Song Analysis Format

When completing a song analysis, detail the following information in this order:
  • Song Form
  • Instrumentation
  • Hierarchy of Instruments/Voice
  • Overall sound of ensemble
  • Additional effects
  • Lyrical content/meaning (how well do the lyrics fit the music?)
Review Sites: 

Chatacteristcs of Rock Music 

  • Straight drum and bass grooves with little syncopations
  • Amplified/Electric Sound, but raised levels of dissonance as compared to country and blues
  • Expresses fearless human emotions, often, through primal drumming and bass & guitar playing
  • Dramatic (even melodramatic-dramatic) storytelling both literal and metaphorical 
  • Standard voice, guitar, bass and drums with an occasional second guitar and/or piano 
  • Sparsely used raw vocal harmonies
  • Raised dynamic and aggression levels
  • Strong use of guitar riffs to structure the composition
  • Modest use of improvisation 
  • Singer down hierarchy firmly in place
The Rolling Stones- (1962) Brian Jones- guitar, harmonica; Ian Stewart- piano; Mick Jagger- lead vocals, harmonica; Keith Richards- guitar, vocals; Bill Wyman- bass; Charlie Watts- drums

Sgt. Peppers Assignment

Listen to Within You, Without You and Day in the Life from "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heats Club Band". For each track, write a very short narrative describing your interpretation of the lyrics and what the music sounds like. What is unique about these songs? Be thorough in your response.
We were talking about the space between us all
And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth, then it's far too late, when they pass away
We were talking about the love we all could share
When we find it, to try our best to hold it there with our love
With our love, we could save the world, if they only knew

Try to realise it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you

We were talking about the love that's gone so cold
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul
They don't know, they can't see, are you one of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself then you may find
Peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we're all one
And life flows on within you and without you
I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph

He blew his mind out in a car;
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords

I saw a film today, oh boy;
The English army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But I just had to look
Having read the book

I'd love to turn you on

Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late

Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream

Ah I read the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on

Album Information

  • Sessions began in 1966–Initial concept was an album thematically linked to their childhood
  • George Martin–producer.  Strawberry Fields Forever, When I'm Sixty-Four and Penny Lane
  • Released as a double sided single in 1967–after the release, they abandoned the childhood concept in favor of Sgt. Pepper
  • The alter-ego concept of Sgt. Pepper did not surface until halfway through the making of the album
  • Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band released June 1, 1967
  • New modular effects: wah-wah pedal, fuzzbox (distortion), running voices and instruments through a Leslie speaker,  ADT (automatic double tracking) and varispeeding
  • Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite! 
    Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal Poster
  • Within You, Without You: Sitar, Tambura, Tabla, Dilruba, Swarmandal
  • Heavy use of keyboard instruments: Electric piano, upright piano, Hammond organ, glockenspiel, grand piano (A Day in The Life), Lowrey organ (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds), Harpsichord (Fixing a Hole), Harmonium (Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!)