Notes on "All Together Now" (ATN)

KEY	G Major
METER	4/4
FORM	Intro -> Verse -> Verse -> Bridge -> Refrain ->
            Verse -> Refrain -> Refrain ->
                Bridge -> Refrain Refrain -> Outro (w/complete ending)

GENERAL POINTS OF INTEREST

Style and Form

- As it is with many another among the finest examples of classic entertainment for tots, this song draws a casually artful balance between its childlike core values and a non-trivial amount of sophisticated detail thrown in to maintain the interest of the so-called grown ups in the peanut gallery.

- The list of such twists includes sharp syncopation, uneven phrasing, surprising wordplay, and an unpredictable form.

- They do a wonderful job of projecting the illusion that the song is almost being made up from scratch, just for you, and in real time. The impromptu clowning around that you encounter on the surface, though, is surely belied by a smoothness of execution that is one of the great Beatles hallmarks.

- The form defies easy classification among the more typical pop or folk models we're used to finding. The first part is standard enough, with two verses for starters followed by a bridge and refrain. The follow up with a single verse followed by two refrains (and no intervening bridge), then a bridge (with no preceding verse) followed by close-to three refrains in a row is where it gets dicey.

Melody and Harmony

- The tune stays in a constricted range and is set syllabically like a patter song. The talky effect extends into the half-sung antiphonal parts for backing vocals in the bridge and refrain sections.

- Harmony doesn't get much easier than I, IV, V.

Arrangement

- The broad outlines of the arrangement are carefully coreographed with only the most superficial of the special effects left somewhat to chance:

Intro: Acoustic guitar

Verse 1: Add single tracked McCartney

Verse 2: Add either a ukelele or mandolin

Bridge: Add bass, drum set, and backing Beatles; drop Paul

Refrain 1: Add fuller "chorus," harmonica, and percussion/bells

Verse 3: Full instrumental backing, restore Paul vocal solo

Refrain 2,3: This time add "honkers"

Bridge: Same as before

Refrain 4,5: Add handclaps in #5

Outro: Note the honker on the trailing edge

SECTION-BY-SECTION WALKTHROUGH

Intro

- The intro provides 8 full measures of the I chord preceded by a two beat syncopated pickup from below:

            3  4 1 2 3 4 ...
            F# G|G	|...
G:		 I

- The F# chord chord is merely an appopgiatura and deserves no Roman numeral of its own. The effect is reminiscent of the opening of "The Night Before."

Verse

- The verse is a straightforward eight measures in length, closed in harmonic shape, and uses just two chords:



        |G	|-	|D	|-	|
         I		 V

                      4  1 2 3 4 1
        |G	|-    D	|-     G|-	|
         I	      V	       I

- The syncopation at the end of measure 6 breaks up impending monotony and is nicely synchronized with the apex of the tune. Even when dealing with a melodic range of four notes, Paul ends up creating something that still has an arch-like shape.

Bridge

- The bridge is an asymmetrical ten measures long. This time, the melodic shape of an upward vector, the final phrase of which is rhetorically extended two extra measures:

        |C	|-	|G	|-	|
         IV		 I

        |C	|-	|D	|-	|-	|-	|
         IV		 V

- All three chords appear now, and the harmonic shape of the section is open at both ends; starting on IV and ending with the melodic climax on V. The final vocal phrase (in measure 8) is syncopated in another gesture toward avoiding tedium.

Refrain

- The refrain is, again, a four-square eight measures long, using two chords, and a closed harmonic shape. Again, as well, the tune describes an arch shape in spite of its narrow range.

        |G	|-	|-	|-	|
         I


        |D	|-	|G	|-	|
         V		 I

Outro

- The ending features one of those three-strikes-you're-out gambits much favored by the Beatles. With the tempo suddenly picking up speed, what starts off as an unusual third consecutive repeat of the refrain is modified in the fifth measure to provide a complete ending with a big V -> I finish.


        |G	|-	|-	|-	|
         I


        |D	|-	|-	|-	|
         V


        |G	|-	|-	|-	|
         I

- The message that we're getting very near the end is subliminally telegraphed by the way in which the harmonic rhythm sudden slows down right in the face of the otherwise hurtling backbeat.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

- When *I* was a boy, grandma taught me a song that whose lyrics uncannily resonate with the subject of our current study. It started off something like this:

One, two, buckle my shoe.
Three, four, open the door.
Five, six, pick-up sticks.
... and blah, blah, blah.

- At risk of appearing sex-obsessed, I can report that MY song didn't contain any lines that were as ambiguously suggestive as the musical question, "can I take my friend to bed?" Then again, maybe I'm just one of the older generation leading this country to galloping ruin; or perhaps, more accurately, I'm preferring that my grandma had been.

Regards,

Alan (awp@world.std.com)

---
"He's very clean."                                          112298#158
---



                Copyright (c) 1998 by Alan W. Pollack
                          All Rights Reserved

This article may be reproduced, retransmitted, redistributed and otherwise propagated at will, provided that this notice remains intact and in place.

Ook op Yellow Submarine:

Chords	Notes On
Yellow Submarine	Yellow Submarine
Only a Northern Song	Only a Northern Song
All Together Now	All Together Now
Hey Bulldog	Hey Bulldog
It's All Too Much	It's All Too Much
All You Need Is Love	All You Need Is Love
Pepperland
Sea of Time
Sea of Holes
Sea of Monsters
March of the Meanies
Pepperland Laid Waste
Yellow Submarine in Pepperland

Ook op Yellow Submarine Soundtrack:

Chords	Notes On
Yellow Submarine	Yellow Submarine
Hey Bulldog	Hey Bulldog
Eleanor Rigby	Eleanor Rigby
Love You Too	Love You Too
All Together Now	All Together Now
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds	Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
Think for Yourself	Think for Yourself
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
With a Little Help from My Friends	With a Little Help from My Friends
Baby You're a Rich Man	Baby You're a Rich Man
Only a Northern Song	Only a Northern Song
All You Need Is Love	All You Need Is Love
When I'm Sixty-Four	When I'm Sixty-Four
Nowhere Man	Nowhere Man
It's All Too Much	It's All Too Much