Tag Archives: Revolver

Beatles and Song Speed: and Two and Three Dimensional Charts & Seeing Speed Through Space - “For No One” - Full music tempo analysis

Meanspeed Music Summary
“FOR NO ONE”
The Beatles
composer=John Lennon & Paul McCartney
avg beat=0.735 seconds
avg bpm=81.6
key in which song was recorded=B major
composer=John Lennon & Paul McCartney
most interesting rhyme=’tears’ and years’
“..and in her eyes you see nothing
no sign of life behind the tears
cried for no one
a love that should have lasted years.“



This is an excellent example of why I catalog songs with speeds of approximately 79-84 beats per minute as have the likelihood of expressing loneliness, as this song certainly does, as it is one one the few songs on which the most tuned in (sorry) Beatles fans would agree is simply about loneliness and loss and the maudlin ‘what could have beens.’ This is the element of the never ending debate over Here, There and Everywhere as “Paul’s best song” that does not gets discussed - mainly because people just do not know. People tend to argue feelings, and we try to separate feelings - we don’t do feelings, we don’t deal in any way with the worst song ever recorded, Feelings - we deal in emotive expression. Big difference. The speed of Here, There & Everywhere is essentially the same as For No One - and the songs are a bit wailing and lonely.

All calibrations, synthesis and chart making in general by Hunter Newman.

The song does not include George or John in any way. Paul played piano and clavichord while Ringo played drums and played. The band & recording & production team chose take 10 of 11 takes over 12 hours - 2:45 pm until 2:45 am. On take ten, Ringo added maracas and cymbals. George Martin rented the harpsichord.
A week later, May 16, 1966, Paul went back into the studio and completed the lead vocal. The French horn solo was overdubbed three days later. Thanks to N.S. & Mark Lewisohn for that information, which is found in Mark’s THE COMPLETE BEATLES CHRONICLES.

Hunter Newman
April 10, 2008

The Beatles - ‘Revolver’ - “Love To You” - Nine trials, all calibrations, 2D and 3D charts - MeanSpeed Emotive category=VICTORY - speed=126.4 bpm

LOVE TO *YOU*

THE BEATLES

meanspeed music conjecture analysis



The 5th track on the album by The Beatles is called “Love To You”. The song was written by George Harrison and features a John Lennon vocal and sitar playing by George Harrison that can only be described as unusual for a “pop” album. This April 1966 album continues to blow me away with its innovation, experimentation and creativity.

Slideshow concept by Mike “The Spike”, Sophia, James, Sarah Jane, Ian, Hunter, and guess David A who has something seriously in common with George Harrison -


The song starts with a space jam by George alone - there is no tempo. The Meanspeed charts pictured above begin on the first discernible downbeat. This I took to be what in reality would be “beat 5.” Why “beat 5″? because the tempo rubato in the beginning is so, well, rubato, feeling no one pulse and hearing no speed at all, I waited until I heard the loud percussion hits. Technically, beat 1 or beat 3 could have acted as the first “discernible” downbeats, however, allowing a full four drum clicks for the band to get ready starts the entire calibration on a ONE od a song, that though tonally strange, is an ordinary 4/4 common time pop song. Beats are measured in a *contiguous* manner exactly as explained in simple detail on http://www.meanspeed.com. At approximately beat 250, the band goes into an acceleration which is represented above.
After TAXMAN, ELEANOR RIGBY, I’M ONLY SLEEPING this song set s up a song a consonance. “Love To You is a challenge by the group that changed the universe.
Meanspeed Music Summary
song title=”Love To You”
composer=George Harrison
performer=The Beatles
album=Revolver
average beat length=0.469 seconds
mean speed/average tempo=128.4 beats per minute
emotive category according to meanspeed music theory=victory



Ian Schneider
March 22, 2008
“tempo is to a piece of music as the weather report is to the news.”
- Hunter Newman

‘”Yellow Submarine” - Meanspeed Chart - The Beatles - Revolver. Precise Beats Per Minute Tempo Map Allows *any* Music Lover to *see* Speed


Meanspeed Music Summary
song title=”Yellow Submarine”
Words & Music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
album=’Revolver’
Intellectual Property=© Copyright 1966 Northern Songs. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

In the Original Score of the Beatles’ catalog, it is noted that certain nuances of rhythm must be *felt* - they have not been noted. I hope to rectify this to some extent with charts such as that above, which illustrate:
1) the performance line of the song;
2) mean speed, most often the average tempo of the song;
3) moving average of the song;
4) line of advance of the song as a function of time, above as centiseconds on the first (left) Y-Axis;
5) trendline of the song as a thrird degree polynomial, formula coutesy of Microsoft Excel.

trials calibrated=9
beats measured=2,520
time elapsed, total=1,364.78 seconds
time elapsed, average per trial=151.64 seconds
average tempo/mean speed=110.8 beats per minute
average Beat Length=542 milliseconds
emotive category according to mean speed music theory found at http://www.meanspeed.com/graphs
most interesting element of the song unrelated to tempo=the song is in Db major, even though most popular sheet music simplifies this to D major. Playing it at this correct key chabges the sound. The key is courtesy of the excellent Hal Leonard transcription.
most interesting rhyme=’ease’ with ‘need’ -

“So we live a life of ease,
every one of us has all we need…”

Ian Schneider
Mike “The Spike” McKnight
meanspeed music

March 22, 2008