Amy I agree with you, this is a special song and marks a developmental point in their music. I can hear Dylan and the Everly brothers which isn’t unusual at this point but the rhythmic pulse provided by Ringos drums and the emphatic acoustic guitar strumming is bringing such a strong sense of movement that the syncopated vocal melody fits so perfectly. The chord changes which bring the changes to Bb and Eb still seem to flow as the rhythm dominates the harmonic changes. This is a magical quality of rock and roll, you use chords that are out of a perhaps parallel key and being such a percussive arrangement there is really no sustained harmony to clash with, you can just ride it through and then back to the Am. For me personally it took me forever to figure this song out. It opened up another world of possibilities. This period of the Beatles you can hear them subtly opening new horizons that they would continue to explore in later works. PS the movie is fantastic and essential to understanding the Beatles. This was a beautiful examination of this song, you widened and deepened my appreciation. Thanks.
The best word to describe this song is subdued as it’s meant to be a reflective forecast (which is the sophisticated part) and melancholic, emotional lament, it’s always been a favourite of mine since I first heard it (as the B-side to “Hard Days Night”).
This was the B side of’Hard days night’ I was moved by this song when I was a kid and it has stayed with me. For me the sophistication is in the vocal nuances and emotion that Paul and John produced. They definitely played to their own rules.
I always loved that A minor to A major tonal shift. I think it's very clever how Paul did that so effectively in this song. It really is a fun song to play on guitar. And as usual, awesome analysis! Peace
That was fun, Amy. The most fetching part of the song for me is how during Paul's solo vocal, I am anticipating the harmony to come, and when it does, it feels SO good!
I’ve actually felt and thought the same….walking on campus in 1969 and seeing my shadow and realizing how happy I was to be alive at that time. And thinking to myself that when I was old (like now) and perhaps wishing I were young again, to remind myself of how I felt then, and that being old now was the trade-off, and to be content with that. I’ve had reason to revisit that thought several times, and it works. Being a young woman back in that moment of time and place (Boulder, Colorado) was a joy.
I was walking across campus about a month ago and looked down at my shadow and thought, "Damn! Your hair is too long!" - and I made a hard left turn to the SuperCuts Store and told the woman:"Chop off three inches!" And she did! True story, that.
@@splitimage137. 😂. Helene here. Here I was all metaphysical about it and you got a haircut! My hair was down to my waist and blowing in the breeze….and I saw my that in my shadow and just thought how great it was to be young and alive right then.
When the Beatles were due to record another album, lennon and maccartney would sit down and listen to the previous one all the way through and talk about how to make the next one a progression from the last. ‘Every time, we knew what to do’, maccartney has said.
this early song is a good example of how interesting the Beatles' song writing was compared to their contemporaries, and really very much since. People often overlook their early songs because so much greatness followed
In an interview done not long after the album's release - it's somewhere on yt - Paul was happy to mention that he'd used a new chord on this song and felt rather pleased with the result.
The complex qualities that you've found in this song are the essence of the Beatles appeal...their body of work as a whole puts the listener through those changes.
Very insightful review. I love your impression of the wind swaying the trees in a cold pine forest. There is indeed something bleak about this. The future-nostalgia is completely unsentimenal. BTW "they have evergreens in England." "Sure, but i was thinking of a northern forest." Well, the Beatles toured Scotland and John had family in Edinburgh and in the far northwest of the Highlands. Scotland lies on the same latitudes as Alaska, northern Canada and parts of Norway, and there's plenty of evergreen forest, including remnant ancient Caledonian pine forest as well as thousands of sq mi of Norway spruce. Just saying ;-)
My impression of the lyrics is that they are about getting past a rough period in a relationship. It puts whatever bad experience just happened into a long-term context, and affirms that the relationship will last a very long time, so that this little spat should not be regarded as the end. He is struggling against the feeling that it might be the end, or the beginning of the end.
A very enjoyable look into this song and what makes it so unique compared to their other songs so far. Your showing the unusual harmonic choices was interesting, and how it impacts the music, which in turn effects how we receive the lyrics, giving it a sense of a lament even though the words don't reflect that. Interesting description of it being minimalistic in an intentional masterful way. I am glad you enjoyed this one so much, even to the point of it now possibly being your favorite Beatles song you have heard so far. I also really like this one.
I was secretly hoping Amy would do this one. I think this song is an early inkling of their middle period. This song wouldn’t be too out of place on Rubber Soul imho
@@Hartlor_Tayley Yeah, I was really glad she did this one. Great observation on this being one that would fit well with Rubber Soul, so in that sense it is an early sign of the better stuff yet to come. Still have two more albums before Rubber Soul. You have some really good observations in your comment that Amy pinned.
@@LeeKennison well the mid sixties is like the Cambrian Explosion and by the late sixties everything is there for the next fifty years. This song is Paul song and I think this where Paul really starts emerging as a songwriter. I can hear his confidence. He brought complex emotions to a fairly simple and minimal folk rock song without over doing it. Restraint and focus, it would have been tempting to over do it here but he underplayed it. That’s what I think the main advancement is.
@@Hartlor_Tayley Yeah, I'm glad Amy is really starting to notice the Paul songs more. She first really started noticing when she did "And I Love Her", before that she tended to be more focused on Lennon. I have a feeling that the future Paul songs will be some of her favorites. I also think she is going to start to notice more the difference between how the two of them approach their songwriting, lyrically and musically. And there are still the great George Harrison songs she has yet to hear.
