Just a little Something

Hello! I hope you are all having an excellent week thus far! I haven't completely grasped the concept of cadences; I understand them at face value, but I have yet to fully understand the minute details within the overall concept. I can, for the most part, distinguish between an open and closed cadence, but I cannot distinguish between an IAC and a HC. Therefore, I have decided to focus on a song written in 32 bar AABA form: "Something" by The Beatles. This is one of my all time favorite love songs, mainly because of the message expressed on the lyrics. Saying that an innate part of someone else, an unnamable, irrevocable trait, is what is beautiful and wonderful about them is an absolutely lovely sentiment, in my opinion.

That, however, is not the point of this post, so let's get into the thick of it.
The song begins with a short introduction comprised of a small drum roll and a few chords on the guitar, after which the AABA form begins. The first 'A' ends after the lyrics, "I don't want to leave her now/ You know I believe and how". The second A continues, during which George sings about "somewhere in her smile" and "something in her style." At the beginning of the 'B' section, George begins with the lyrics, "You're asking me, will my love grow?/ I don't know, I don't know." This switch from lines beginning with the word "something" to beginning with a whole new idea, rather than just a new word, also marks the change from 'A' to 'B'. The latter half of the 'B' section replaces lyrics with a guitar playing the melody overtop of a downbeat. At the conclusion of this, the final 'A' section begins with the lyrics, "Something in the way she knows/ And all I have to do is think of her."

During the three 'A' cycles, the same rhythm is repeated. A drum keeps the downbeat, with a slight drumroll near the middle of the phrase. A guitar plays along with the drum, at times changing its dynamics so it's louder and more pronounced than the drumbeat, and at times playing at a similar volume. Near the end of the 'A' phrase, a piano picks up in volume and begins a steady beat, while George begins singing the lines that end the 'A' phrase. To transition from one 'A' to the next, the lyrics and other instruments drop out and a guitar plays a short solo.

The 'B' cycle is marked by a guitar keeping a steady beat, while a series of short drum rolls plays overtop.

By using a form that is primarily composed of the same sound, the speaker's message that he loves an unchangeable, innate part of the woman he desires is enhanced. This aspect of her cannot be changed, similar to how the melody is hardly changed. The change in the melody, or the addition of the 'B' section, serves to enhance the speaker's ambiguity about what it is exactly that attracts him to this woman.