The Beatles - Blue Jay Way
It’s been a while since
I’ve done a Beatles post, which, after doing one or two a week for the past year, is pretty impressive, haha. I still feel a bit odd about writing a Beatles biography, but, just in case someone is discovering them for the first time… The Beatles* were formed in 1960, in Liverpool, England; though the band initially had a few changes in members, they eventually cemented the lineup of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, which would not change for the entire life of the band. The group initially came to fame with their teen-pop love songs, but as time progressed and they grew older, their playing and writing evolved to an incredible level, and helped to make rock music a ‘legitimate’ art form, as opposed to the fad that it had been viewed as through the ‘50s and early ‘60s.
Listen to Blue Jay Way by The Beatles here.
This song is from their
1967 album Magical Mystery Tour, which I generally think is my favorite, though that changes depending on the day, lol. This song has a super interesting melody line, where they outline a Cdim chord, but then resolve to a Cmajor. The change from an Eb to an E, and an F#/Gb to a G is simple, but gives it a really strange, floaty, mysterious sort of vibe. The Chorus sticks to the key of Cmajor, but uses a cool little line cliche, where they play a C chord, then extend the 5th up a whole step to an A, then up a whole step again to a B, and back down again, before repeating. It gives the Chorus a more peaceful/pretty quality, but retains a bit of that unresolved, mysterious sort of vibe of the Verses with the B never moving up to a C (creating a Cmaj7 chord).