I love this reaction video. As the former reactions to Beatles songs from the A Hard Day's Night album, it gives me new insight although I know this song from old times. I always loved the lyrics and you noticed the lonely quality that goes so well with it. So well said! I also like that you see this song as so different from the other songs on the album. I hope you will treat also I'll Be Back, another gem on this album. Interesting chord progression, minimalist describes this proceeding so well. Lament is also a good word here. I'm looking forward to your next Beatles song reaction, whatever song you choose 👍🏻😃
I always thought Solitary Man by Neil Diamond and Bus Stop by the Hollies had a similar feel to Things We Said Today with their alternating minor chords in the verse followed by a soaring chorus. Those songs are great too, but came out a couple of years after Things We Said Today.
Thank you! This is my absolute favorite song by the Beatles and the Beatles is my absolute favorite band. In some of the songs from this time, I consider the context of the Viet Nam war and the draft, like with 'Please Mr. Postman' (their cover of the Marvelettes) -I think of a girl waiting for a letter from her soldier away at war, except the Beatles need to swap the roles. In 'Things We Said Today' -the young man is going away to war, his girl and he get married before he leaves (or at least exchange vows). Hard times of being apart are ahead, so they promise to think of each other and their vows (things we said today) and how, years from now, they'll look back on the profoundness of this moment. The lyric also drives the music, -the bridge (where the 'A' major comes in and the drums change and become more upbeat) is now and how they feel this day, then back to the 'A' minor for singing about the hard times ahead again and how sweet it will be when they're finally reunited. Listen to it again with this in mind and you might tear up a bit. I do. I think your analysis fits my interpretation very well. -When I play & sing this, only in the final verse, I change 'someday when we're dreaming, deep in love but not a lot to say' to someday when we're older, still deep in love...' -my wife likes the change as well.
Also an all time favourite song of mine. We all take each our personal meaning from songs. In a wider context, being drafted for the Vietnam War might not have become a theme of major impact in British society at that moment in time. In my interpretation, Paul is referring to him being away touring with the band (and having other girls), how to overcome this and deal with it in his relationship to Jane. A theme also touched upon in 'Wait' on Rubber Soul. Kind regards
If you enjoyed this I think you will also enjoy other versions Paul has done since then. Not for your channel necessarily, but for your own enjoyment I highly recommend a live version from 1990 which you'll find on the album "Tripping the Live Fantastic". I also think you might like the version they played on the 1991 MTV program "Unplugged". The former has a very ethereal guitar ending played by Robbie Macintosh, formerly of The Pretenders, who was in Paul's band at the time. The latter of course breaking it down into a more simplistic and intimate setting. As this is a song I like to play myself I learned a lot listening to your breakdown and wish that I had you as a teacher when I was a kid (only you weren't born yet) as that might have increased my love of music at an early age.
It wouldn't hurt to check out the harmonies of The Everly Brothers. McCartney said after the death of "one of his big heroes" Phil Everly, that on early Beatles songs he was playing the part of Phil, while John was Phil's brother Don. McCartney also mentions them in his song "Let 'Em In", and that the 1958 Everly Brothers song "All You Have To Do Is Dream" was a major influence.
Paul is doing both voices. He tends to do that more than John, who writes a number of songs where the others harmonize with him. Paul likes doing his own thing.
John does double tracking in nearly every song, its his trademark, because he disliked his voice. But yeah here it seems more as an extra voice. Beautiful harmonies.
Sir Paul McCartney reveals Shakespeare subconciously inspired Let It Be. Music is the frequency of the universe or frequency programming. Music influences our emotions, feelings, and behaviors. Thank you.
Having just celebrated our 49th anniversary this is an interesting song to contemplate. The love lasts longer than the memory which is becoming more problematic with age. Just the knowledge of what has gone before, more than the actual memory of it. Maybe Paul wasn't looking this far ahead!
Great reaction (although it's maddening you can't use the full songs any more). In the case of the Beatles, "sophistication" is all relative, and it's part of why tracking their career progression is so satisfying. IMO John and Paul both reached new heights of 'sophistication' relative to previous songwriting efforts on this album. John with "If I Fell" and "I'll Be Back" and Paul with this song and "And I Love Her". Paul was starting his 'progressive' period here, IMO -- stretching out and pushing his own boundaries. It's something you can track almost album by album to the very end of the Beatles. And yeah, there's a logic to all those chord changes that IMO is lacking in similar songs from Brian Wilson, who Paul was apparently following closely at the time. BTW, Amy -- this is a review I wish you had brought that fancy new piano into. It would have been a great way to show off those weird chord changes.
Amy, before saying it is minimalist and even in the good sense of the word, restore the simple truth that : -the verse is not only Am but alternate with a Em mixed with a G6 -the chorus : not C Bb F Bb but C C9 F Bb -the bridge : A D B7 E7, A D B7 Bb. You also seem perplexed between the listening and the transcription on the harp. I like a lot your videos and that is why I would also appreciate you exhibit critical thinking to your classic scores ! 😊
The other day I was thinking how much I love Side B of A Hard Day's Night. And it's I'll Be Back and Things We Said Today, the songs I like the most. A really haunting song indeed. Songs with a slow part and a fast part? Count me in!
Minimalism is definitely an important influence on rock music. Lots of repetition with subtle changes to wring the most out of each melody or musical idea... Classical music had become so advanced by the 1960s (essentially "anything goes") that lots of composers sought to simplify and re-ground themselves. The neoclassical trend, the miniature pieces of Anton Webern, and the new sonorism of the avant garde, with minimalism proper also being a clear force in the 1960s. As the reason why rock n roll became huge in a far more diverse range of possibilities, I figure The Beatles had earned their place within the Oxford Dictionary of Music, which credited their effectiveness as songwriters. And the new electronic musical capabilities were just as cutting edge in radio hits (the collage in "A Day in the Life," Beatles) as they were in academia (e.g. music concrete). One electronic composer was quoted as saying he was astonished in the 1960s to hear electronic effects in the newest Beatles hit of the type that he had been immersed in at his own lab!
