Style and Form
This McCartney and Harrison collaboration turns out to be a surprise, with its moderately slow tempo, and a backbeat and vocal delivery that is possibly bluesy, but even more so rather like some old style American Country & Western caterwauling.
The form is awkwardly ambitious, not quite fitting any of the standard models we're familiar with. Its closest match would be the two-bridge model with a single verse intervening, except that in place of the second bridge we find an instrumental solo in the form of a 12-bar frame. The outro is a two-fold manque variation on the more familiar three-times-you're- out gambit.
The lyrics of the four verses contain a common final line, and create an unusually clunky pattern of ABAB. All sections begin with a pickup before the downbeat. The title phrase and opening line of the lyric is unusual both for its sheer length and its manner of leading off which a grammatical subordinate clause. The alternation of "danger" and "heartache" in the first line of the verses anticipates a Beatles wordplay trademark. McCartney and Harrison's authorship notwithstanding, the only time one of the conspicuous title words would ever appear in a song of the Beatles is in one that clearly was written by John.
Melody and Harmony
The tune has a relatively large amount of chordal outline leaping about. The backing vocal features the descending chromatic line cliche.
Only three chords are used, no surprise, just I, IV, V. A dominant seventh is frequently added to the I chord in order to exploit its capability of acting like a V-of-IV.
Arrangement
There's an ensemble of five on the backing track, though it provides little in the way of what you'd call a prepared "arrangement," and the primitive mastering of the track leaves the piano and drums barely audible most of the time.
John sings the lead vocal. Paul's backing alternates between harmonizing with John in close but standard harmony, and short obbligato licks.
The backbeat is characterized by rapid triplets though Paul tries with some awkwardness to cast slow triplets against it for his chromatic lick at the end of each line of the verse.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS
So when you heard these tracks for the first time was your patient curiosity well rewarded or were you disappointed? The answer depends directly on what you might have been expecting.
It would be an gross overstatement to say these tracks manifest any clearly prescient foreshadowing of the "greatness" that was to emerge some four or so years later. By the same token I think you'd be precipitant to dismiss them as merely uninteresting or incompetent juvenilia.
There's certainly enough personality coming through these recordings to recognize the hand of the proto-Beatles in them, at least given perfect hindsight. The performances are comparable with, if not a notch above, the best of the other Quarrymen tracks referred to usually as "Liverpool 1960." Besides, a chance to hear this particular ensemble, which includes Colin Hanton on drums and John "Duff" Lowe on piano, is worth the price of admission on its own historical merits.
But why should I even have to convince you to enjoy these performances? Perspective is all.
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