Yellow Submarine. Another Song with the Verse and Chorus Form

Let us hear "Yellow Submarine" from The Beatles:



In variance with "I`ve Just Seen a Face," "Yellow Submarine" lacks Introduction. It begins right on the first verse. It features the common alternation of the verse and chorus sections, and finishes with a fade out while the chorus is repeated.

"Yellow Submarine" possesses the following form:

V(8)-V(8)-C(8)-V(8)-C(8)-V(Instrumental, 8)-V(8)-C(8)-C(8)...

which can be simplified as:

V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-V-O

It is very instructive to compare "I`ve Just Seen A Face" with "Yellow Submarine."

"I`ve Just Seen a Face"....I-V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-C-V-O
"Yellow Submarine"...........V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-V-O

In both cases the verse is repeated twice at the beginning, before the first chorus. After the first chorus, the verse appears only once, before the next presentation of the chorus.

Interestingly, in both songs the instrumental verse appears at the same location. Although, in "I´ve Just Seen a Face" it is followed by a chorus, while in "Yellow Submarine" it is followed by another verse.

An instrumental verse makes a sufficient contrast with a normal verse, and therefore it can be followed by a normal verse without compromising novelty.

A song is a fight of the composer to grab and keep the attention of the listener. On one hand, for the sake of coherence, the same material must be reproduced repeatedly. Otherwise, the song would lack unity and sound like a radio while we manipulate the dial. That is, it would sound like a succession of songs. On the other hand, there must be novelty. That is why the alternation of two different sections is so effective in producing good songs. Furthermore, the two sections must alternate so as to strike a balance between unity and novelty.

I must add that novelty can be achieved by introducing completely different sections, as well as by presenting the same sections in different ways. This can be done, for instance, by small —or big— melodic changes or by instrumental changes, including the alternation of voice with instruments, as in normal verses versus instrumental verses.