The Book

Introduction What is it all good for? Scope of work Project History

Music theory in nutshell Harmony Chord notation used in the analyses The degrees of notes Chord functions Keys, Sharps and flats, neighbour keys Guitar friendly and piano-friendly keys Modulations, key changes Parallel key modulations Relative key modulations Neighbour key modulations Combined modulations Step-up/down modulations Unusual modulations Key-shifts Pivot Modulation Borrowed chords Cliche chord progressions Modes Ambigous harmony Rhythms Exercies Syncopations Shuffle beat Metrical modulations, metrical anomalies Compound meters Disorienting Rhythms Songforms General aesthatics of popular and rock music

Repetitions and variants

Queen - The four of them as musicians Brian May Roger Taylor Freddie Mercury John Deacon

Songwriting Analyses Smile Ibex "No Synth" era Queen Keep Yourself Alive Doing All Right Great King Rat My Fairy King Liar The Night Comes Down Modern Times Rock'n'roll Son And Daughter Jesus Seven Seas Of Rhye Silver Salmon Hangman Mad The Swine Queen II Procession Father To Son White Queen (As It Began) Some Day One Day The Loser In The End Ogre Battle The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke Nevermore March Of The Black Queen Funny How Love Is Seven Seas Of Rhye See What A Fool I've Been Sheer Heart Attack Brighton Rock Killer Queen Tenement Funster Flick Of The Wrist Lily Of The Valley Now I'm Here In The Lap Of The Gods Stone Cold Crazy Dear Friends Misfire Bring Back That Leroy Brown She Makes Me In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited A Night At The Opera Death On Two Legs Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon I'm In Love With My Car You're My Best Friend Sweet Lady '39 Seaside Rendezvous The Prophet's Song Love Of My Life Good Company Bohemian Rhapsody God Save The Queen A Day At The Races Tie Your Mother Down You Take My Breath Away Long Away The Millionaire Waltz You And I Somebody To Love White Man Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy Drowse Teo Torriate News Of The World We Will Rock You We Are The Champions Sheer Heart Attack All Dead All Dead Spread Your Wings Fight From The Inside Get Down Make Love Sleeping On The Sidewalk Who Needs You It's Late My Melancholy Blues Feelings Jazz Mustapha Fat Bottomed Girls Jealousy Bicycle Race If You Can't Beat Them Let Me Entertain You Dead On Time In Only Seven Days Dreamers Ball Fun It Leaving Home Ain't Easy Don't Stop Me Now More Of That Jazz Live performances in the 70s Modern-era Queen The Game Play The Game Dragon Attack Another One Bites The Dust Need Your Loving Tonight Crazy Little Thing Called Love Rock It (prime Jive) Don't Try Suicide Sail Away Sweet Sister Coming Soon Save Me Human Body Sandbox Flash Gordon Flash's Theme In The Space Capsule Ming's Theme The Ring Football Fight In The Death Cell Execution Of Flash The Kiss Arboria Escape From The Swamp Flash To The Rescue Vultan's Theme Battle Theme The Wedding March Marriage Of Dale And Ming Flash's Theme Reprise Crash Dive On Mingo City The Hero Hot Space Staying Power Dancer Back Chat Body Language Action This Day Put Out The Fire Life Is Real Calling All Girls Las Palabras De Amor Cool Cat Under Pressure Soul Brother The Works Radio Ga Ga Tear It Up It's A Hard Life Man On The Prowl Machines (or 'Back To Humans') I Want To Break Free Keep Passing The Open Windows Hammer To Fall Is This The World We Created? I Go Crazy A Kind Of Magic One Vision A Kind Of Magic One Year Of Love Pain Is So Close To Pleasure Friends Will Be Friends Who Wants To Live Forever Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme) Don't Lose Your Head Princes Of The Universe The Miracle Party Khashoggi's Ship The Miracle I Want It All The Invisible Man Breakthru Rain Must Fall Scandal My Baby Does Me Was It All Worth It Hang On In There Chinese Torture Hijack My Heart My Life Has Been Saved Stealin' New Life Is Born Dog With A Bone Guess We're Fallin Out Innuendo Innuendo I'm Going Slightly Mad Headlong I Can't Live With You Don't Try So Hard Ride The Wild Wind All God's People These Are The Days Of Our Lives Delilah The Hitman Bijou The Show Must Go On Lost Opportunity Face It Alone Self Made Man My Secret Fantasy Made In Heaven It's A Beautiful Day Made In Heaven Let Me Live Mother Love My Life Has Been Saved I Was Born To Love You Heaven For Everyone Too Much Love Will Kill You You Don't Fool Me A Winter's Tale My Life Has Been Saved It's A Beautiful Day (reprise) No-One But You Live performances in the 80s

