovers of the world but most importantly the living artists who will carry on their legacy in bits and pieces. The day that Paul and Ringo pass (which I refuse to accept will happen one day), is far from the end of their journey on this Earth. They set the stage for what it means to be great songwriters and we’ve seen the evidence of its manifestation in succeeding artists. I am so excited to see what is in store for the future of the Beatles community but I know it will be nothing short of magic! Let me know what you think in the comments below or reach out. Over and out.
Part 2 - Genre
Ironically, in my free time recently I have been reading loads of blog posts. My mom used to have a blog from 2008 to 2013. I would always frequent this website to find old photos quickly because they are organized by date. This month my trips to her page have been for a different purpose. I have grown fond of the substance of writing accompanying my favorite childhood photos. It had brought me so much joy reading from her perspective on all events in my childhood life, our family, or anything that interested her as a young thirty-year-old mom. This is the reason I chose to write a blog post for this project. A wonderful time capsule of memories. One of my favorite posts that she wrote about me goes like this:
“Our first born is headed to kindergarten in 11 days. It is going to be bittersweet. Today her school held a Kindergarten Play Day at our park for families to meet each other and for her to meet all the kids in her class. Presley is the most social kid I know but today she was anything but. Everytime we met someone she was like, ‘Great, move on to the swing Mom!’ She wanted no part of finding her classmates who were all wearing yellow fish nametags. When we left I asked her why she wasn't very friendly and excited about meeting her new schoolmates and she responded, ‘Mommy, I was a little nervous.’ How sad!”
After reading this I roared with laughter. My poor mom was so worried about me making friends. It was hilarious to me reading it back because of how social I am now in my early twenties. Also because of how much of a “player” I was. I loved the playground and I loved the sports in elementary school. It turns out that everything worked out because I am here today in my senior year of college!
From my experience reading blog posts over the years, I have gathered that the language can be very informal, dramatic, and even cinematic (like story-telling). My mom uses her fantastic storytelling skills in the quote above. I knew immediately when I was going to write a piece on my favorite artist, The Beatles, I wanted a genre that would allow me to chat about them informally. The approach here was to be a blogger who frequently writes about music, solving and investigating questions or speculations around the subject. Blog posts are also not limited to any sort of word count or length. Although this assignment did have its limits, I had no issues trying to meet the word count but rather cut it down if I could.
The way I went about abiding by the conventions of a blog post was done through my set of mental requirements. I knew I wanted it to have some structure to keep things organized (I tend to go off on tangents speaking on The Beatles), I would allow myself to use first person singular nouns to express my opinions, and lastly I tried to push the boundaries of this informal writing so that my audience felt this writing was more of an open conversation for them to be a part of. For blog posts, audiences can range from benign super personal like friends and family to the general public or posters that have a large following meaning people all over the world as the reader. My mom’s blog is a great example of how many people used this tool in the 2000’s a time before social media. The topics were very social and informative. Her audience was only family and very close friends because the content was so personal. For my post, I knew that I wanted it to be geared towards very seasoned music lovers so that I wouldn’t have to waste time talking about any background information about The Beatles, relevant artists, or music terminology. This was super helpful for keeping my word count minimal. Additionally, I wanted to use language that carried an inviting tone for any reader to jump into the investigation with opinions of their own.
Overall, I think a blog post was the right call. I have always struggled with formal writing throughout school. Very harshly structured essays didn’t give me enough room to explain my point of view, scholarly language was hard for me to incorporate in writing because that wasn’t how I spoke to anyone, and the inability to show some personality in my academic pieces made me feel like I couldn’t be myself. I really enjoyed writing this post on The Beatles because although I already know so much about them (it’s ridiculous really) I got to learn even MORE that was truly fascinating. Billy Joel’s quote about Golden Slumber and how it related to “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” was mind-blowing because I love each song so greatly and had no idea that one influenced the other. I’ve been inspired to potentially start a blog of my own to keep my thoughts and memories in a place where I or my future kids can look back on in the future!
Works Cited
Behr, Adam. “Lennon–McCartney: Inside the Most Potent Songwriting Partnership in Pop Music.” The Wire, 14 October 2020. https://thewire.in/the-arts/beatles-john-lennon-paul-mccartney-songwriting
Ditzian, Eric. “Sorry, Lady Gaga, The Jonas Brothers Are Not The New Beatles.” MTV, 6 May 2009. https://www.mtv.com/news/yc4f40/sorry-lady-gaga-the-jonas-brothers-are-not-the-new-beatles
Mastropolo, Frank. “Top 11 Musicians Influenced by The Beatles.” Rock Cellar Magazine, 4 February 2014. https://rockcellarmagazine.com/top-11-musicians-influenced-by-the-beatles-50th-anniversary/
Reid, Jenni. “Paul McCartney says A.I. got John Lennon’s voice on ‘last Beatles record’.” CNBC, 13 June 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/13/paul-mccartney-says-ai-got-john-lennons-voice-on-last-beatles-record.html