@@dago87ablehaven't noticed that yet. I knew that the music stopped at the end of Good Day Sunshine , a first , but I'll take that point of interest from thee though I wouldn't trust bigsly! 😹
I think your score is wrong again at a crucial moment. I don’t hear the beautiful F key section as C - Bb - F - Bb; it’s C - C9 - F - Bb. The Beatles were so good at 9th chords.
@@jean-baptisteledent5202 I don’t read music but I do play the guitar, like the Beatles and like so many of our rock loving generation, which meant I had to develop a keen ear if I was to work out what the Beatles were doing with harmony that was so intoxicating. I’d like to see Amy working without a score and just with her ear.
@@davegrant7819 yes, by ear for me too and also because scores do not include tiny details of Beatles songs to manage their particular effect ! I would like also Amy to work on her ear more. Besides, I like her global analyses, her feelings to the songs
Amy, C C9 F B flat ! For the verse it alternates between Am and Em/G6 (not only a Am). FYI, not particularly for Things we said today we do not find in classical scores of the Beatles songs the tiny details drowned in the harmony which are necessary to reach their particular effect ! I noticed some inadequacies / mistakes for some of your videos using classical scores as for Can't buy me love, Imagine... But thank you for your global analysis !
I don't know if Paul McCartney was in a relationship with Jane Ashur when he wrote this song. But she certainly was the inspiration for most of his complex love songs, that dealt with ambiguity, irony and difficulty in communication within relationships.
I've heard Paul say that he is suspicious of formulas and never uses them. Sometimes he writes the music first, sometimes the lyrics first, sometimes they come together. And I've also heard him say that when he had a certain lyrical melody in his head, then he sat down and searched for the chords that were to go with them. He was talking about "Yesterday". That's what I think he did here also, hence the surprising chord changes.
The descent from the dominant subtonic to the fourth major flomgozzle is pure genius, likewise the harmonic dissonance of the glugsplutter juxtaposed with the fondonkular skizzleflomp... You don't see such depth in the Wiggles 😆
Is that a tritone substitution I see in the Bb7 at the end of the chorus, which is in A-major? It leads to an Am and not an A major, though, so maybe it's not functioning that way. My music theory isn't as solid as yours. Either way, I find a lot of Beatles songs are deceptively sophisticated (for pop music) or at least deceptively weird. Like, if you just listen to it, it sounds nice and interesting, but when you look at the music you realize they're doing really weird stuff. It's done so smoothly that you don't even really notice that they're doing something quite strange. I'm often left wondering, how did they come up with that, or even thinking, on paper, this should sound horrible, but it's actually really great. Huh. I attribute it to them (a) not having any formal training to the point where they couldn't even read music and (b) having played 8 hours a day for years learning to play everything under the sun. They subconciously absorbed all sorts of rock/blues/jazz theory without knowing the formal words and rules, to the point where they could mix and match in smooth and creative ways.
If Amy thinks this song has an unusual mix of notes and chord changes that break the rules, I would love to someday hear her react to Girl From Ipanema.
The opening acoustic guitar phrase reminds me a bit of the opening to The Cure's The Blood. Has a certain classical Spanish guitar feel to it, whereas the main melodic line is almost as you say a chant, a Gregorian chant. I wonder if anyone's covered it that way. Can't wait till you get to Rubber Soul which as I'm sure you keep reading it when they really came into their own as a compositional powerhouse. Except the last song on it, which you'll understand when you hear it. But the Beatles, while they started out and basically ended as a rock band (which you'll realize when you finally get to their masterpiece Abbey Road and can't wait till your reaction to Because for reasons that you will also understand), were so much more than that, incorporating so many other genres and sensibilities into their all too short career as a recording band. Quite possibly the first progressive rock band.
Yes a beautiful song which came out just after the Beatles Aint She Sweet as I recall. Composed in the virgin islands by a nostalgic McCartney for Jane who was with him. It was melodically complex at the time using jazz and classical chords somewhat and presaged Rubber Soul. Its complex structure became famous after Alan W Pollack called it an exotic Phrygian mode. Ha ha it rivals them Aeolian cadences of Not A Second Time ! 🤡💈🔥
25:20 The word that you're looking for is "rocking". If you listen to the Beatles live at the Hollywood Bowl, you can hear all the girls in the audience starting to scream when they change to this jubilant A major chord. It really worked: ruclips.net/video/VTx4cTRMJtg/видео.html
Paul always had this gift to look to the future when writing his lyrics. Another great example is "When I'm 62"" Today, I guess he would rather have wanted to call it "When I'm 102", but that would not have fitted into that music rif.😂
It will be so interesting when you get to the truly legendary Beatles compositions further down the line, the songs that changed the world. Sgt. Pepper should be your first video that involves listening to a whole album as one rather than just a song.
@@beatlemaniacwaltdisneyfan4753there are masterpieces on all their albums and I do wish George Martin had broke that alternating pattern of leaving their songs off every second album by including Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane! 🌈🤡
I've heard that Bob Dylan told them they sounded great but needed to say something more than the early poppy dance songs. So, he turned them onto more serious music...folk music. So they began to produce folky sounding songs and the early teenie bopper stuff was gone. In fact to me they had three phases...1. pop/dance songs, 2, folk/rock songs, 3, psychadelic with elements of 1 and 2, and orchastra added in by Paul and George Martin.........
Make no mistake, this album was a huge step forward. Twelve songs out of 13 that are really strong. Then each subsequent album gets better, you could make that argument.
