Musical Structure
The Song starts ("If you're listening") with an A melody note in the key of A. This moves in what appears to be a simple diatonic (I-ii) progression (on "chords are going wrong") to a Bm7 except this becomes a "slash" polychord owing to the dissonant bass note E (11th) that is not in the normal root. With the verse beginning "It doesn't really matter" a B melody note anchors a kalidoscope of shifting and borrowed chords as follows: on "doesn't really" (harmonising as a 5th with a V (E) chord); on "matter" (harmonising as the root of a (ii7) Bm7 chord); on "chords" (harmonising as a 3rd in a ♭VII (G) chord); on "play" (harmonising as a ♭7th in a III7 (C#7) chord) and on "words I say" (harmonising as a 4th on a VI7 (F#7) chord. The result is a nonchalant, seemingly uninspired melody expressing Harrison's dissatisfaction with contractual requirements while the real action happens "under the table" where seemingly haphazard harmony cleverly pulls the strings.
Read more about this topic: Only A Northern Song
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