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Any Time at All
Composer(s) : Lennon and McCartney
Year : 1963
Chords/Tabs: Any Time at All
Notes on "Any Time At All" (ATAA.1)
KEY D Major
METER 4/4
FORM Refrain -> Verse -> Refrain -> Verse ->
Refrain -> bridge -> Refrain -> Outro (w/complete ending)
GENERAL POINTS OF INTEREST
Style and Form
- "Any Time At All" (ATAA) is yet another one of those Beatles songs
that tends to get eclipsed by the more popular hits of its period, that
is still quite a pleasure to discover at whatever stage of your interest
in the group's music you eventually encounter it. It's also a fine
example of a song whose form and content on the surface seems so
straightforward and familiar, yet once you get past the surface glitz,
and the simpler pleasures, you find a wealth of more adventurous options
to be explored.
- I embarked on this series of articles fully expecting in short order
to stumble occasionally (if not quite repeatedly) into examples of
formulaic Beatles songwriting. But thus far, every one I've chosen
reveals its own variations, once we look at it carefully enough. I
am beginning to suspect that by the time we get through the entire
repertoire, we'll still not have come across too many songs in total
can be said to be playing it strictly by the so-called rules.
- In ATAA the form is conspicuously *not* a variation of the more familiar
one- or two-bridge models we've seen over and over again, and is noteworthy
on three counts:
- A frequently recurring refrain section dominates the song. This
folk ballad-like design, while a common enough device in other
pop and folk music and, is not often found in the early work of the Boys.
- The song contains only two verses. I assume that the doubled-up
length of the verses themselves, the number of repeats of the refrain,
and the peculiar placement of the bridge so close to the end of the
track all argue against inclusion of a late-breaking third verse.
- The bridge itself introduces new, unique material (though the melodic
material does link back to the appoggiatura stuff earlier), rather
than recycling material from the refrain or the verse as is more common.
- The two verses contain no lyrics that are repeated. Their rhyme scheme
using the 3rd and 6th line of each verse is novel.
- In context of the refrain's starting with a long pickup and the verse's
starting after the downbeat I think it's an effective (and not entirely
coincidental) twist that the instrumental section starts right ON the
downbeat. Note how much flatter the whole song sounds if the break
section simply opts for the same rhythmic gesture of either the verse
or refrain.
- It's a heavily syncopated little number. John sets the tone with his
downbeat melissma on the word "all" at the start of the refrain. This
answered in spades by the backing arrangement at the downbeat of the
following measure. Here we find the more gut wrenching of the two flavors
of syncopation that can occur on "4-AND;" i.e. the one that's *not* followed
by an explicit demarcation of the downbeat that follows. Compare this
with the similar
"When I Get Home." And contrast it to our recently
studied ISHKB and
"You Can't Do That" for examples where the downbeat
following syncopation on four-AND *is* marked out.
Melody and Harmony
- The tune is somewhat pentatonic and arch-shaped. It is even more
conspicuously shot through with appoggiaturas, enough so to bear
comparison with "We Can Work It Out."
- The harmony uses a small number of chords and hangs closely around
the home key. Beatles trademarks show up here in the prominence
given to both the vi -> I cadence (check out
"All I've Got to Do"
among others), and the chromatically descending bassline cliche.
Arrangement
- The backing track is for a combo of guitars, drums, and piano. The
is relatively thin, homogenized, and the recording (at least insofar
as we are currently stuck with nothing better than the mono version
on CD) is unfortunately noisy.
- John's double-tracked lead vocal rules unassisted except for Paul's
hocket-like provision of the second line of the refrain in place of
John. The latter creates a novel textural effect and at the same time
spares John from having to reach for a high 'A' that is out of his vocal
comfort range.
SECTION-BY-SECTION WALKTHROUGH
Refrain
- The track begins with a startling drum thwack on the *second* beat of the
measure, though where this thwack fits into the meter isn't quite clear
to the senses until you hear at least the next repeat of this refrain
in context.
- The refrain is a standard eight measure length and has a closed harmonic
shape. While the choice of chords is nothing unusual, take note of the
unusually varied harmonic rhythm, the several hard syncopations, and the
use of the vi-I progression at the outset; the latter an extreme favorite
of Lennon/McCartney.
|b |D |A |- |b |G A |D |- |
D: vi I V vi IV V I
- The tune is quite full of appoggiaturas; such juicy leaning tones may
be heard on each occurrence of the word "all" in this refrain, as well
as on the word "any" in measure 4, and the occurrence of "call" and "I'll".
The use of several bluesy f-naturals in the tune, which make for cross
relations with the f-sharps of the underlying chords, only serves to
enhance the effectiveness of the appoggiaturas.