@@beatlemaniacwaltdisneyfan4753oh I don't know:- I Want To Hold Your Hand , Sure To Fall ( In Love With You ) , I'll Be On My Way , P.S. I Love You , Keep Your Hands Off My Baby , Thank Your Girl , Baby It's You and Ask Me Why sound rather boy bandish to me but okay. Cheers 😹
The B-flat makes more sense on the guitar. C is of course the relative major to A minor, and on the guitar the natural chord progression from C is either to G and D or to F and B-flat. F and B-flat go naturally with A minor, while G and D go with E minor in many folk songs.
She missed the chords during the verses which bounce between Am to Em7 and the Some day when I'm lonely.. the chords are Cmajor to C9 not B flat. The Bflat sounded off when she plays it after Cmajor.
Does that B flat before the Am tonic count as a Neapolitan chord? That switch from the minor tonic to a concluding major tonic has a special name too but I can't remember what it is. Some other bands like the Zombies also liked to use that.
Please try another Radiohead song. You won’t regret it: Paranoid Android Everything in its right place How to disappear completely Pyramid song 15 step Weird fishes Jigsaw falling into place And many others
Qué buena canción es Thing We said... Tiene el sello especial de energía beatle que hace soñar... A mi parecer te estás deteniendo, Amy, demasiado tiempo en estos tempranos albumes de los Beatles, pero es solo mi opinión. Soy un seguidor de los Beatles desde la infancia y, aunque sigo valorando mucho esta su primera música, mi favorita es la época psicodélica, desde Rubber Soul hasta el White Album. Te queda mucho hasta llegar allí...Contando con que vas a tratar un númro limitado de canciones (150) y el tiempo es limitado. Está bien lo que haces de todas formas, son canciones preciosas todas estas primeras (aunque yo no me hubiera detenido en I'm Happy just to Dance with You, o Tell Me Why, mientras pasabas por alto una favorita de muchos: Not a Second Time, al menos no está en youytube) . No te olvides de You Can't do That por favor, ya que te pones...jeje...I'll Be Back también es muy bonita; Y When I Get Home es una de las originales de John que me encantan. ¡Así que al final te doy la razón! casi todas molan. Gracias.
I don't think so. It was in the first half of 1964 and at this point the Vietnam war was not so much in the news yet here in Europe. It became a big thing more in 1965/66
The Beatles cover of Twist & Shout is iconic. Repeatedly using it as an example of their worst recording shows your lack of understanding of rock music.
You music lens of old time rock and Roll is subjective. It is an iconic cover that will stand the test of time in the historical significance of pop music. But when a trained musician hears this song, I can understand her example of barebones raw unsophisticated material that she hears in this Beatles cover. They would of course later on, produce timeless masterpieces. The Beatles journey that Virgin Rocks makes is significant and in itself is very profound to the learned and noobies that have no idea about the greatness of Beatles and the intricacies of rock & pop music. I truly am enjoying "every little thing she does".😊
I think you contradict yourself a wee bit there Amy; after all I think you’re describing a rather sophisticated piece of music, at least in some sense.
She can't play the music on RUclips because of copyright strikes, whatever they are. She says it could cause RUclips to shut the channel down. Other reaction videomakers are not affected in this way, and I suppose it's because the people who make them are not musically educated, so they're not analyzing the music.
@@bobtaylor170no not so - she used to play it others still do including Call Me Carolina a musician , songwriter and performer, Let's be honest it's the moolah! 🤡
Amy I agree with you, this is a special song and marks a developmental point in their music. I can hear Dylan and the Everly brothers which isn’t unusual at this point but the rhythmic pulse provided by Ringos drums and the emphatic acoustic guitar strumming is bringing such a strong sense of movement that the syncopated vocal melody fits so perfectly. The chord changes which bring the changes to Bb and Eb still seem to flow as the rhythm dominates the harmonic changes. This is a magical quality of rock and roll, you use chords that are out of a perhaps parallel key and being such a percussive arrangement there is really no sustained harmony to clash with, you can just ride it through and then back to the Am. For me personally it took me forever to figure this song out. It opened up another world of possibilities. This period of the Beatles you can hear them subtly opening new horizons that they would continue to explore in later works. PS the movie is fantastic and essential to understanding the Beatles. This was a beautiful examination of this song, you widened and deepened my appreciation. Thanks.
Some really good observations Hartlor.👍
@@LeeKennison thanks Lee.
The best word to describe this song is subdued as it’s meant to be a reflective forecast (which is the sophisticated part) and melancholic, emotional lament, it’s always been a favourite of mine since I first heard it (as the B-side to “Hard Days Night”).
Your comments are right on. For me this is one of the most haunting Beatles songs. It is filled with lamentation.
It's the only Beatles song Bob Dylan covered that I know of
This was the B side of’Hard days night’ I was moved by this song when I was a kid and it has stayed with me. For me the sophistication is in the vocal nuances and emotion that Paul and John produced. They definitely played to their own rules.
I always loved that A minor to A major tonal shift. I think it's very clever how Paul did that so effectively in this song. It really is a fun song to play on guitar. And as usual, awesome analysis!
Peace
That was fun, Amy. The most fetching part of the song for me is how during Paul's solo vocal, I am anticipating the harmony to come, and when it does, it feels SO good!
It's fascinatibg that you like this song so much. When Bob Dylan was asked to record a song for a McCartney tribute album, Dylan chose this one.
I’ve actually felt and thought the same….walking on campus in 1969 and seeing my shadow and realizing how happy I was to be alive at that time. And thinking to myself that when I was old (like now) and perhaps wishing I were young again, to remind myself of how I felt then, and that being old now was the trade-off, and to be content with that. I’ve had reason to revisit that thought several times, and it works. Being a young woman back in that moment of time and place (Boulder, Colorado) was a joy.
