The Beatles - Only A Northern Song

I know I've been on a bit

of a Beatles kick lately but there is just SO much there to share and analyze, you could spend years researching the theory behind the songs and still find so many new, interesting things. I remember watching "Yellow Submarine" when I was really young, and finding it REALLY strange, especially in comparison to the Nickelodeon and Disney cartoons I was into as a kid. The characters are so odd and sometimes frightening looking, and the music gets very strange, specifically the actual score George Martin did, but also songs from the band like this one.

Listen to Only a Northern Song by The Beatles here.

If you have never listened to

the Yellow Submarine album, there are 6 tracks by The Beatles themselves, and the rest is the orchestral score for the movie. While some of the songs are from other albums, like the title track and 'All You Need Is Love', there are some originals here that I feel like don't get acknowledged enough for the amazing tracks they are. This song has a super crazy progression, which coincides with the lyrics:

If you're listening to this song
You may think the chords are going wrong
But they're not
We just wrote them like that

It moves from Emaj, to Bm7, then to a G, then UP a tritone to C#7, then F#7, which resolves as the V to Bm. So we are sort of in B minor, except the rest of the song is in Amajor so this whole section feels super weird. It's a simple progression, but combined with the melody, it feels crazy, and yet somehow all resolves in the end.

Hope you enjoy the song! Thanks for checking out my blog!

The Beatles - Only A Northern Song (1967) from Humberto Gillan on Vimeo.

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