Waterloo Sunset

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Melody

● The main ‘hook’ uses a 5-note cell –C# B E C# B (note the rising fourth – descending third – descending second) which dominates the song.

● The second phrase develops this idea sequentially, a fourth lower, while the third phrase expands the fourth to a sixth and reverses the order of the third and second.

● The notes of this idea create a strong feeling of the E major pentatonic scale.

● The verse’s B section balances upwards and downward phrases and includes the highest note in the vocal line.

● The middle 8 melody is largely stepwise, moving down from the dominant to the tonic in B major, and starting the second phrase with an octave leap.

● Unlike much rhythm and blues of the time, there is no use of ‘Blue notes’, although the A naturals used just before the F# major chords in bars 24 and 28 create a fleeting false relation effect.

● The writing is syllabic throughout.

● The vocal phrases are mostly of two or four bars in length, with shorter phrases in the B section of the verse and longer phrases in the middle 8.

Waterloo Sunset

● Strong 4 in a bar rhythm throughout, with some emphasis on the back-beats – 2 and 4 - in some parts.

● The medium tempo is suitable for the narrative qualities of the lyrics.

● The accompaniment is relatively ‘four square’, with ‘straight’ quavers acting as a foil to ‘push’ and ‘pull’ syncopations in the melodic line.

● The hook and all other verse figures begin on the third beat as anacrusis figures.

● Accompaniment syncopations are most prominent in the linking anacrusic figures into and during the middle 8.

● Drum fills create rhythmic variety and link phrases.

● Vitality is supplied by the semiquaver guitar pedals at bars 1-4, 31-34, 56-60 and by the quaver/semiquaver rhythms in the Middle 8

● The texture is mainly homophonic, with attention firmly focused on the vocal melody.

● There are layers of sounds within the texture which do at times work independently; for example, the lead guitar plays in a kind of dialogue with the vocals, sometimes restating vocal ideas.

● There is an example of an heterophonic texture from bar 25 to bar 30, where the bass guitar plays a simplified version of the vocal melody an octave below.

● The backing vocals are involved in two passages of quasi-imitation with the lead vocals in bars 31-32 and 55-58.

● Pedal points are used frequently, e.g. bars 1-4, 31-34, and at the Coda, where an unresolved dominant pedal signals the beginning of the fadeout.

Texture

Harmony

● The harmony is diatonic and largely functional.

● The Verse’s A sections use chords I, IV and V in E major:

o E-B7-A-A, using the sub-dominant to return to the tonic, as in 12-bar blues.

● The Verse’s B section uses chord II (F# minor) by way of contrast – the C# major chord (bar 18) can be interpreted as a secondary dominant (V of II). Bars 18-20 create a cycle of 5ths (C#-F#m-B7), which lead back to the tonic.

● Parallel chords introduce the Middle section (A-G#m-F#) at bar 24.

● The Middle 8 is only in B major for six bars, as the B chord has a seventh added to create the turnaround back into E major for the repeat and on to verse 3.

● The harmony avoids V-I progressions in the verses, preferring the ‘plagal’ sounding move of IV-I.

● The modulation to B major is established by V-I (perfect) cadences in bars 25-27.

● Harmonic rhythm moves in one- or two-bar units, although the pedal points at the turnaround and at the end are more lengthy.

● There are examples of various pedal points:

o inverted pedal B in the guitar parts in bars 1-4 o bass pedal in bars 54 to the fade.

● All the pedal points are on the dominant note (B).

● ‘Push and pull’ (anticipation and retardation) rhythms throughout create brief suspensions, mostly of a 6-5 type.

● Structure is based largely on 4- and 8-bar sections, with repetitions of the main hook

unifying the piece.

● The two-beat anacrusis of the hook is used to overlap and link sections, avoiding predictability.

● Repeated rhythms within the individual sections of the piece ensure unity, while the changes of chord sequence and key in the bridge and middle 8 provide contrast.

● Although musically bars 25-32 are definitely a middle 8, the unchanged lyrics at this point in verses 1 and 2 suggest a chorus-like function.

Structure

Rhythm and metre

Tonality

● The piece is firmly in E major. The A sections of the verse underline this by their use of the primary triads (I, IV and V).

● The B section of the verse (bars 17-20) creates contrast by stressing F# minor (super-tonic minor).

● The middle 8 modulates to B major (the dominant).

● The turnaround returns to the tonic by use of the B7 (dominant 7th) chord.

● The piece ends with an unresolved dominant 7th chord, and a dominant pedal.

Waterloo Sunset

Waterloo Sunset

Waterloo Sunset

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