I was walking across campus about a month ago and looked down at my shadow and thought, "Damn! Your hair is too long!" - and I made a hard left turn to the SuperCuts Store and told the woman:"Chop off three inches!" And she did! True story, that.
@@splitimage137. 😂. Helene here. Here I was all metaphysical about it and you got a haircut! My hair was down to my waist and blowing in the breeze….and I saw my that in my shadow and just thought how great it was to be young and alive right then.
When the Beatles were due to record another album, lennon and maccartney would sit down and listen to the previous one all the way through and talk about how to make the next one a progression from the last. ‘Every time, we knew what to do’, maccartney has said.
That day Paul met John must have been something really special.
this early song is a good example of how interesting the Beatles' song writing was compared to their contemporaries, and really very much since. People often overlook their early songs because so much greatness followed
Later stuff is bloody overrated
This was the B-side to "A Hard Day's Night" and for me always one of their best.
The word I think of to describe the mood set in this is "wistful"
In an interview done not long after the album's release - it's somewhere on yt - Paul was happy to mention that he'd used a new chord on this song and felt rather pleased with the result.
Amy's voice is missing between the first and second playing of the song. Great review.
Yes. That's at 4:59
A simple song with an incredibly beautiful melody. McCartney has written a number of songs that can be described this way.
You might consider listening to John's "I'll Be Back" on this album. Beautiful and complex, and difficult to sing.
My favorite song on that album.
The complex qualities that you've found in this song are the essence of the Beatles appeal...their body of work as a whole puts the listener through those changes.
Very insightful review. I love your impression of the wind swaying the trees in a cold pine forest. There is indeed something bleak about this. The future-nostalgia is completely unsentimenal.
BTW "they have evergreens in England." "Sure, but i was thinking of a northern forest." Well, the Beatles toured Scotland and John had family in Edinburgh and in the far northwest of the Highlands. Scotland lies on the same latitudes as Alaska, northern Canada and parts of Norway, and there's plenty of evergreen forest, including remnant ancient Caledonian pine forest as well as thousands of sq mi of Norway spruce. Just saying ;-)
My impression of the lyrics is that they are about getting past a rough period in a relationship. It puts whatever bad experience just happened into a long-term context, and affirms that the relationship will last a very long time, so that this little spat should not be regarded as the end. He is struggling against the feeling that it might be the end, or the beginning of the end.
Great analysis!! this song almost makes me think that Paul sensed that something was amiss in the relationship but he didn't know what.
A very enjoyable look into this song and what makes it so unique compared to their other songs so far. Your showing the unusual harmonic choices was interesting, and how it impacts the music, which in turn effects how we receive the lyrics, giving it a sense of a lament even though the words don't reflect that. Interesting description of it being minimalistic in an intentional masterful way. I am glad you enjoyed this one so much, even to the point of it now possibly being your favorite Beatles song you have heard so far. I also really like this one.
I was secretly hoping Amy would do this one. I think this song is an early inkling of their middle period. This song wouldn’t be too out of place on Rubber Soul imho
@@Hartlor_Tayley Yeah, I was really glad she did this one. Great observation on this being one that would fit well with Rubber Soul, so in that sense it is an early sign of the better stuff yet to come. Still have two more albums before Rubber Soul. You have some really good observations in your comment that Amy pinned.
@@LeeKennison well the mid sixties is like the Cambrian Explosion and by the late sixties everything is there for the next fifty years. This song is Paul song and I think this where Paul really starts emerging as a songwriter. I can hear his confidence. He brought complex emotions to a fairly simple and minimal folk rock song without over doing it. Restraint and focus, it would have been tempting to over do it here but he underplayed it. That’s what I think the main advancement is.
@@Hartlor_Tayley Yeah, I'm glad Amy is really starting to notice the Paul songs more. She first really started noticing when she did "And I Love Her", before that she tended to be more focused on Lennon. I have a feeling that the future Paul songs will be some of her favorites. I also think she is going to start to notice more the difference between how the two of them approach their songwriting, lyrically and musically. And there are still the great George Harrison songs she has yet to hear.
I love this reaction video. As the former reactions to Beatles songs from the A Hard Day's Night album, it gives me new insight although I know this song from old times. I always loved the lyrics and you noticed the lonely quality that goes so well with it. So well said! I also like that you see this song as so different from the other songs on the album. I hope you will treat also I'll Be Back, another gem on this album.
Interesting chord progression, minimalist describes this proceeding so well. Lament is also a good word here.
I'm looking forward to your next Beatles song reaction, whatever song you choose 👍🏻😃
I always thought Solitary Man by Neil Diamond and Bus Stop by the Hollies had a similar feel to Things We Said Today with their alternating minor chords in the verse followed by a soaring chorus. Those songs are great too, but came out a couple of years after Things We Said Today.
"The Beatles" always had good taste. They knew what to leave out.
Thank you! This is my absolute favorite song by the Beatles and the Beatles is my absolute favorite band.
In some of the songs from this time, I consider the context of the Viet Nam war and the draft, like with 'Please Mr. Postman' (their cover of the Marvelettes) -I think of a girl waiting for a letter from her soldier away at war, except the Beatles need to swap the roles. In 'Things We Said Today' -the young man is going away to war, his girl and he get married before he leaves (or at least exchange vows). Hard times of being apart are ahead, so they promise to think of each other and their vows (things we said today) and how, years from now, they'll look back on the profoundness of this moment. The lyric also drives the music, -the bridge (where the 'A' major comes in and the drums change and become more upbeat) is now and how they feel this day, then back to the 'A' minor for singing about the hard times ahead again and how sweet it will be when they're finally reunited. Listen to it again with this in mind and you might tear up a bit. I do.