- The tune is constructed out of several short interjectory phrases with
enough room between each of them for a series of antiphonal, commentary-like
obbligato figures in the guitar and bass parts. These phrases themselves
are noteworthy.
- The first one is a sort of mirror image of the first phrase of the tune.
The second one does a 4->3 leaning-tone turn around the note C# over the
A chord in measure 4. The last one, (G-F#-E-D--F#) at the very end of
the refrain, is not only also leaning-tone oriented, but is also a melodic
motif which reappears both at the end of the verse (still shyly in
the background), and later has the privilege of reappearing at the
climax of the bridge.
- Ringo appears to break the syncopation pattern in the second refrain
by marking the downbeat instead of avoiding it. My gut tells me this
was inattention to detail, not intentional avoidance of foolish consistency.
Verse
- The verse is an unusual fourteen measures long and, in spite of its
apparently lopsided 6 + 8 phrasing pattern, is built out of two repetitions
of the same phrase:
chords: |D |f# |b |g |D |A |
bassline: D C# B Bb A C#
D: I iii vi iv I V
|D |f# |b |g |D |A |D |- |
D C# B Bb A C# D
I iii vi iv I V I
- We have here an almost entirely chromatic walking bassline, which adds
a not unpleasant undertow to the chord progression. Note especially how
our example here of "the minor iv chord in a major key" is nicely motivated
by the movement of the bass.
- When the above phrase is repeated, the first measure of the second iteration
is elided to the last measure of the first one. Hmmm, the last time we
saw this special effect in these articles was in the verse section of
"It Won't Be Long",
which now that I think of it *also* has a chromatic
walking bassline; no coincidence that the same composer might be
involved, eh ?
Bridge
- The bridge is an unusual ten measures long:
------------- 2x --------------
top line: |G F# |E |
chord: |A b |A |
bassline: |E F# |G |
V4/3 vi4/3 V4/2
|G |A |G |A |D |- |
IV V IV V I
- Though we eventually find an effective release at the end of the bridge,
there is a high level of harmonic tension which accrues over most of its
duration, due to the repeated approach-avoidance maneuvering with the V
chord.
- The build toward a climax is ably abetted by the use of those slow triplets
in the lead part, so clearly a John Lennon trademark in so many songs. And
as mentioned earlier, the familiar little phrase from the accompaniment
to the verse, reveals another side to its character, so to speak, in
the passionate context in which it now reappears.
- The harmonic construction of the first two-measure phrase is based on
the contrary motion of the outer voices, which factor place the otherwise
garden variety 7th chords of that phrase appear in unusual inversions.
Outro
- The outro is a petit reprise of the last part of the final refrain
with a finishing flourish of guitar chords that sounds strangely
"flown in" from elsewhere in terms of its tone quality.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
- I suppose you might say that this is a very typical "John song" of the
period. Aside from whatever there is in the phatic subtext of both
the words or music that would lead you to make such a statement, there
is also the sheer number of compositional devices and tricks used in this
song, which could rightly be, described as some of his songwriting
trademarks.
- What truly raises the repeated use of such techniques over the course of
a career from mere mannerisms to the level of true elements of
personal style, is the historical context of continual maturation
and evolution in the music of the Beatles. For example, the walking
tenor-line in
"Dear Prudence" is, technically speaking, the same old
trick as it is here, but look at the difference between the two songs!
The same goes for the slow triplets in
"We Can Work it Out" or
"Don't Let Me Down".
But let's not get started on this sort of list right
here -- it's the sort of topic worthy of a sidebar article or more
in its own write.
- In terms of verbal theme ATAA turns out provide an uncanny mirror image of
what we saw in TYG. In both songs, there is someone who offers him or
herself up completely and unconditionally to support another should such
help be wanted or needed. The only real difference between them is in
the singer's point of view; here he is the offerer, and there he's the
receiver.
- The common denominator of the two songs rather casually provides food
for thought about just how it is that mutual love sometimes begins. John
seems to imply that when you offer emotional support to another who may
have never explicitly solicited it from you that this may yet turn out
to be a prime movement.
- Read the lyrics of both songs carefully: in neither case is it necessarily
true that the two people involved are aware of any mutual interest prior to
the offer of support. This raises the profound question of whether
love may indeed ignite based on this kind of sympathetic interest of
a 3rd party in absence of any pre-existing acquaintance or attraction.
Regards,
Alan (awp@world.std.com)
---
"Mind you, I stood up for you. I mean I wouldn't
have it." 103000#17.1
---
Copyright (c) 2000 by Alan W. Pollack
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