Whenever I talk about the Beatles. I need to talk about the middle section of “here comes the sun” you know that song that your mother sings. That happy little meadow frolick.
It is one of the most beautiful songs I know. With amazing flourishes such as counterpointed melodies and one of the best ear bug riff hooks in the hstory of rock n roll. “dootindoodoo”
Yea you know it.
but what’s up with the middle section?
It’s heavy that’s what. Divinely heavy.
It takes you from the mountain meadow and then hits you an 11/8 section that feels like 3 hits of 2/8 followed by a hit of 2/8.
Rhythmicaly its sort of like crashing into a wall. It’s a rapid deceleration. from 4 into compressed 3 than 2.
It’s a stumble.
It’s like you are running through the meadow but then you stumble on a root. There are deeper roots within the mountain meadow.
It goes boom boom boom boom boom boom
Then let’s you off into 4/4 again but then again.
boom boom boom boom boom
Are they lulling you int to hit you?
Abbey road was a hit. It was a heavy hit.
They weren’t credited with defining the term “heavy” as a musical form, but they were credited with making “heavy” very popular by using it in the lyrics on that album.
But what is heavier about the beatles than that is the fact that they took their fans from an era of lollipop teen girl love songs into a realm that included “heaviness”
Not just lyrically but musically.
Abbey Road, musically has two sweeet songs. But otherwise the music is a brooding emtional roller coaster. I am not saying that it conveys negativity. It conveys complexity. Going from “Mean Mr Mustard” to “Polythene Pam” to “She came in through the Bathroom Window” to “Golden Slumbers” is a RIDE.
That is why I consider the Beatles to contain an early form of heaviness.
They are considered to have influenced bands that came later as being truly heavy or hard. I can see that. Because they were breaking the mold from teenybop to music that gave a truer range of emotions. And they were not afraid to go dark.
I have attached here a link to the entire abbey road album in one video. I like this link because to understand how the albym moves you through styles and emotions it is important to listen to the whole thing and experience the transitions between songs.
They feature transitions within songs but there is also a transitioning affect from track to track that only really shows when you listen to large sections of the album and see how the songs run into each other.