I think your analysis fits my interpretation very well.
-When I play & sing this, only in the final verse, I change 'someday when we're dreaming, deep in love but not a lot to say' to someday when we're older, still deep in love...' -my wife likes the change as well.
Also an all time favourite song of mine. We all take each our personal meaning from songs. In a wider context, being drafted for the Vietnam War might not have become a theme of major impact in British society at that moment in time. In my interpretation, Paul is referring to him being away touring with the band (and having other girls), how to overcome this and deal with it in his relationship to Jane. A theme also touched upon in 'Wait' on Rubber Soul. Kind regards
If you enjoyed this I think you will also enjoy other versions Paul has done since then. Not for your channel necessarily, but for your own enjoyment I highly recommend a live version from 1990 which you'll find on the album "Tripping the Live Fantastic". I also think you might like the version they played on the 1991 MTV program "Unplugged". The former has a very ethereal guitar ending played by Robbie Macintosh, formerly of The Pretenders, who was in Paul's band at the time. The latter of course breaking it down into a more simplistic and intimate setting. As this is a song I like to play myself I learned a lot listening to your breakdown and wish that I had you as a teacher when I was a kid (only you weren't born yet) as that might have increased my love of music at an early age.
That line-up with Robbie & Hamish was fantastic! Though I miss Laurence Juber as well.
It wouldn't hurt to check out the harmonies of The Everly Brothers. McCartney said after the death of "one of his big heroes" Phil Everly, that on early Beatles songs he was playing the part of Phil, while John was Phil's brother Don. McCartney also mentions them in his song "Let 'Em In", and that the 1958 Everly Brothers song "All You Have To Do Is Dream" was a major influence.
Paul’s voice is gorgeous in this song. He sings in low falsetto on some of his songs and it creates a moody dark atmosphere
I was looking forward to you experiencing this song. Enjoyed it very much..
Your best analysis yet. I love the way you think. Thank you.
Another call for the song "Travel" by The Gathering, the TG25 live version. "I wish you knew your music was to stay forever".
Paul is doing both voices. He tends to do that more than John, who writes a number of songs where the others harmonize with him. Paul likes doing his own thing.
John does double tracking in nearly every song, its his trademark, because he disliked his voice. But yeah here it seems more as an extra voice. Beautiful harmonies.
Sir Paul McCartney reveals Shakespeare subconciously inspired Let It Be. Music is the frequency of the universe or frequency programming. Music influences our emotions, feelings, and behaviors. Thank you.
Having just celebrated our 49th anniversary this is an interesting song to contemplate. The love lasts longer than the memory which is becoming more problematic with age. Just the knowledge of what has gone before, more than the actual memory of it. Maybe Paul wasn't looking this far ahead!
Great reaction (although it's maddening you can't use the full songs any more). In the case of the Beatles, "sophistication" is all relative, and it's part of why tracking their career progression is so satisfying. IMO John and Paul both reached new heights of 'sophistication' relative to previous songwriting efforts on this album. John with "If I Fell" and "I'll Be Back" and Paul with this song and "And I Love Her". Paul was starting his 'progressive' period here, IMO -- stretching out and pushing his own boundaries. It's something you can track almost album by album to the very end of the Beatles. And yeah, there's a logic to all those chord changes that IMO is lacking in similar songs from Brian Wilson, who Paul was apparently following closely at the time. BTW, Amy -- this is a review I wish you had brought that fancy new piano into. It would have been a great way to show off those weird chord changes.
Amy, before saying it is minimalist and even in the good sense of the word, restore the simple truth that : -the verse is not only Am but alternate with a Em mixed with a G6
-the chorus : not C Bb F Bb but C C9 F Bb
-the bridge : A D B7 E7, A D B7 Bb.
You also seem perplexed between the listening and the transcription on the harp.
I like a lot your videos and that is why I would also appreciate you exhibit critical thinking to your classic scores ! 😊
The other day I was thinking how much I love Side B of A Hard Day's Night. And it's I'll Be Back and Things We Said Today, the songs I like the most. A really haunting song indeed. Songs with a slow part and a fast part? Count me in!
MY FAVORITE FROM THIS LP.THANK YOU AMY
Minimalism is definitely an important influence on rock music. Lots of repetition with subtle changes to wring the most out of each melody or musical idea... Classical music had become so advanced by the 1960s (essentially "anything goes") that lots of composers sought to simplify and re-ground themselves. The neoclassical trend, the miniature pieces of Anton Webern, and the new sonorism of the avant garde, with minimalism proper also being a clear force in the 1960s. As the reason why rock n roll became huge in a far more diverse range of possibilities, I figure The Beatles had earned their place within the Oxford Dictionary of Music, which credited their effectiveness as songwriters. And the new electronic musical capabilities were just as cutting edge in radio hits (the collage in "A Day in the Life," Beatles) as they were in academia (e.g. music concrete). One electronic composer was quoted as saying he was astonished in the 1960s to hear electronic effects in the newest Beatles hit of the type that he had been immersed in at his own lab!
That strum is so much fun
The tipping for me is Help. Thereafter, once they stop touring, the genius of the Beatles is cemented in history for all time.
No it was during touring sgt pepper is overrated
Audio missing after the song finishes the first time
yup
@@dago87ablehaven't noticed that yet. I knew that the music stopped at the end of Good Day Sunshine , a first , but I'll take that point of interest from thee though I wouldn't trust bigsly! 😹
Excellent
(so you are about to hear the whole album)
I think your score is wrong again at a crucial moment. I don’t hear the beautiful F key section as C - Bb - F - Bb; it’s C - C9 - F - Bb. The Beatles were so good at 9th chords.
