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36 - She Said She Said (The Beatles) · Barracuda Breakdowns

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, I'm super excited to dive into She Said She Said.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: One of the most psychedelic Beatles songs.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: John Lennon was totally on fire during Revolver.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Only Sleeping, Tomorrow Never Knows.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: She Said She Said is one of his best songs.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a lot of interesting things to say about it.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's relatively simple in terms of chords.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's only four chords, essentially three, but they he adds a fourth one in only one moment.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: And the three chords are A7, G, and D.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on cable one though, okay?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it's actually a B flat.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's in the key of B flat major.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm just gonna call it A7, guitar talk, okay?
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's largely in 4-4, but you'll see what happens in the middle eight section, the bridge section.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: So let's dive in.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: When the guitar riff hits, so that's uh I'm gonna call it A major, right?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's just going up the A major scale, and those are all the notes that John Lennon sings in the song, except one note.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: He adds one note later, and we'll get to that.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: This riff just climbs up the a major scale.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Look at that.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Do re mi fa sol do.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so it's a seven, right?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Nice bluesy, a dominant seven.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then when he goes, she said.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, hold the phone right there.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: So right away he's going.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's a perfect fifth interval.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you ever need a reference or an anchor for the perfect fifth, you got Star Wars.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: So many songs have this like ecstasy of gold.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: She said, she said, intro vocal, she said.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's the perfect fifth.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: So like grand, like it's very just official.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: She said.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now when he hits that G, that it he's singing like the major six of G.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So in that moment, right when he hits the G, she saw.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's such a great moment, right there.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: It creates a G6 chord.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Really nice.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: These little things add to like the celestial and like psychedelic magical quality of the song.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: She said.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: I know what it's like to I love again.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's that riff.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I know what it is to be said.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right there.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's the intro riff right there that he outlines.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: And doing these cool, like, major scale runs really adds to the psychedelic quality of it.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Just like it's like happy, but it's like in like a spiral.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, I know what it's like.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: And compared with what he's saying, too, I know what it's like to be dead.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: I know what it is to be sad.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: And let's talk about the chords for a second.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: So we go A major.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: So right away we're establishing Mixolydian, okay?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because doing A7, and we go to the flat seven chord.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Flat seven and a major key makes a mixolydian.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: So if we take A, we go, here's a major scale.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the major seventh.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: When we flatten that, it gets like a bluesy sound.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what's going on here.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it's mixolydian.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: It has a very open sound.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: She said.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: What a statement right there.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like that establishes like the sound of the song.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: She said.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: There's a four chord, major four chord, regular, major, and you know, it's it diatonic in the major scale.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: She said.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: I know what it's like to be dead.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: That right there.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: I know what it's like to be dead.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: I really love that moment.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: He's singing A.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: He's singing the key of the song over the G though.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it creates a G ad 9.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Again, celestial, magical, mystical, psychedelic.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I know what it's like to be dead.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: I know what it is to be said.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, and I love the harmony.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: I know what it's like to be dead.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: He actually goes, I listen to the isolated vocals.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, she said.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, I know what it's like to be dead.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: He's holding the perfect fourth.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: But he does a quick major third first.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: I know what it's like to be dead.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: I know what it is to be sad.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then ties it all together.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: And she's making me feel like I've never been born.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then the right ear goes.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: But the left ear goes.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: When you're producing, like it, you really want like nice stereo imaging with the guitars, and it really helps to create slightly different performances on each ear.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I love how psychedelic it is.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's like they're like doing different things on the right ear, and then on the left ear.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like during that moment, it's like such a cool nugget in the song.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Next verse, I say put all those things in your head.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: I love landing on the floor there.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a nice elevation.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Things that make me feel that I'm mad.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Things that make me feel that I'm mad.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And you're making me feel like I've never been born.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Bridge.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: This part is insane.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Or the chorus, or whatever the whatever you want to call this, the middle eight, the bridge, the chorus.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: This part is crazy.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of the most psychedelic moments in the whole album.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, we're gonna dive into this.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's just so great.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh she so we're in four-four, but right when he says no, we enter three-four.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Look, she said you don't understand what I said.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Back to four four.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: So awesome.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And let's break that down further.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Look what he's doing.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, so is it?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: We got root seven.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: That is such a cool move.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: E minor.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's the minor five chord.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: In the key of A major, you're supposed to do the major five.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Major V chord.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: But by going to the minor chord, wow, like what an abandonment, right?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's a borrowed chord from A minor.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Really cool touch, man.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: When I was a boy.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: And he's singing an E.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: He's like accentuating that.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: When I was a boy, oh man, it's like it's like melancholic.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's like sad in that moment.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's like nostalgic reaching.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: When I was a boy, everything was right.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's rewind a little bit because when he says wrong and when he says right, the chord changes.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, she said you don't understand what I said.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: I said no no you're wrong when I see No no no you're wrong when I was like one, two, three, watch.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Everything was right.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Back to it.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: But let me just uh one last time just to further drill the time signature changes.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Watch.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: She said you don't understand what I said.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: I said no no no you're wrong when I was a boy Everything was right.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Everything was right I said even though you know what you know I know that I'm ready to Oh my god, and you and she's making me feel like a baby.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then back to the bridge section.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: I love the melody too.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Again, just the major scale notes.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Adding that minor five chord, beautiful touch, and the lyrics are just so great.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: She said, You don't understand what I said.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: I said, No, no, no, you're wrong.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: When I was a boy, everything was right, everything was right.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: I said, even though you know what you know, I know that I'm ready to leave.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Cause you're making me feel like I've never been born.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: So just to go back to that melody that I was mentioning earlier, so he sings all these notes.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: And when he goes, And you're making me feel like that's the one note that's not in.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: He's singing that Mixolydian note, the flat seven.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you're making me feel like um never, never, I've never been born.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the outro is great too.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: They just hold on A.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: They don't change chords there, and Ringo's drums are like something to be said, of course.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not a drummer, but I know how incredible his drums in this song are.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Reminds me of a day in the life, like just going, stopping, going back to the groove, and then like doing all these like crazy fills, like in the middle of verses and everything.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like hit the fill in the intro, right after the like what he's doing here.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Gorgeous drums.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: This song has some iconic cymbal sounds because it's like compressed in a certain way and has like a like really listen to the cymbals in the song.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: I love the guitar tone, the vocal tone, his doubled vocal.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: The compression on Lennon's vocal is perfect.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I love the sound of this song.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love the sound of Revolver.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, back to the outro.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: She said, She said what it's like to be know what it's like to know what it is to be sad, what it is to be sad to be dead.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it fades out quick.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of my favorite Beatles songs, and I appreciate you tuning into Barracuda Breakdowns.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: If you'd like to work with me one on one to help produce your songs and develop your sound, check out learn.dambaricuda.com slash own your sound.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'd love to work with you one on one.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks a lot for tuning in, and I'll see you in the next episode.