# Beatles songs with an actual bridge (and unusual Beatles song structures) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572 "2015-02-13T14:43:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/1 "2015-02-13T14:43:31Z")
From what I’ve read, the Beatles called their bridge-like structures “middle eights,” and they are typically repeated in the song. For example, the part in “A Hard Day’s Night” that begins with the lyrics, “When I’m home,” would be the middle eight, which is heard twice in the song. This is a pretty standard pop/rock structure. I tried to think of a Beatles song with a _bridge_ bridge, however, and I couldn’t come up with one. A “real” bridge occurs typically once in the song. Please note: I’m not saying that a Beatles “middle eight” is worth less than a “real” bridge. I just happened not to be able to think of one. While we’re on the topic, what Beatles songs have unusual structures–either unusual for them or unusual, period? One song I like that employs a neat trick is “Happy Just to Dance with You,” which begins with part of the middle eight as an introduction. Songs that I _don’t_ think count as having unusual structures (and which I don’t like much) are the usually Paul-led medley-style songs. Their structures are, well, medleys and thus don’t typically have much more to them than that. “Happiness is a Warm Gun” is one I like, however. (You can talk about “Mean Mr. Mustard” if you want…) Thanks for your insights! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/2 "2015-02-13T14:51:48Z")
My friend said, “I’ll Be Back.” That’s one with a unitary bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/3 "2015-02-13T14:56:06Z")
“Something” fits as well… ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/4 "2015-02-13T15:28:02Z")
IIRC, the bridge is sung only once in “Not a Second Time” (although it’s immediately repeated as an instrumental break, which is a bit of an unusual structure, as the instrumental break is typically the verse). ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/5 "2015-02-13T15:37:42Z")
A good site for Beatles song analysis: > **[Alan W. Pollack's Notes on ... Series](https://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/awp-alphabet.shtml)** > > An alphabetical index to Alan W. Pollack's Notes on ... Series ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/6 "2015-02-13T15:52:48Z")
“No Reply” (“If I were you …”) “I Am the Walrus” (“Sitting in an English garden …”) “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” (instrumental waltz-time section) “This Boy” (“Oh, and this boy would be happy …”) “Julia” (“Her hair of floating sky …”) … off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/7 "2015-02-13T16:32:47Z")
Does “Day Tripper” count? There’s a non-repeated instrumental bridge. It is based on the riff of the main verse, so not melodically different, but raised up a fifth (based on a B instead of E chord). ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/8 "2015-02-13T17:59:14Z")
“Glass Onion” has a simple bridge that occurs only once. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/9 "2015-02-13T23:51:37Z")
Let’s not confuse a bridge with an instrumental verse. And a bridge can be instrumental. How about “In My Life”? That trumpet part in “Penny Lane”? Maybe that guitar part in “Octopus’s Garden”? ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/10 "2015-02-14T00:07:29Z")
“Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/11 "2015-02-14T01:13:42Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Let’s not confuse a bridge with an instrumental verse. And a bridge can be instrumental. > > How about “In My Life”? That trumpet part in “Penny Lane”? Maybe that guitar part in “Octopus’s Garden”? The trumpet part in “Penny Lane” is just a solo over the verse chord progression, so I’d count it as an instrumental verse. Same with “In My Life.” The solo is played over the main verse chord progression, with a bit of baroque-y counterpoint below. “Octopus’s Garden” I would definitely count as an instrumental bridge. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/12 "2015-02-14T01:30:30Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > “Something” fits as well… This is the one that immediately came to mind for me. It’s actually interesting to me how few Beatles songs fit into the Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-(solo or verse)-Chorus (ABABCAB) mold or an AABA-type form that many pop songs fit into. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/13 "2015-02-14T04:39:45Z")
Thanks, good food for thought, my friends! ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/14 "2015-02-14T15:54:00Z")
The solo in “All My Loving” is a bridge, not just a repetition of the prior chords. BTW, I am no expert, but I never understood a bridge to be something that typically occurred only once. I thought it was any contrasting progression that leads to a return to the “main” progression. So, a song could have a couple of bridges. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/15 "2015-02-14T19:17:01Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > The solo in “All My Loving” is a bridge, not just a repetition of the prior chords. > > BTW, I am no expert, but I never understood a bridge to be something that typically occurred only once. I thought it was any contrasting progression that leads to a return to the “main” progression. So, a song could have a couple of bridges. That’s true, but I was just looking for a certain type of bridge that is less common in Beatles songs. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/16 "2015-02-14T19:54:11Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > That’s true, but I was just looking for a certain type of bridge that is less common in Beatles songs. Got it. “Tell Me Why” has the “I beg you my bended knees” bridge, as another one. Also, “Here Comes the Sun,” with the “Sun, sun, sun, here it comes” part. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/17 "2015-02-14T21:25:25Z")
“Because.” The bridge occurs once - “Love it old, love is new . . .” “Back in the USSR” could fit, if you consider the “Ukraine girls . . .” part the chorus, and the “Aw, come on!” part a bridge. Also, “Dig It.” Although that’s a bit of a stretch, as no part of the song actually repeats. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-songs-with-an-actual-bridge-and-unusual-beatles-song-structures/712572/18 "2015-02-14T21:42:52Z")
“Good Morning, Good Morning” has a pretty unusual structure, in terms of the rhythm. But I’m not musicological enough to describe it. It seems to be skipping a beat here and there, in a way that is jarring, but still works.