I always play it with a C9 as well.
I totally agree with you. Her scores are far below the actual harmony of Beatles songs !
@@jean-baptisteledent5202 I don’t read music but I do play the guitar, like the Beatles and like so many of our rock loving generation, which meant I had to develop a keen ear if I was to work out what the Beatles were doing with harmony that was so intoxicating. I’d like to see Amy working without a score and just with her ear.
@@davegrant7819 yes, by ear for me too and also because scores do not include tiny details of Beatles songs to manage their particular effect ! I would like also Amy to work on her ear more. Besides, I like her global analyses, her feelings to the songs
"smiley lines" ha ha. Never heard ties called that before 🙂
A track, that was part of the concerts in 1964 and was played in a more rocking style, than on the record, which worked quite well.
Amy, C C9 F B flat ! For the verse it alternates between Am and Em/G6 (not only a Am).
FYI, not particularly for Things we said today we do not find in classical scores of the Beatles songs the tiny details drowned in the harmony which are necessary to reach their particular effect ! I noticed some inadequacies / mistakes for some of your videos using classical scores as for Can't buy me love, Imagine...
But thank you for your global analysis !
I don't know if Paul McCartney was in a relationship with Jane Ashur when he wrote this song. But she certainly was the inspiration for most of his complex love songs, that dealt with ambiguity, irony and difficulty in communication within relationships.
I've heard Paul say that he is suspicious of formulas and never uses them. Sometimes he writes the music first, sometimes the lyrics first, sometimes they come together. And I've also heard him say that when he had a certain lyrical melody in his head, then he sat down and searched for the chords that were to go with them. He was talking about "Yesterday". That's what I think he did here also, hence the surprising chord changes.
Audio dropped out at 4:58
The descent from the dominant subtonic to the fourth major flomgozzle is pure genius, likewise the harmonic dissonance of the glugsplutter juxtaposed with the fondonkular skizzleflomp... You don't see such depth in the Wiggles 😆
Is that a tritone substitution I see in the Bb7 at the end of the chorus, which is in A-major? It leads to an Am and not an A major, though, so maybe it's not functioning that way. My music theory isn't as solid as yours. Either way, I find a lot of Beatles songs are deceptively sophisticated (for pop music) or at least deceptively weird. Like, if you just listen to it, it sounds nice and interesting, but when you look at the music you realize they're doing really weird stuff. It's done so smoothly that you don't even really notice that they're doing something quite strange. I'm often left wondering, how did they come up with that, or even thinking, on paper, this should sound horrible, but it's actually really great. Huh. I attribute it to them (a) not having any formal training to the point where they couldn't even read music and (b) having played 8 hours a day for years learning to play everything under the sun. They subconciously absorbed all sorts of rock/blues/jazz theory without knowing the formal words and rules, to the point where they could mix and match in smooth and creative ways.
One of their best albums not a bad song on here,this album shows their songwriter skills are taking hold...no covers ...love this song
If Amy thinks this song has an unusual mix of notes and chord changes that break the rules, I would love to someday hear her react to Girl From Ipanema.
The small steps are because they recorded so much, so early. In the time frame it became the hugest bounds in popular music.
The opening acoustic guitar phrase reminds me a bit of the opening to The Cure's The Blood. Has a certain classical Spanish guitar feel to it, whereas the main melodic line is almost as you say a chant, a Gregorian chant. I wonder if anyone's covered it that way.
Can't wait till you get to Rubber Soul which as I'm sure you keep reading it when they really came into their own as a compositional powerhouse. Except the last song on it, which you'll understand when you hear it.
But the Beatles, while they started out and basically ended as a rock band (which you'll realize when you finally get to their masterpiece Abbey Road and can't wait till your reaction to Because for reasons that you will also understand), were so much more than that, incorporating so many other genres and sensibilities into their all too short career as a recording band.
Quite possibly the first progressive rock band.
There are quite a few songs about Jane Asher.
Yes a beautiful song which came out just after the Beatles Aint She Sweet as I recall. Composed in the virgin islands by a nostalgic McCartney for Jane who was with him. It was melodically complex at the time using jazz and classical chords somewhat and presaged Rubber Soul. Its complex structure became famous after Alan W Pollack called it an exotic Phrygian mode. Ha ha it rivals them Aeolian cadences of Not A Second Time ! 🤡💈🔥
Ain't she sweet 1961 didn't Even Made the Billboard charts
Things we said today sounds quite a Lot help album do not steal credit
25:20 The word that you're looking for is "rocking".
If you listen to the Beatles live at the Hollywood Bowl, you can hear all the girls in the audience starting to scream when they change to this jubilant A major chord. It really worked: ruclips.net/video/VTx4cTRMJtg/видео.html
I'm not a music scholar nor do I play any instruments. Perhaps that's why watching reaction videos where the music is blocked is so unsatisfying.
Today is about me only because it's my birthday today. Happy birthday to me. 😁🎂🎉
Paul always had this gift to look to the future when writing his lyrics. Another great example is "When I'm 62"" Today, I guess he would rather have wanted to call it "When I'm 102", but that would not have fitted into that music rif.😂
when I'm sixty-four
@@CjmA2 🤦♂🤦♂🤦♂🤦♂ That must have been a Freudian slip (am I in denial?) because I am turning 64 this year.😆
Other people's expectations will lead you astray. I appreciate your direction with Beatles 150. 150 songs?
The Bflat excursion is basically a neapolitan chord.
It will be so interesting when you get to the truly legendary Beatles compositions further down the line, the songs that changed the world. Sgt. Pepper should be your first video that involves listening to a whole album as one rather than just a song.
