AABA song.
How many of you pay attention to the shapes of songs?
How many of you recognize the classic Beatles song “Yesterday” as a great example of the AABA song form?
Although it is modified a bit, it is definitely AABA. The other thing that’s pretty amazing about the original song is that they go in and out really fast. It’s a little over 2 minutes. Now I know these days most songs live in the 3-4 minute time frame, but I’m really intrigued by the efficiency of McCartney & Lennon. I think a great short song makes it more likely that you’ll want to listen to it over and over again.
Now, if you are not familiar with the AABA song form, I will tell you a bit about it. But a great way to learn is to listen to the Beatles song “Yesterday.”
You want to have some synergy between your music and your lyrics. Seen from the point of view of a direct musical idea/theme, the A sections would all be the same or very similar and the B section would represent a “bridge” or a different musical idea/theme from the “A” section.
From a lyrical standpoint, the AABA song form is a series of verses. The “B” section will often represent a counterpoint to the lyrical idea presented in the other section, but this is not a rule set in stone.
Similar to the forms of the song “AAA”, AABA lends itself to telling a story without having to break off to make room for a Chorus.
Most of the time, the title is placed on the first line, the last line, or both of each “A” section. Some very creative people may even put the title in the middle of the verse. And if you include the title again in the “B” section, all the better for you… repetition is very important for your song to become memorable.
I’m sure most of you are familiar with “Yesterday”, so I won’t write the lyrics here (plus I might need permission to), but notice how each verse of the “A” section begins and ends with the same words. initials. In two “A’s”
sections is the word “yesterday” and in another section “A” is the word “suddenly”.
The “B” section of the song opens our eyes to the reason for the singer’s lament in the first two verses “why she had to go, I don’t know” and ending with longing for yesterday. The title reappears.
Now this song repeats the B section, so you could call it a modified AABA song, but this is a classic AABA song form and one worth modeling some of your own work on.