Appendix Special instruments Special effects Special playing techniques Classical quotes Musical terms Index References

Path: Queen Songs - The Book - Songwriting Analyses - "No Synth" era - A Day At The Races: You And I

You And I

Composer: John Deacon
Album: A Day At The Races
Meter: 4/4
Key: D Major, b minor
Form:

Intro | Verse | Bridge I-II |
      | Verse | Bridge 2 |
  solo (Verse)| Bridge I-II |
      | Verse - tag - Outro |


This upbeat song is the pair of "You're My Best Friend". It's harmony is simple most of the time the rhythm department shows many assymetricity.
The form is a combination of the one bridge and the two/three bridge model. We have a twice recurring Bridge-pair (Bridge 1) and a classic contrasting single bridge (Bridge 2) located at approximately 2/3 of the song.


Intro
The 8 measure intro has simple phrasing (4+4+4+4 AAA'B). Solo piano for the first two phrases, bass and drums enter for the upbeat of the third phrase. The last phrase quotes the title phrase from the end of the Verses.

/---- 3x ----\
| D   | G/D  |
| I   | IV   |

| G D/F# Em | D   |
|IV  I   ii | I   |

The most tricky thing here is the rhythm. Try to pick up the 4/4 beat. Even though the intro starts right on downbeat for first try you'll probably fail becauase the the bass (on piano) notes disorient your sense of backing beat. The first bass guitar note helps you getting oriented, it's on downbeat. Unless you dont have a trained sense of rhythm you are going to have a hard time learning it.


Verse
The Verse sounds very simple: square 2+2+2+2 (ABCD melody-wise ABAC harmony-wise) phrasing. The harmony starts and closes on tonic - a closed harmonic shape. Each phrase starts on downbeat. The placement of the emphasysis shows more types of assymetricity: 3+5, 5+3, 3+3+2 pattern of eights.

| D   | A   |
| I   | V   |

| Bm  | G  G#dim|
| vi  | IV      |

| D   | A   |
| I   | V   |

| G D/F# Em | D   |
| IV i   ii | I   |

The second Verse closes with drum crescendo introducing the Bridge 2.
Third Verse adds lovely guitar harmonies in m.1-3.

Solo
The melodic guitar solo is an instrumental Verse. It is characterized by wide up and down oscillation.

Bridge 1 I
The 8 measure Bridge 1 has square phrasing: 4+4 AA' on the level of subphrases ABAC - a classic pattern (see also "Killer Queen"). Contrasting element compared to the Verse is the harmony being open at both end and the phrases starting not on downbeats.

| G   | -   | D   | -   |
| IV  | -   | I   | -   |

| G   | -   | E   | A   |
| IV  | -   | V/V | V   |



Bridge 1 II
The eight measure second subsection is also contrasting due to its chromatic harmony and vocal and guitar harmony arrangement. We have two paralelling phrases with chromatic descending bassline. The harmonic functions are very hard to sense in the second phrase where the drum uses 3+3+2 rhythmic pattern.

| G  | F#  | F   | E   |
| G  | D   | Dm  | E   |
| IV | I   | i   | V/V |

| C  | B   | A#  | A   |
| C  | G   | Gm  | A   |
|bVII| IV  | iv  | V   |

The most interesting pint is the I > i progression with chromatic bass. We will see it in "My Melancholy Blues" but very rarely in pop/rock music.


Bridge 2
This 16 measure (AA'BC) "middle eight" has open harmonic shape. The harmony modulated to the relative minor key of D Major: b minor. The backing beat supported by cymbal hits is straight for most of the time except a triplet in m.11.

b:
/---------- 2x----------\
| F#  | -   | Bm  | -   |
| V   | -   | i   | -   |

| D   | -   | A   |F#/A#|
| III | -   | VII | V   |

| Bm  | E   | A   | -7,5+,2 |
| i   |V/VII| VII | -       |
   D: | V/V | V   | -       |

We have antiphional and backing vocal harmonies mixed in fron of the lead vocal which is mixed into the left stereo (see also "...Best Friend") channel Galopping guitar notes in m.15-16 are introducing the guitar solo.
Finally take a closer look at the voice leading of the last measure:

A  B  A   : Voice 1
E  F# F#  : voice 2
C# C# D   : voice 3
A  G (F#) : guitar


Outro
The last verse is added a slowed down repetition of the closing title phrase. Then the ensemble and the original tempo returns step by step.
The piano introduces the two measure two chord figure that will backing the rest of the song.

| D   | G/D  |
| I   | V    |

Bass is playing D throughout, while the guitar occassionally plays C5 (bVII) instead of G.
The backing track returns full intensity from the fourth harmonic phrase on and gradually fades out after 9-10 cycles.