Sgt pepper is overrated She's into the masterpieces
@@beatlemaniacwaltdisneyfan4753there are masterpieces on all their albums and I do wish George Martin had broke that alternating pattern of leaving their songs off every second album by including Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane! 🌈🤡
I've heard that Bob Dylan told them they sounded great but needed to say something more than the early poppy dance songs. So, he turned them onto more serious music...folk music. So they began
to produce folky sounding songs and the early teenie bopper stuff was gone. In fact to me they
had three phases...1. pop/dance songs, 2, folk/rock songs, 3, psychadelic with elements of 1 and 2,
and orchastra added in by Paul and George Martin.........
Paul knew that he was going off on tour, and Jane was going off to make movies.........
Make no mistake, this album was a huge step forward. Twelve songs out of 13 that are really strong. Then each subsequent album gets better, you could make that argument.
Until sgt pepper comes in and the Magic is destroyed
@@beatlemaniacwaltdisneyfan4753 You can leave now.
I knew she would like this. I'll Be Back and No Reply maybe too
Just wait until you get to Help! (by John). BTW please try to give a review 8 Days a Week when you get to it. It is a hapy song.
This is the first time I've heard you deal with a more sombre Early Beatles. Its definitely a departure from their Boy Band styles.
This boy & from me to You were their only "boyband" style, still they never were one
@@beatlemaniacwaltdisneyfan4753oh I don't know:- I Want To Hold Your Hand , Sure To Fall ( In Love With You ) , I'll Be On My Way , P.S. I Love You , Keep Your Hands Off My Baby , Thank Your Girl , Baby It's You and Ask Me Why sound rather boy bandish to me but okay. Cheers 😹
It is a wistfulness.
The B-flat makes more sense on the guitar. C is of course the relative major to A minor, and on the guitar the natural chord progression from C is either to G and D or to F and B-flat. F and B-flat go naturally with A minor, while G and D go with E minor in many folk songs.
She missed the chords during the verses which bounce between Am to Em7 and the Some day when I'm lonely.. the chords are Cmajor to C9 not B flat. The Bflat sounded off when she plays it after Cmajor.
Does that B flat before the Am tonic count as a Neapolitan chord?
That switch from the minor tonic to a concluding major tonic has a special name too but I can't remember what it is. Some other bands like the Zombies also liked to use that.
Picardy chord
Please try another Radiohead song. You won’t regret it:
Paranoid Android
Everything in its right place
How to disappear completely
Pyramid song
15 step
Weird fishes
Jigsaw falling into place
And many others
Qué buena canción es Thing We said... Tiene el sello especial de energía beatle que hace soñar... A mi parecer te estás deteniendo, Amy, demasiado tiempo en estos tempranos albumes de los Beatles, pero es solo mi opinión. Soy un seguidor de los Beatles desde la infancia y, aunque sigo valorando mucho esta su primera música, mi favorita es la época psicodélica, desde Rubber Soul hasta el White Album. Te queda mucho hasta llegar allí...Contando con que vas a tratar un númro limitado de canciones (150) y el tiempo es limitado.
Está bien lo que haces de todas formas, son canciones preciosas todas estas primeras (aunque yo no me hubiera detenido en I'm Happy just to Dance with You, o Tell Me Why, mientras pasabas por alto una favorita de muchos: Not a Second Time, al menos no está en youytube) . No te olvides de You Can't do That por favor, ya que te pones...jeje...I'll Be Back también es muy bonita; Y When I Get Home es una de las originales de John que me encantan. ¡Así que al final te doy la razón! casi todas molan. Gracias.
Could it be "if I had to go" meaning to war? The Vietnam War was going on at the time.
I very much doubt it. This was a British band who had only been to the U.S. once prior to this recording. It is so obviously about a love. Smh.
I don't think so. It was in the first half of 1964 and at this point the Vietnam war was not so much in the news yet here in Europe. It became a big thing more in 1965/66
A different way...Metallica & San Francisco Symphony: Nothing Else Matters (Live) ruclips.net/video/JhWfrtIPZjk/видео.html
You can react to whatever you like, but this channel won't be complete without reacting to Mike Oldfield's either Tubular Bells or Ommadawn.
The Beatles cover of Twist & Shout is iconic. Repeatedly using it as an example of their worst recording shows your lack of understanding of rock music.
You music lens of old time rock and Roll is subjective. It is an iconic cover that will stand the test of time in the historical significance of pop music. But when a trained musician hears this song, I can understand her example of barebones raw unsophisticated material that she hears in this Beatles cover. They would of course later on, produce timeless masterpieces. The Beatles journey that Virgin Rocks makes is significant and in itself is very profound to the learned and noobies that have no idea about the greatness of Beatles and the intricacies of rock & pop music. I truly am enjoying "every little thing she does".😊
I think you contradict yourself a wee bit there Amy; after all I think you’re describing a rather sophisticated piece of music, at least in some sense.
Coming? You ARE into the big stuff, sgt pepper is overrated as much as Abbey Road or white album
Never liked the Am ‘Em part. The rest is great though.
Unfathomable
Want to hear the actual song? PAY UP! Such bullshit!
what is wrong with you? you keep on talking but music?
She can't play the music on RUclips because of copyright strikes, whatever they are. She says it could cause RUclips to shut the channel down. Other reaction videomakers are not affected in this way, and I suppose it's because the people who make them are not musically educated, so they're not analyzing the music.
@@bobtaylor170no not so - she used to play it others still do including Call Me Carolina a musician , songwriter and performer, Let's be honest it's the moolah! 🤡
Not really Rock n Roll.